No. 20 UCSB Baseball (44-14) gave No. 2 Stanford (43-15) all it could handle in Sunday’s elimination game, keeping it a tight race until late innings but ultimately falling to the regional host 8-4.
Big West Freshman Pitcher of the Year Ryan Gallagher was nails in his first postseason appearance, tossing five innings against the second-best team in the country and allowing just four runs, one of which scored after he had already taken his seat in the dugout. He did allow 10 hits but issued no free passes and struck out seven in the no decision. He also stranded six Cardinal runners on the bases.
Center fielder Nick Vogt continued his postseason success, going 2-for-4 with his second home run of the weekend, two RBI, and two runs.
First baseman Kyle Johnson tagged his second homer of the weekend, plating a pair with one swing.
UCSB only saw five hits in the contest but managed to get the most out of them, scoring four runs. The team also drew four walks and two HBPs.
Clayton Hall had a solid relief outing, tossing the final two innings of the game and allowing just one earned on two hits while striking out a pair.
Stanford got three baserunners aboard in the first two innings including both lead-off hitters, but Gallagher showed his pliability, bending and not breaking, as he got out unscathed.
It wasn’t until the bottom of the third that the Gauchos got their first hit of the ball game, but it was a meaningful one as Vogt crushed a two-out, two-run bomb to left field to put the Gauchos up 2-0.
The Cardinal answered with a pair of runs in the top of the fourth to tie it, but the damage was limited as Stanford had the bases-loaded with no outs, and Gallagher retired three batters in a row.
Stanford took its first lead of the game with a two-out RBI single in the top of the fifth, but UCSB was quick to answer in the bottom half with some two-out success of its own. Vogt reached on an infield single and the next man up was Johnson, who crushed a ball deep to right field to regain the lead 4-3.
Undeterred, the regional hosts regained the lead in the top of the sixth, scoring for the third straight inning. The Cardinal plated a pair on a tough double that popped off the third base bag and found another on a Gaucho error to take a 6-4 lead.
A sac-fly in the seventh saw Stanford extend its lead to 7-4 and a run scored on a double-play in the eighth made it an 8-4 ballgame.
UCSB battled in the bottom of the ninth, taking a number of great at-bats and bringing two runners into scoring position, but couldn’t break through as Stanford held the Gauchos scoreless to advance to the championship round.
The loss concludes another standout season for the Gauchos, who continue to grow their national relevancy under head coach Andrew Checketts.
Once again, the Gauchos broke a number of records and cracked several program tops-tens at both the team and individual level, including the following:
– Home Runs – 78 – 1st
– Saves – 20 – 1st
– Conference wins (excluding 2020 altered season) – 24 – 1st
– Conference win percentage – .900 – 1st
– Win Percentage – .759 – 2nd
– Strikeouts – 544 – 2nd
– Losses – 13 -2nd
– Wins – 44 – T4th
– Triples – 22 – T5th
– HBP – 87 – 6th
– A program record three 40+ win seasons in a row
– Jason Willow, Career Games Played – 210 – 8th
– Christian Kirtley, On-Base Streak – 45 games – 1st
– Bryce Willits, On-Base Streak – 39 games – 2nd
Daniel Moebus-Bowles writes about sports for UCSB.
email: sports@newspress.com
