A strong start by UCSB pitcher Cory Lewis faded in the middle innings with a high pitch count, and the Gauchos went down to Texas State University 7-3 in their first game at the Stanford Regional Friday night.
The third-seeded Gauchos now face an elimination game against fourth-seeded Binghamton Saturday afternoon. Game time is at 1 p.m. UCSB coach Andrew Checketts said Mike Gutierrez would “probably” get the start.
The Bobcats go on to face first-seeded Stanford, winners over Binghamton 20-7 on Friday.
The Gauchos got on the board in the first inning on an RBI double into the left-center gap by Nick Vogt, scoring fellow sophomore Blake Klassen, who had reached on a lead-off single.
But unfortunately that hit followed a double play that erased a baserunner. UCSB settled for one run.
In the second inning, Broc Mortensen lead off with a homer, his 16th of the season. Mortensen hit a low 0-1 fastball to dead center, 400 feet away.
The early 2-0 lead seemed to portend well, especially with Lewis’ start. The sophomore right-hander struck out the side in the first inning, adding two more Ks in the second. He also gave up two walks and a hit in the first two innings.
Lewis added a sixth K in the third, and benefitted from a great catch by Vogt in deep center, running from right field and nabbing it at the wall.
“That probably stopped a little rally for them,” Vogt said. “Our coach put us in a great position there, I was kind of shaded that way, so give a little credit there.”
Both teams were working the counts, and by the start of the fourth, Lewis had thrown 62 pitches. He gave up a lead-off single to Bobcat Justin Thompson and walked Wesley Faison.
After another strikeout, Lewis gave up an RBI double to Daylan Pena to put Texas on the board and halve the Gaucho lead.
Then, Texas State catcher Peyton Lewis smashed a changeup for a three-run homer to put Texas up 4-2.
Lewis ended the fourth with his eighth strikeout. He lasted one more inning, giving up no further runs, ending up with 108 pitches in five innings.
Meanwhile, Bobcat starter Zeke Wood was settling down some. He did give up the last UCSB run — a solo home run by Vogt in the sixth — but got the win, giving up three runs on five hits, with seven strikeouts, in six innings.
Vogt’s homer cut the lead to 4-3, but that would be the last Gaucho run.
And in the bottom of the sixth, Texas State’s Ben McClain hit a two-run rocket off Gaucho reliever Matt Ager that cleared the scoreboard in right field. That put the Bobcats up 6-3.
Texas State added an insurance run in the eighth, though the Gauchos could thank reliever Nick Welch the damage wasn’t worse.
Coming in with a man on first, reliever Ryan Harvey gave up two singles, and then with the bases loaded walked in a run on a ball in the dirt to Peyton Lewis.
Welch came in at that point, with the bases still loaded with one out. Welsh struck out Gibbons and got McClain on a ground out.
Welch pitched the last 1.2 innings, giving up no hits and no runs with one walk, striking out two. He also made a smart pickoff throw to second to erase a baserunner.
“They just outplayed us today,” Checketts said.
“I thought our at bats were pretty good early. I thought we had some chances to land some blows, and missed those.”
And Texas State pitcher Wood “got better in the middle innings and adjusted,” Checketts said. “We didn’t adjust, lost our plan a little bit, started swinging at balls there were up and down a little bit more than we wanted to.”
Lewis went five innings, giving up four runs on four hits, with five walks and eight Ks. The loss was his first of the season, against nine wins.