Battery of Montgomery and Libed put charge into Gauchos as they snap losing skid
Mike Klan
UC SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – Pitcher Kellan Montgomery and batterymate Nico Libed powered UCSB to a 5-1 win over Hawai’i as the Gauchos snap a 4-game losing streak and avoid a home sweep.
The Former Dos Pueblos High School star Montgomery struck out the first two batters of the game on his way to working 5 strong innings allowing just one run.
“I thought Kellan set the tone for the day,” said UCSB head coach Andrew Checketts. “Coming out in that first inning, had his best stuff and was attacking, I think he set the tone for the day on the mound. We talk a lot about when we’re at home, that first blow we can land is defensively. Starts on the mound, and then he really set the tone coming out, striking out the first two guys and getting after it a little bit.”
Catcher Nico Libed took advantage of his opportunity, reaching base in all five plate appearances, going 3-for-3 with a double, two stolen bases and a pair of runs scored. He also threw out a runner trying to steal.
(Lineup change by Andrew Checketts helps Gauchos avoid 3-game sweep. Entenza Design).
“Nice job by Nico, right? He’s hitting .140 and we stuff him in the two hole, just the way the matchup was working, we thought we’d get some on base out of him against a guy that has a little loose command, and he did what he was supposed to do,” Checketts said. “He got deep in counts, got on base what, four, five times, he walked once, so that was a big game for him. We needed him to step up and he did.”
“We went on that skid for a little bit, those last couple games but we didn’t lose faith in our guys, trusted everyone,” Libed said. “We were just getting a little antsy there the last couple games, we just had to stay grounded, stay present, make them come to us and hammer pitches that we could handle, and that’s what we did today.”
Jonathan Mendez had the big hit on the day, a 2-run single in the third to put the Gauchos up 3-0. He finished with 3 RBI.
Reliever Van Froling notched his first career save working 3.2 innings of 2-hit, shutout ball with 6 strikeouts.
“(Froling) got a lot of outings last year, has had a lot of potential, he was nicked up to start the year, but he’s capable of doing that,” Checketts said. “We all believe that he’s capable of doing that, so that was a nice outing for him. Hopefully he can build on that.”
UCSB is now 5-4 in the Big West and 15-6 overall.
The Gauchos begin a stretch of 5-straight nonleague games against strong competition Saint Mary’s, Oregon and USC.