Author: KEYT

Mike Klan

UC SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – LeTrey McCollum wasted no time making history on Sunday, hitting a lead-off single to reach base safely in a 46th consecutive game, the longest on-base streak in UC Santa Barbara Baseball history. It was a sign of things to come for the Gauchos (34-16), who brought McCollum home before making an out and went on to rout LMU (24-27) in seven innings, 17-5. Santa Barbara’s offense scored in all six innings they came to the plate, with Nate Vargas collecting five RBIs and Rowan Kelly four more, both career highs. It was a staff day on the mound for the Gauchos, with Hudson Barrett opening things up and collecting his first win of the season. Raymond Olivas, Calvin Proskey and Reed Moring also featured.

HOW IT HAPPENEDBarrett allowed just two baserunners in his outing, with one of them being wiped out thanks to Vargas behind the plate. After hitting a batter and throwing a wild pitch that allowed the runner to take second, Barrett’s backstop got the better of the steal-happy Lions. Vargas caught the runner trying to steal third, then Barrett issued his first strikeout of the day to end the inning.

In the bottom of the first, Vargas got his battery-mate some runs to work with as well. The Gauchos started their day at the plate with five straight singles, with Vargas’ being the fourth in a row and — coming with bases loaded — scoring the first two runs of the game. Jonathan Mendez’s single tacked on another run to put the home side up, 3-0, after one.

Barrett collected two more strikeouts to put up another zero in the top of the second, and the offense tacked on another run in the bottom half. After Corey Nunez’s double and Liam Barrett’s single put Gauchos on the corner, McCollum plated Nunez with an RBI groundout. Hudson Barrett retired the first two Lions he faced in the top of the third to finish his one trip through the LMU order; Olivas relieved him and finished off the perfect inning.

The Gauchos got a hand from the Santa Barbara weather to score in the bottom of the third, with Mendez leading off with a double that landed mere feet behind the first base bag, as two LMU fielders lost the ball in the sun. A wild pitch got Mendez to third, then Kelly’s RBI groundout brought him home to make it 5-0. The Gauchos continued to grow their lead in the fourth, with a McCollum single and four-pitch walks to both Jack Holman and Isaac Kim loading the bases for Vargas. He walked as well to force home a run, then Kelly plated the second run of the inning with a sacrifice fly, making it 7-0.

A three-run homer got LMU on the board and cut the Santa Barbara lead to just four in the top of the fifth, ending Olivas’ day. Proskey came out of the bullpen and prevented the Lions from scoring any more runs, striking out a pair in the inning. The Gaucho offense then got those three runs back in the bottom of the fifth, capitalizing on LMU mistakes to do so. Liam Barrett reached on an error with one out, then a walk, wild pitch and hit batter loaded the bases for Kim. The Gaucho DH cracked a double down the right field line to score two runs, then Vargas picked up yet another RBI with a sacrifice fly, making it 10-3 Santa Barbara.

Proskey worked around a lead-off double to keep LMU off the board in the top of the sixth, then the Gauchos brought the run rule into play with a six-run bottom of the sixth. Barrett led off with a single but was nearly thrown out at second when McCollum’s high fly ball dropped in front of the right fielder; a bad throw to second kept Barrett on the basepaths. Kim’s one-out single loaded the bases, then Vargas hit his second sacrifice fly in as many innings for Santa Barbara’s 12th run of the afternoon. Four straight walks then re-loaded the bases and forced home three more rusn, putting the Gauchos up, 15-3. Barrett capitalized on his second at-bat of the inning with another single, this time scoring two more runs to make it 17-3.

With Santa Barbara leading by over 10 runs, the top of the seventh essentially became the top of the ninth for the Lions, their last chance to get back within single digits and continue the game. They threatened to do just that, hitting a two-run home run, but Moring bounced back to finish the game. Despite LMU loading the bases with two outs, Moring got a flyout to center to end the game via the run rule.

BY THE NUMBERSThe Gaucho offense may have only come to bat in six innings on Sunday, but they scored in each of them, the first time that Santa Barbara has scored in every inning of a game since Feb. 23, 2008 against Marist. That game also only lasted seven innings due to darkness, with the Gauchos winning, 13-4.With 37 runs scored across the three games, this weekend is Santa Barbara’s highest-scoring series of the season, surpassing their 36-run output over three games against UC Riverside in April. The last time the Gauchos scored more than 37 runs in a three-game series was when they scored 38 against the Highlanders in 2024.With four- and five-RBI days respectively, Kelly and Vargas each set new career highs in RBIs while combining to plate over half of their team’s runs.Also on the list of career highs from Sunday is Liam Barrett’s three hits in the game; Kim matched his season high with three hits as well.All nine Gauchos came to the plate five times on Sunday; in three of Vargas’ five trips to the dish, the bases were loaded for him. He drove in runs all three times, with a two-run single, a walk and a sacrifice fly.

UP NEXTSanta Barbara returns to Big West play for the final three games of the regular season, hosting Cal State Bakersfield, May 15-17 at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium. The Gauchos need to win two of the three games to earn a spot at The Big West Championship in Fullerton. First pitch times are set for 4:35 p.m. Thursday and Friday, with Senior Day at 1:05 p.m. on Saturday.

(Article courtesy UCSB Athletics).

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Mike Klan

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – UCSB was seeded No. 4 in the Los Angeles Regional and will play No. 1 seed and #9 overall national seed UCLA in the opening round at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, May 16.

The other two teams in the regional are #2 seed San Diego State and No. 3 seed Arizona State.

The Gauchos won six straight elimination games to capture the Big West Championship and secure an automatic NCAA Tournament berth.

(courtesy UCSB and Big West).

It will be the Gauchos fourth trip to the NCAA Tournament and first since 2007.

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Caleb Nguyen

SANTA MARIA, Calif. – CAL Fire SLO crews were on scene of a one-acre brush fire in the Santa Maria riverbed Sunday just after 6:30 p.m.

The fire had a slow rate of spread and CAL Fire SLO issued a warning to drive slowly near the river bridge on Highway 101.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

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Caleb Nguyen

SANTA MARGARITA, Calif. – CAL Fire SLO crews fought a 100-acre grass fire in Santa Margarita near East Pozo Road on Highway 58 just before 6:30 p.m. Saturday.

Both ground and air personnel helped in the initial attack on the flames, but CAL Fire SLO was still on the scene Sunday morning.

Crews will continue to fight the fire until it is fully under control and more information on the fire will be provided as it becomes available to Your News Channel.

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Mike Klan

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. –

CIF-SS Semifinal Boys Volleyball

Division 4:

Santa Barbara 3, Santiago 0

Dons will play Sage Hill in D4 title game next weekend TBA

Division 5:

Esperanza 3, Newbury Park 2

Division 6:

El Toro 3, Laguna Blanca 2

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Mike Klan

WALNUT, Calif. – The ‘Fantastic Four’ turned in a mighty performance for San Marcos High School girls swimming.

The Royals had just four swimmers (Sierra Tallman, Taylor Steelman, Sophia Hall and Sophie Yonker) competing in the powerful CIF-Southern Section Division 1 Championships but they managed to still finish in fourth overall place at Mt. San Antonio College.

Coach Chuckie Roth said “Today was one of the best days in the history of San Marcos swimming. Our fabulous four girls battled in unprecedented heat, the deck temperature was over 100 degrees, but the girls rose to the occasion, swimming almost all personal best times and state qualification times. We’re really lucky to have such a great group of young women.”

Senior Sierra Tallman led the way, finishing 4th in both of her individual events. In the 200-yard individual medley, she not only secured a top-four finish but also set a new Channel League record with a time of 2:00.82, which earned her automatic All-American honors. Tallman also lowered her own school record in the 100-yard butterfly, clocking a 55.19 to improve upon her preliminary performance and maintain her 4th-place standing.

(video courtesy Tallman)

Fellow senior Taylor Steelman also impressed on finals day, placing 7th in the 200 freestyle with a personal-best time of 1:49.74, and finishing 5th in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:52.53, fast enough to meet the automatic All-American standard.

Junior Sophia Hall wrapped up her breakout meet with a 15th place finish in the 50-yard freestyle. Her finals swim of 24.21 was a new personal best.

The Royals were also a force in the relays. The 200 Medley relay team of Steelman, Tallman, Hall, and Yonker secured a 7th place finish with a time of 1:46.68. In the 4×50 freestyle relay, Steelman, Yonker, Tallman and Hall came together for a outstanding 4th place finish in 1:35.56.

(video courtesy Tallman).

The four swimmers will continue on to the State Championships next weekend in Fresno, California.

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Mike Klan

GOLETA, Calif.- Dos Pueblos High School boys lacrosse erased last year’s semifinal nightmare and now the Chargers will try to complete a perfect season by winning a CIF title.

DP overwhelmed Oaks Christian 13-4 in a home CIF-Southern Section Division 2 semifinal.

Last year the Chargers let a late lead slip away in a semifinal heartbreaking loss to Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks.

DP wasn’t going to let that happen here in 2025 as they improved to 21-0 on the season.

After trailing Oaks Christian early 2-0, the Chargers finished the first quarter with five consecutive goals to lead 5-2.

Orion Prewarski, Koa Birchim, Jack Finneran, Chase Carlson and Gus Miller all had first quarter goals.

(Jack Finneran gave DP the lead for good at 3-2 with a rebound goal in the first quarter. Entenza Design).

The onslaught continued in the second quarter with Dan Finneran leading the offense and goalie Danny Perez shutting down the Lions as DP led 9-3 at the half.

Dan Finneran had 3 goals in the game for DP while twin Jack Finneran added 2 goals and 4 assists.

(Dan Finneran puts DP up 6-3 early in the second quarter. Entenza Design).

After two early goals, Perez and the Chargers defense allowed just 2 goals the rest of the game.

The championship game is Saturday, May 17 at Fred Kelly Stadium in Orange.

DP will play the semifinal winner of Aliso Niguel and San Clemente who are squaring off on Tuesday.

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Mike Klan

UC SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The UC Santa Barbara Baseball team (33-16) brought their big bats to a hot and sunny Saturday afternoon game against Loyola Marymount (24-26), hitting four monster home runs to out-slug the Lions in an 8-5 victory. Isaac Kim, Nate Vargas and Jonathan Mendez each left the yard one after the other for the Gauchos’ first three-homer inning since 2009, and Jack Holman hit a moonshot late on as well. On the mound, the trio of Frank Camarillo, AJ Krodel and Cole Tryba took care of the 27 outs, with Krodel earning the win and Tryba collecting his fifth save of the season.

FROM HEAD COACH ANDREW CHECKETTS”It changes the lineup when you have a couple of power threats in the lineup who can hit it over the fence and are scary,” Checketts said. “We’re starting to get healthier and some of those injured guys are starting to get back. Isaac Kim, who has been back in the lineup but it’s hard when you’ve been hurt, you’re out, you miss all those practice reps, it takes a little bit of time to get your timing back, and it seems like he’s starting to get on it a little bit. Holman’s coming back from that oblique injury, we had to sit him, and he’s finally been homering the last couple weeks, which was back. Having those guys in the middle of the lineup, being able to get their swings off and take the quality of at bats that we know they can take changes our lineup.”

HOW IT HAPPENEDIt was actually the visiting Lions who hit the first home run of the day, a two-run shot that put them on top, 2-0, in the first inning. But the Gauchos bounced back in their half of the first. LeTrey McCollum led off with a single, then Kim cracked a two-run homer to left, basically a mirror image of LMU’s homer in the top of the first. But the home run party did not stop there. Three pitches later, Vargas snuck a line-drive homer just inside the foul pole down the right field line, and three pitches after that, Mendez launched a towering fly ball into the trees beyond the left field fence, making it 4-2 Gauchos. It was the first time that Santa Barbara has hit three home runs in an inning since May of 2009, when they did it against UC Irvine.

The Gauchos kept pouring on the runs in the bottom of the second, with Corey Nunez and Liam Barrett both hitting singles before McCollum found the left-center gap for an RBI double, scoring Nunez. Barrett scored on Holman’s groundout, then McCollum did the same on Kim’s groundout, making it three runs in three pitches and a 7-2 lead for Santa Barbara.

On the mound, the Gaucho starter Camarillo bounced back from the home run in the first inning with a one, two, three second inning and was perfect again in the third, picking up a pair of strikeouts. He surrendered a run after a lead-off double in the top of the fourth but finished that inning with two more punchouts. The Lions got two more runs back in the top of the fifth with another two-run homer, which ended Camarillo’s day. Krodel relieved him and finished the inning with a pair of strikeouts either side of a single, which ended up being the only hit Krodel allowed on the day.

The Gauchos got back on the scoreboard in the bottom of the seventh, Holman clobbering a no-doubt home run to right field which nearly hit his face on the videoboard behind the fence.

Tryba took the ball for the top of the eighth and worked a perfect frame, striking out the first two Lions he faced. He was back out for the ninth to attempt the six-out save and nailed it, punctuating a perfect outing with his third strikeout of the day.

FROM THE STUDENT ATHLETESMcCollum on the keys to his success at the plate: “I’ve been trying to build a good approach all season and it’s been working out,” McCollum said. “I’ve just been trying to go up there and commit to a couple pitches and it has to be in the zone for me to swing and get a good swing off. I’ve been sticking to that plan and it’s been working pretty well, so I’m happy about it.”

BY THE NUMBERSSaturday was the Gauchos’ first four-home run game of the season; they had previously hit as many as three in a game, doing so on April 8 against Pepperdine, Feb. 25 at Pepperdine, Feb. 23 against California Baptist and Feb. 15 against Campbell. Prior to Saturday night, Santa Barbara’s last four-homer game was on May 24, 2024 against UC Riverside.The Gauchos’ three-homer first inning was their first inning with three home runs since May 23, 2009, when Mark Haddow, Brian Gump and Ryan Cavan all left the yard in the third inning against UC Irvine. Kim and Vargas became the first Gauchos to go back-to-back since Jordan Sprinkle and Cole Cummings did it against Cal Poly on April 30, 2021, only for Vargas and Mendez to take that title immediately after.Vargas and Mendez’s first-inning home runs were their 10th each this season, tied for the team lead. This is the fourth season in a row that the Gauchos have had at least two players hit double-digit homers in the same season.Also in the first inning, McCollum’s lead-off single tied him with Christian Kirtley for the longest on-base streak in program history at 45 consecutive games reaching safely. It also extended his hitting streak to 21 games, the longest on the team this season.

UP NEXTSanta Barbara will complete this three-game series against LMU, and with it the season series, on Sunday, May 11 at 1 p.m. Following the conclusion of Sunday’s game, kids in attendance will have the opportunity to run the bases at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium. Tickets are on sale now at ucsbgauchos.com/tickets, and all kids sixth grade and under get in free with the Yardi Youth Pass.

(Article courtesy of UCSB Athletics).

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Mike Klan

NORTHRIDGE, Calif. -Cal Poly’s five-game winning streak ended Saturday afternoon at Robert J. Hiegert Field as CSUN overcame 1-0 and 4-2 deficits with 11 runs in the middle innings en route to an 11-6 victory.

Despite the setback, Coach Larry Lee’s Mustangs remain in second place in the Big West with a 19-7 mark, three games behind frontrunner UC Irvine (22-4), a 7-3 winner at Cal State Bakersfield. Cal State Fullerton (17-9) is two games back of Cal Poly in third place following its 9-1 win over Hawai’i.

Cal Poly (33-16 overall) jumped in front 1-0 in the fourth inning on Jack Collins’ 12th home run of the season. After CSUN (14-31 overall, 9-17 Big West) answered with two runs in the bottom of the fourth, Dante Vachini opened the fifth frame with his third home run of the year and Collins added a two-run double for a 4-2 Mustang advantage.

The Matadors turned the game around with a six spot in the fifth and added three more in the sixth for an 11-5 cushion on their way to evening the series at a game apiece. The rubber game is set for Sunday at 1 o’clock.

Diego Gutierrez (3-6) allowed five runs and 11 hits over 5 2/3 innings for the win with no walks and six strikeouts. Ryan Halamicek, normally the Sunday starter for CSUN, earned a 10-out save, his second of the year, by giving up just one run and two hits.

Sophomore lefty Josh Volmerding (5-4) suffered the loss, surrendering season highs of eight runs and 10 hits over 4 2/3 innings. Josh Morano, also a southpaw, struck out two and scattered three hits over 2 1/3 scoreless frames in relief.

Cal Poly collected 13 hits — reaching double figures for the 30th time in its last 42 games — but stranded nine runners on the basepaths. Zach Daudet and Ryan Fenn both had three hits while Collins and Vachini each added two hits.

Daudet is 9-for-20 over his last four games with a pair of three-hit contests and a two-hit game. Fenn extended his hitting streak to nine games and is 16-for-36 (.444) over the stretch with a trio of three-hit games, a two-hit contest and seven RBIs.

Vachini is 7-for-13 over his last four games while Collins has hit safely in four of his last five games with six RBIs and leads the Mustangs with 12 homers and 54 RBIs. He is second with his 15 doubles.

Garza’s streak of seven consecutive multiple-hit games came to an end but he did single with two outs in the first inning to extend his hitting streak to eight games. He has hit safely in 28 of his last 29 games and leads the club with 29 multiple-hit games this season, five shy of the school record set by Scott Kidd in 1997.

Center fielder Roberto Gonzalez went 4-for-5 with a home run, two doubles and a single while left fielder Andrew Becker and right fielder Andrew Gauna each had three hits for CSUN.

Freshman southpaw Luke Kalfsbeek (3-0, 5.92 ERA) is scheduled to start on the mound for Cal Poly on Sunday, facing CSUN senior right-hander Dante Zamudio (1-0, 9.00 ERA).

(Article courtesy of Cal Poly Athletics).

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Tracy Lehr

SANTA PAULA, Calif. – Engineers and scientists of the future tested underwater robots.

The students from the Santa Paula Unified School District are taking part in a pilot program called SeaPerch pre-engineering program with Cal State University Channel Islands.

College students served as mentors at the Santa Paula High School pool this week.

If the younger students complete a pre-engineering program in high school, they are automatically admitted to Cal State Channel Islands in Camarillo.

The SeaPerch’s coordinator comes from the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Port Hueneme.

The program is a collaboration between the Navy, the school district, the university, and Ventura College.

For more information visit https://www.csuci.edu/news/releases/2025-seaperch-program.htm

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