FULLERTON, Calif. — The UC Santa Barbara Baseball team (29-16, 13-13 Big West) put together a two-out rally to plate a pair of runs in the ninth inning of Saturday's game at Cal State Fullerton (25-21, 16-7 Big West), but it was not enough for the Gauchos to get out of the hole they were in and the Titans took game two of the series, 10-4. After falling behind by multiple runs early, the Gauchos out-scored their hosts, 4-1, over the final five innings of the game but could not complete the rally.
HOW IT HAPPENED
A lead-off home run, double and two singles put three runs on the board in Fullerton's half of the first, then a double, bunt single and sacrifice fly made it 4-0 with one out in the second. A single and an error plated another run, then a hit batter loaded the bases with two outs. A grand slam made the score 9-0 in favor of the home team at the end of two frames.
The Gauchos had the chance to get a few of those runs back after a walk and a double put two men in scoring position with no one out in the top of the fourth, but they only got one with a sacrifice fly.
On the mound,
Van Froling made his contribution to the comeback effort by silencing the Titan offense in the third and fourth innings, with a double play helping him out in the former. After getting the first out of the fifth, Froling passed the baton to
Frank Camarillo, who picked up right where the freshman left off. Camarillo retired the first five Titans he faced in order, including striking out the side in the bottom of the sixth.
The Gaucho offense got another run back in the top of the seventh, with
Cole Kosciusko and
Jack Holman hitting back-to-back doubles to start the frame. However, Santa Barbara again was stuck with just the one run in the inning.
It did not help that Camarillo got into his only trouble of the night in the bottom of the seventh, with a walk, single, sacrifice bunt and RBI fielder's choice getting that run back for Fullerton, putting them up by a 10-2 margin.
In the top of the ninth,
Isaac Kim singled and
Corey Nunez walked with one out, then
LeTrey McCollum's RBI single plated Kim and
Xavier Esquer's plated Nunez to make it 10-4, but that would be all for Santa Barbara.
BY THE NUMBERS
- McCollum's ninth-inning single was one of two hits on the night, making Saturday his team-leading 19th multi-hit game of the season. It also extended his on-base streak to 41 games, five away from setting a new UC Santa Barbara record. He now also has a 17-game hitting streak, one away from matching the team's longest hit streak of the season, which McCollum himself strung together earlier in the year.
- After not pitching three full innings in his career up until this week, Camarillo has worked three or more frames in each of his last two outings. After working a career-high 6 1/3 innings on Monday, the righty racked up four strikeouts in three innings of one-run ball on Saturday.
UP NEXT
The Gauchos will look to salvage the final game of this crucial series on Sunday, May 4 at 1 p.m. from Goodwin Field in Fullerton.
Hudson Barrett is set to start things off on the mound for Santa Barbara; he touched 95 mph and took 11 pitches to work a perfect inning in his return from injury on Monday. The game will be live on ESPN+ with live stats and an audio broadcast available through ucsbgauchos.com.
