BUIES CREEK, N.C. — The No. 17 UC Santa Barbara Baseball team nearly captured some two-out magic in the final inning of their game at Campbell on Saturday, loading the bases to put the tying run 90 feet away. An untimely strikeout put an end to the rally and the game, giving the hosting Camels a 5-4 win. Zander Darby and LeTrey McCollum led the Gauchos at the plate, driving in two runs each.  
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The roles were reversed after Friday's opener, with Saturday being Campbell's turn to jump ahead thanks to an early power surge. The Camel's Golden Spikes Award candidate, Lawson Harrill, hit two homers off of Gaucho starter Tyler Bremner, a solo shot in the first and a two-run bomb in the third to put the home team up 3-0 early. Those were the only runs Bremner gave up, as the sophomore worked 4 2/3 innings with five strikeouts to four hits, though he did also allow four walks and a hit batter.
 
The Santa Barbara offense only recorded its first hit of the day in the fourth inning, and it was the top of the sixth before they put runs on the board. McCollum legged out an infield single, then Darby hammered his second homer in as many days out to center field, cutting the deficit to just one.
 
Reiss Calvin helped Santa Barbara keep the momentum rolling into the seventh, leading off the frame with a walk and then promptly swiping second base. After Rex DeAngelis worked himself a one-out walk, Calvin swiped third, with DeAngelis taking second behind him. McCollum dropped a bloop double down the right field line, far enough from both the first baseman and the right fielder to let both Calvin and DeAngelis race home and put Santa Barbara ahead, 4-3.
 
With their first lead of the game, the Gauchos called on closer Hudson Barrett to shut down the Camels in the bottom of the seventh, but the flamethrowing lefty ran into trouble with the umpire's snug (but consistent) strike zone. He had to work around a lead-off walk in the seventh, then walked the first three batters in the eighth, loading the bases. That was the end of Barrett's night, and freshman Jackson Flora was called on to put out the fire. With empty bases, he would have been fine, but he walked the first batter he faced to force in the tying run, then watched the go-ahead run cross despite inducing a double play. One more grounder got Flora out of the inning.
 
Santa Barbara's offense worked some walks of their own to load the bases in the top of the ninth, with McCollum and Darby both earning two-out free passes. Unfortunately, the Camels' closer got the one last out he needed before the Gauchos could make those walks hurt.
 
ON THE SCORECARD

• Through the first 10 at-bats of his season, McCollum has hit .400 with an on-base percentage of .500. Darby currently holds a slugging percentage of 1.000 in nine at-bats.
• With eight stolen bases on eight attempts through two games, the Gauchos look to pace The Big West in that category again in 2024. Ivan Brethowr and Calvin are tied for the team lead with two each.
• Cole Tryba bridged the gap between Bremner and Barrett on the mound Saturday in what was his Gaucho debut. His very first throw in college baseball picked a runner off first to end the fifth inning.
• Walks and hit batters continued to be a problem for both pitching staffs on Saturday. Together, the Gauchos and Camels issued 20 free passes to first (12 walks and one hit batter from Santa Barbara, 6 walks and three hit batters from Campbell) to just 13 strikeouts (seven for the Gauchos, six for the Camels).
• Bremner's five strikeouts were the most by an individual pitcher in Saturday's game.

 
UP NEXT
Santa Barbara and Campbell will meet in the rubber match of this three-game series on Sunday, Feb. 18 at 9 a.m. Pacific from Jim Perry Stadium in Buies Creek. The game will not be live streamed, but an audio only broadcast and live stats will both be available through ucsbgauchos.com.