SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (April 3, 2023) — John Newman, Jr. recorded his first career multi-home run game Monday afternoon, and Jared Sundstrom added a homer of his own as part of a late rally, but the UC Santa Barbara Baseball team (18-7, 5-1 Big West) fell to Santa Clara (14-10, 4-5 WCC), 7-5.

HOW IT HAPPENED
JD Callahan got the start on Monday and showed good stuff in his first appearance since the season's opening weekend. He allowed a run in the first inning, but also struck out two batters in the frame. He set down the side in order in the second, including another strikeout, then performed a remarkable escape act in the third. After giving up three straight singles to load the bases to start the third inning, Callahan struck out the next two, then induced a flyout to left field to get out of the jam. He ended his afternoon with another scoreless frame in the fourth.

Callahan left with the lead, as Santa Barbara had scored runs in the third and fourth innings. Corey Nunez led off the bottom of the third with a single, then a LeTrey McCollum ground-rule double put two Gauchos in scoring position. Zander Darby's pop up to shallow center field caused enough chaos that Nunez was able to tag up and score to tie the game. In the fourth, Newman hit a towering fly ball that just cleared the wall in left field, despite the wind blowing in from that direction.

Santa Clara tied the game in the fifth, then the teams traded scoreless sixths, but the Broncos would be the ones to break the tie. A trio of singles brought in a run for the visitors in the seventh, then they led off the eighth with a triple. The Broncos drove that runner home for the first of two runs in the frame, then scored two more in the ninth to go up 7-2.

The Gauchos responded in the bottom of the ninth, opening their final frame with back-to-back home runs. First, Sundstrom crushed a 3-0 pitch to right field, then Newman hit his second long ball of the game, also to right field, on an 0-2 pitch to bring Santa Barbara within three. The next three Gauchos all put the ball in play, but could not keep the rally going.

ON THE STAT SHEET
• John Newman, Jr. is the fourth Gaucho to hit multiple home runs in a game this season, joining Ivan Brethowr, Aaron Parker, and Jared Sundstrom (who has two such games)
• Speaking of multi-homer games, Santa Barbara has hit two or more home runs in each of their last five games, tallying 16 long balls in that stretch
• JD Callahan became the fifth Gaucho pitcher to start a game this season, working four innings, allowing just four hits and one earned run with five strikeouts and no walks
• Newman added a double to his two home runs to go 3-for-4 on the day; LeTrey McCollum also doubled in the game, extending his hitting streak to 12 games, the longest such run by a Gaucho this season

UP NEXT
The Gauchos will hit the road again later this week, heading to Fullerton for a three-game series against the Titans, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Santa Barbara comes into the weekend atop The Big West with a 5-1 conference record, with Cal State Fullerton just behind them in a tie for second at 7-2 in conference. Collegiate Baseball News has the Gauchos as the No. 11 team in the country in this week's rankings, with Cal State Fullerton as the No. 21 team. All three games will be live on ESPN+ with live stats and an audio-only broadcast available through ucsbgauchos.com