University of California, Santa Barbara

AUSTIN, Texas — Baseball is a famously cruel sport, and its coldness struck the UC Santa Barbara Baseball team (40-20) in the NCAA Austin Regional final Sunday evening. Despite Kellan Montgomery playing hometown hero one last time for the Gauchos, despite Rowan Kelly's bat staying hotter than the Lone Star State sun, Santa Barbara was on the wrong side of a 6-4 instant classic against No. 6 national seed Texas (43-13). Buoyed by Montgomery shutting down one of the top offenses in the tournament, the Gauchos led after each of the first six innings before a late rally put the Longhorns on top, only for Santa Barbara to put the winning run on the basepaths in the bottom of the ninth. They just could not get it home.
 
For their efforts not only on Sunday but throughout the tournament, Gauchos Cole Kosciusko, Xavier Esquer, William Vasseur and Jackson Flora joined Kelly on the Austin Regional All-Tournament Team.
 
QUOTABLE
From head coach Andrew Checketts: "I think our guys gave a really good effort. Kellan's start was outstanding, set the tone for us, gave us a shot. We came up short against a very good baseball team. The experience here was great, first-class, all of it, so I know our guys enjoyed that. You have some groups that you coach and every day can be a challenge — and that's part of it — but this group was really fun to coach. They showed up every day and wanted to work and liked where they were at and felt grateful for where they were at and in the modern age of athletics, it's refreshing to have guys that are like that and have that mentality and have some gratitude to be able to wear this (uniform) and play for this. We had some transfers in — Kellan himself — that really integrated and were part of the team and really cared about winning. I thought our guys hung it out there today, a few decisions I made, I felt like I might have over-coached and cost us, but in general, I thought our guys' effort was good."
 
From starting pitcher Kellan Montgomery: "I think just trusting myself and the guys behind me. The last couple outings haven't really been what I wanted, so just not making it anything bigger than it is. This is my first time in playoff baseball, so just trying to enjoy every moment with a really special group. It was just trusting myself and the seven guys behind me and (Nate Vargas)."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
The Gauchos struck first on Sunday night, starting on the mound. Santa Barbara's own Montgomery did something no other pitcher had done all weekend and set the Longhorns down in order in the top of the first, and Kelly delivered a big blow in the bottom half. Just over an hour after launching a home run to right field against Tarleton State, Kelly crushed another one, this one even deeper and bouncing off the top of the video board in the same part of the ballpark.
 
Montgomery kept on handling the 'Horns, firing perfect third and fourth frames, while working around solitary baserunners in the second and fifth. Texas finally figured him out in the sixth, with two singles and a walk loading the bases. Montgomery was an out away from escaping the jam, but a two-out single scored a pair and put the hosts ahead for the first time all evening. Van Froling entered in relief and ended the inning.
 
In the bottom of the sixth, the Gauchos got their lead back. Liam Barrett and Kelly walked back-to-back to lead off the inning, and what was meant to be a sacrifice bunt from Vasseur turned into absolute chaos. The throw to first was wild and bounced into right field, allowing Barrett to score and Kelly to reach third. But then the throw back in from the outfield kicked off of the Texas first baseman, allowing Kelly to score (with a bellyflop on the plate) and Vasseur to advance to second. Vasseur would have come home when Jonathan Mendez drilled a line drive towards right field, but the Longhorns' second baseman lept for the catch.
 
The chaos continued in the top of the seventh. The Gauchos were saved some blushes when what was initially a broken play that ended with a run across and a Longhorn on third got called back for runner's lane interference. That call not only put the batter out, but it kept the lead runner on first base. The good news survived four pitches before the Longhorns hit a two-run home run to retake the lead anyway.
 
The breaks were apparently done going the Gauchos' way, as Texas got an RBI double that bounced precisely on the chalk line in left field in the top of the eighth, and a failed pickoff attempt gave the Longhorns another run and a 6-3 lead. To add insult to injury, the Gauchos got the final out of the inning on the next pitch.
 
In the bottom of the eighth, Kelly came inches from a second home run which would have brought Santa Barbara within a run, but he had to settle for a double off the very top of the low left field wall. The Gauchos would get one run in the inning, but they could have had plenty more. Santa Barbara had the go-ahead run at the plate but failed a double-steal attempt to give away an out.
 
Despite the misfires, the Gauchos still had the Longhorns on the ropes. Esquer and Kosciusko led off the bottom of the ninth with back-to-back singles, then a two-out hit batter loaded the bases and brought Kelly to the plate. That turn of events convinced Texas to pull their closer and bring in the pitcher they started in Friday's regional opener, a la Randy Johnson in the 1995 ALDS. While Luke Harrison did not need to match The Big Unit's legendary three innings, he achieved the same effect, getting the final out.