HONOLULU — The No. 15 UC Santa Barbara Baseball team (15-4, 4-2 Big West) returned to form on the mound Sunday afternoon, allowing just one run to Hawai'i (14-5, 3-3 Big West), but that run was enough for the Rainbow Warriors to take the series finale, 1-0. Gaucho starter Calvin Proskey was stuck with a tough loss after striking out a career-best nine hitters in the game, surrendering just the one run in his 6 1/3 innings of work.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Proskey started strong on Sunday, needing just nine pitches to get through the first inning. All nine were strikes, and had the final Rainbow Warrior up missed instead of flying out to center field, Proskey would have had an immaculate inning to start the day. Proskey's counterpart for Hawai'i was solid to start as well, and it was quickly apparent that a pitchers' duel was brewing. In that case, Proskey's escape act in the second inning proved crucial, as he worked around a two-out double and infield single that put 'Bows on the corners.
 
He found himself in the same spot in the third inning but would get out of it the second time around. A two-out, two-strike single scored a run for Hawai'i, with Proskey managing to end the inning with a popout on the very next pitch. After that, the righty settled on in, retiring the side in order in the fourth and stranding a lead-off hit batter in the fifth. In the sixth, he struck out the side, ignoring a two-out walk. He got the first out of the seventh before issuing his second walk of the day, which ended his outing.
 
Cole Tryba relieved Proskey and coaxed the first batter he faced into an inning-ending double play. The good work on the defensive end seemed to give the Gaucho offense the spark they were looking for in the top of the eighth.
 
Through the first seven innings, a Santa Barbara baserunner had reached second base twice. But in the eighth, Cole Kosciusko led off with a walk, the first time the Gauchos had their lead-off batter on base since the fifth. Reiss Calvin ran for Kosciusko but was caught stealing on a bang-bang play, though Corey Nunez ensured a Gaucho would end up on second anyway. He smashed a ball through the Hawai'i third baseman and far enough down the line to reach second safely. Xavier Esquer was hit by a pitch to join Nunez on the bases, and Nunez was able to tag up and take third on a flyout. Esquer then stole second to put the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position. However, the Gauchos were not able to bring them home. It was their last scoring threat of the day.
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• Proskey set new career highs for innings pitched and strikeouts on Sunday, issuing nine K's over his 6 1/3 innings of work. Those beat his previous best marks of five K's in six innings, set just last Sunday against CSUN.
• Tryba pitched 1 2/3 innings in relief of Proskey on Sunday, his first outing since Feb. 22, marking his return from a minor injury. The lefty allowed just one hit and one walk in his return, striking out a pair of hitters.

 
UP NEXT
With UC Santa Barbara on Spring Break this week, the Gauchos are not in action again until March 21, when they will host UC Irvine in the first game of a three-game series next weekend. First pitch times are set for 4:35 p.m. Friday, 3:05 p.m. Saturday and 1:05 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are on sale now at ucsbgauchos.com/tickets, and kids in sixth grade or below get in free to all Gaucho home games this season with the Yardi Youth Pass. Visit ucsbgauchos.com to learn more. For fans following from afar, the game will be live on ESPN+ with live stats available through ucsbgauchos.com.