Chaos is often the hallmark of Tuesday college baseball games, and the UC Santa Barbara Baseball team (5-2) benefited from a healthy serving of the stuff in their 11-inning win over LMU (3-6).
After carrying a no-hitter into the eighth inning, the Gauchos found themselves trailing in the ninth, only for Noah Karliner to smack a game-tying home run and force extra innings.
And in the 11th, back-to-back defensive miscues from the Lions allowed Santa Barbara score the decisive runs in their 5-3 victory.
Before all the chaos unfolded, a pair of Gauchos stood and delivered on the mound. Two weeks ago, Josh Jannicelli was tagged for a run in just 1/3 of an inning at Southern Miss; on Tuesday night, he struck out seven Lions over 3 2/3 innings of no-hit baseball in his first career start.
And when his day was done, Donovann Jackson took over with a bounce-back performance of his own. Jackson had likewise had a rough first outing on opening weekend in Hattiesburg, but he had his swagger back in Los Angeles, spinning three no-hit innings and picking up five K’s for himself.
Jannicelli started the night by picking up his first collegiate strikeout at his first opportunity, starting off a one-two-three first, then he punched out the side in the second to strand a one-out walk.
He was perfect again in the third and racked up his seventh strikeout in the fourth, though not without the evening’s first bit of entropy.
An error turned what should have been a fielder’s choice groundout (or potentially even a double play) into no outs and two runners on, and after a double steal, those runners were both in scoring position.
A wild pitch on ball four allowed the first run to score despite LMU not registering a hit.
That sequence brought Jackson out of the bullpen, who put an end to the inning with one throw, just not to home.
The lefty made a pick-off throw to first as the Lions attempted another double steal, with Nick Husovsky able to make the throw home in time to cut down the lead runner.
And in the top of the fifth, the Gaucho offense that had been held in check to that point managed to break through and tie the game. William Vasseur led off with a single, one of three hits on the night for him, took second on an error, then scored on Jack Haferkamp’s RBI single.
It was back to business as usual in the bottom of the fifth, with Jackson striking out the side in order. He worked a perfect sixth, but had traffic to manage in the seventh.
A leadoff walk and two stolen bases put a Lion on third with one out but after two long at-bats, the latter of which ended in a walk, Jackson’s day was done. Raymond Olivas took the mound and extinguished the fire.
LMU finally broke up the no-hitter in their half of the eighth inning with a leadoff single, and a failed pick-off attempt allowed that runner to get all the way around to third base. He would come home on the Lions’ second hit of the evening, giving the hosts the lead.
Again, it did not last long. Leading off the top of the ninth, Karliner drove a home run through the thick night air to the opposite field to tie the game.
His run allowed the Gauchos to force extra innings, and with a runner placed on second, Santa Barbara took their first lead in the top of the 10th thanks to a Jonathan Mendez sacrifice fly.
LMU answered by bringing home their ghost runner in the bottom of the 10th, re-tying the game, and AJ Krodel had to hold his nerve to strand the potential game-winning run 90 feet away.
In the top of the 11th, LMU — playing their fifth game in as many days — made the most costly error of the night. After a leadoff walk, Corey Nunez squared up to bunt, dropping a great one down the third base line.
It was always going to advance the Gauchos’ two runners, but when no Lion covered first base, the pitcher’s throw there sailed into right field, allowing Santa Barbara’s ghost runner to score and putting that leadoff walk, Karliner, on third.
On the very next play, Colin Beazizo hit a chopper on the right side of the infield and again, the Lions failed to cover the first base bag, re-loading the bases without the Gauchos making an out. Cole Kosciusko’s sacrifice fly scored Karliner to give Santa Barbara their 5-3 lead.
While Krodel probably would have liked more insurance to work with, he made sure that two runs was plenty, striking out a pair of Lions in the bottom of the 11th to secure the win.
Santa Barbara will see LMU again in a week’s time, when they host the Lions at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium. But first, the Gauchos host Utah in a three-game series this weekend, Feb. 27 through March 1. Tickets are on sale now at ucsbgauchos.com/tickets.