Mike Klan
SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The UC Santa Barbara Baseball team (29-14) ended their trip to San Diego on a high note, earning a 9-3 victory over the University of San Diego (17-26) at Fowler Park Monday evening. Frank Camarillo earned the win after the longest outing of his career, a 6 1/3 inning relief effort, while Nate Vargas continued to swing the bat well, hitting his third home run in four days. Hudson Barrett made his return from Tommy John surgery with a triumphant inning, while Casey Euper made his collegiate debut to wrap up the game. LeTrey McCollum and Isaac Kim each had two-RBI days, as did Vargas.
HOW IT HAPPENEDBarrett got the start for what was his first action since Feb. 25, 2024 and was dominant, taking just 11 pitches to get through the first inning. He got a groundout on the first pitch of the ballgame, then another groundout before punctuating his outing with a strikeout. Stunner Gonzalez took over in the second and picked up a pair of strikeouts himself, stranding a walk and a single.
The Gaucho offense got themselves going with a big frame in the top of the third, punishing a San Diego mistake to the tune of four runs. Jack Holman led off the inning by reaching on an error, then Xavier Esquer’s double to left moved him to third and sparked a two-out rally. McCollum cashed in with a single back up the middle, scoring a pair of runs. Vargas kept the rally rolling with a two-run homer, well over the 385 sign in right center.
With a 4-0 lead, Santa Barbara turned to Frank Camarillo after a lead-off walk in the bottom of the third, and Camarillo turned into a workhorse. After a single, he picked off that inherited runner at second, then induced a double play ball to get out of the inning. He picked up his first punchout of the day in the bottom of the fourth, and only really encountered any trouble in the bottom of the fifth. Back-to-back singles, then a two-out double put a two-run blemish on Camarillo’s ledger, but his offense got him those runs right back in the top of the sixth.
The Gauchos again put runners on second and third with two outs, and Isaac Kim, who had taken over in the designated hitter’s spot an inning earlier, knocked a single into right to score both men and restore Santa Barbara’s four-run advantage, 6-2. Camarillo stranded a two-out baserunner with another strikeout in the bottom of the sixth, then worked a clean seventh.
In the top of the eighth, Santa Barbara put together yet another two-out rally for two more runs. A wild pitch put Gauchos in that ever-lucrative second-and-third situation again, and Corey Nunez kick-started the play that would bring them both home. He hit a grounder to his opposite number at shortstop but hustled down the line to force a sub-par throw, which bounced into the Gauchos’ bullpen. Both runners scored, making it 8-2.
Camarillo was perfect again in the eighth, and Jonathan Mendez picked up another run for him in the top of the ninth on a one-out single. With plenty of cushion and a great performance already in the books, Camarillo returned for the ninth and got the first out before being relieved after giving up his first baserunner in eight plate appearances, going back to the sixth inning. Euper got the call to finish the game and despite giving up a double and a single to the first two men he faced, making the score 9-3, he bounced back and wrapped up the win with his first two collegiate strikeouts.
BY THE NUMBERSThey say waiting makes the heart grow fonder, but in Barrett’s case, waiting seemingly made his arm grow stronger; despite not pitching for 428 days, the lefty touched 95 mph on the radar gun and took just 11 pitches to get through his one inning of work. Of his 11 pitches, only two were balls.Vargas’ bat continued to be red-hot as the Gauchos concluded their San Diego trip, the catcher going 2-for-5 with two RBIs on Monday night. Over the four-game stretch, Vargas hit .444/.474/1.056 with three home runs, two doubles and eight RBIs. He now leads the team in homers, RBIs and slugging percentage.Camarillo was hot as well on Monday night, going over twice as long as his previous career-long outing. Over his 6 1/3 innings of work, Camarillo picked up three strikeouts to just one walk, allowing three runs on five hits; had he been the starter, it would have gone as a quality start.
UP NEXTSanta Barbara remains on the road next weekend, heading to Cal State Fullerton for a pivotal three-game series. The Gauchos are currently two and a half games behind the Titans for third place in The Big West standings, the final spot which would see them avoid having to play a play-in game on the first day of The Big West Championship. First pitch times from Goodwin Field are set for 6:30 p.m. on May 2, 5 p.m. on May 3 and 1 p.m. on May 4. All three games will be live on ESPN+ with live stats and an audio broadcast available at ucsbgauchos.com.
(Article courtesy of UCSB Athletics).
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