NORTHRIDGE, Calif. — When the UC Santa Barbara Baseball team (33-15, 18-8 Big West) brought All-MAC infielder
Nick Husovsky back to his home state through the transfer portal, it was for moments like this. Down a run in the eighth inning at CSUN (24-25, 11-15 Big West) on Saturday afternoon, the grad student from Ramona collected the 104
th and 105
th RBIs of his collegiate career with a script-flipping, two-run home run, ending a personal long ball drought that reached all the way back to March 1. That big swing turned the Gauchos' 4-3 deficit into a 5-4 lead, and
Josh Jannicelli's second save in as many days made sure the score stayed unchanged over the final six outs.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Santa Barbara had to dig its way out of an early hole for the second day in a row, even though they scored first this time around.
Liam Barrett's leadoff single set up
Rowan Kelly for another RBI base hit to put the Gauchos on the board in the top of the first, but the home team responded with three runs of their own in the bottom half, thanks to a three-run home run.
Step one in the comeback was for starter
Calvin Proskey to prevent any more Matador scoring, which he did for the next five innings to register his longest outing and first quality start after an injury-delayed start to the season. The boy from Illinois stranded a Matador on third with one out in the bottom of the second, then left a runner stuck on second with back-to-back strikeouts in the bottom of the third. He navigated the same tough spot in the fourth, then put up clean innings in the fifth and sixth to end his day on a high note.
And by the time Proskey stepped off the mound for the final time, the Gaucho offense had completed step two, plating a pair of runs to tie the game. They got one without the benefit of a hit in the fifth,
Xavier Esquer and
Noah Karliner both walking before Barrett's sacrifice bunt got Esquer into position for
Corey Nunez to drive him home with a sacrifice fly. In the top of the sixth, Husovsky came up with his first clutch swing of the day, converting Kelly's leadoff base hit with a one-out RBI single back up the middle to make it 3-3.
CSUN un-tied the game with a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh, but
AJ Krodel and
Van Froling combined to get out of the inning without any further damage. In the top of the eighth, Kelly again led off with a single to set up a clutch swing from Husovsky. This one was much bigger than a knock back up the middle though, with Husovsky blasting a no-doubt home run over the left field fence. The yard call was Husovsky's sixth of the year but first in conference play and first since the first of March. Since his fifth home run of the season, the first baseman had watched both
Noah Karliner (two homers as of March 1) and
Nate Vargas (one homer as of March 1) overtake him on the team leaderboards, with eight and seven respectively.
With the Gauchos holding their first lead of the day, they turned the ball over to Jannicelli out of the bullpen to close things out. He got some serious help from his friends, but The Big Cheese got it done. In the eighth,
William Vasseur, Nunez and Husovsky combined on a double play to erase a leadoff hit batter and keep a zero on the board. In the ninth, two infield singles put the tying run on third base with one out, but Nunez, Vasseur and Husovsky (in that order this time) combined again to get the final two outs on one play and secure the win.
UP NEXT
Thanks to Cal State Fullerton defeating Cal Poly last night, Santa Barbara is now in first place in The Big West standings, half a game ahead of and owning the tiebreaker against the Mustangs, who trail the Titans in the second game of their series at the time of writing. Sunday brings the series finale for the Gauchos and Matadors, with first pitch set for 1 p.m. from Heigert Field in Northridge. Depending on results elsewhere, a win on Sunday could clinch Santa Barbara's place in The Big West Championship.
