SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — With a pair of sevens already on the board this weekend, the UC Santa Barbara Baseball team (8-2) hit the jackpot and then some, putting up a season-high dozen runs to complete a three-game sweep of Utah (4-5) with a 12-1 win. Cade Goldstein and Nick Husovsky both homered, contributing to their three RBIs each, while Cole Kosciusko added a trio of ribbies as well. While not the headline, Kellan Montgomery's performance on the mound cannot be reduced to a footnote; the hometown hero scattered four hits across six innings of one-run ball for his second win in the Blue and Gold.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Like last Sunday, the Gauchos surrendered a run in the top of the first — a two-out single — before Montgomery settled in and shut things down. The veteran helped his team out-fox the Utes to get out of the first, making the right read to shut down a double steal attempt. With runners at the corners, Montgomery stepped off the rubber as soon as the runner took off from first, but his first step was to look the lead runner back to third. By freezing him and then firing a rocket to Jonathan Mendez covering the second base bag, Montgomery gave his shortstop plenty of time to grab the ball, bait the runner into trying to score from third and throw home to make the out with plenty of margin for error. Santa Barbara's senior righty then set Utah down in order in the second, third and fourth, with some help from Max Stagg. In the top of the second, the Australian unleashed a laser beam from left field to throw out a Ute trying to turn a single into a double. Montgomery got a hand from his other corner outfielder in the top of the sixth, when Noah Karliner covered acres of space to track down a deep fly ball in right center, helping the Gauchos' starter get through another perfect inning.
 
With Montgomery in control on the mound, the Santa Barbara bats picked up where they left off on Saturday night. Goldstein tied the game back up with a solo shot to right center in the bottom of the first, and his part of the order was involved again when the Gauchos got their lead in the bottom of the third. After Rowan Kelly's lead-off single and Goldstein's walk, the latter was unlucky to be thrown out at second from right field on an odd fielder's choice play, but the former was running the whole time and scored, giving Cole Kosciusko his first RBI of the day. Husovsky was up next and blasted his fifth home run of the season, a two-run shot to left center.
 
William Vasseur continued his great weekend with an RBI single up the middle in the bottom of the fifth, his fifth hit and fourth RBI of the series. Kosciusko's ground-rule double down the right field line scored Kelly in the bottom of the sixth to make it six, then the Gauchos put the game beyond any doubt in the bottom of the eighth.
 
Nate Vargas led off the inning by reaching on an error, and Santa Barbara made the Utes pay. A walk and a hit batter loaded the bases, and Goldstein's double down the right field line plated a pair of Gaucho runs. Santa Barbara's ninth run of the day came home on another error, Kosciusko reaching safely and picking up his third RBI on the play. With the Gauchos still yet to make an out, Husovsky's single back up the middle brought home run number 10. Run number 11 came home on a passed ball, and Husovsky took advantage of all the extra lives Utah had granted Santa Barbara to turn Vargas' flyout into a run-scoring sacrifice fly.
 
Thanks to all that scoring, the three innings Santa Barbara's bullpen handled on Sunday were hardly high-leverage ones. Raymond Olivas got the seventh and eighth, with a pair of leadoff singles (one inherited) the only Utes to get on base during his two innings. Nic Peterson got the ninth and that comfortable 11-run cushion and while he wasn't perfect, he got the job done, leaving the bases loaded with a pair of strikeouts to end the game.
 
UP NEXT
The Gauchos continue this long homestand on Tuesday, March 3 at 4:05 p.m., when they host LMU. Santa Barbara beat the Lions, 5-3, in 11 innings last Tuesday in Los Angeles, with Josh Jannicelli throwing an impressive 3 2/3 hitless innings while racking up seven strikeouts. Noah Karliner went deep in that game as well. Tickets are on sale now at ucsbgauchos.com, and fans can catch all the action from anywhere by watching live on ESPN+.