IRVINE, Calif. — Nate Vargas came alive at the plate for his UC Santa Barbara Baseball team last week, hitting home runs in each of his first three games back from a two-week absence. On Monday, The Big West recognized his resurgence by naming the Gaucho catcher the conference Player of the Week. It is the first such award of Vargas' career in Blue and Gold.
 
An All-Big West Honorable Mention in 2025, Vargas had scuffled to start 2026, entering the week with a .146 batting average. When he got the starting assignment behind the dish against No. 14 USC, it was his first appearance since March 21. Facing one of the top pitching staffs in the country, the senior crushed a home run to right field on just the second pitch he saw. Later in the game, he nearly left the yard again, his opposite-field double hitting just a foot below the top of the left-field wall. Those big swings helped the Gauchos upset the Trojans for their highest-ranked win since defeating No. 1 UCLA in 2020.
 
And Vargas stayed hot in the weekend series against UC San Diego. On Friday, he homered again, another no-doubter off the video board in right field. And again, he smacked a late, opposite-field double, this time tallying an RBI and bringing the winning run to the plate. He made it three games in a row with a home run on Saturday, powering a two-run shot out to straightaway center field. He added on a single for his third straight multi-hit game as well.
 
Vargas' big week boosted his batting average nearly 100 points, up to .215 on the season, and it boosted the Gauchos as well. Santa Barbara climbed to second in The Big West standings with its series win over the Tritons, now just a game behind UC San Diego and in possession of the tiebreaker.
 
Vargas and the Gauchos will look to stay hot as they hunt an upset of another Los Angeles school, paying a visit to UCLA on Tuesday, April 14 before heading to Orange County for a series against perennial Big West Championship rivals UC Irvine.