Junior right-hander Dillon Tate provided eight solid innings and senior catcher Campbell Wear laced a tie-breaking double off the left field fence in the sixth inning to lead sixth-ranked UC Santa Barbara to a 3-2 win over UC Davis on Friday afternoon at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium.
Wear’s RBI two-bagger – which scored center fielder Andrew Calica – gave the Gauchos (32-10-1, 9-4 Big West) their second and final lead of the game after the team had a relinquished a 1-0 advantage by virtue of a two-run Davis rally in the fifth. Calica had reached by knocking a sharp grounder back up the middle, moving over to third on a pair of wild pitches from UCD (26-17-1, 5-8 Big West) starter Spencer Koopmans.
After working a 2-1 count, Wear then fouled off five consecutive offerings from Koopmans before taking ball three. On pitch 10 of the at-bat, the Gaucho catcher jumped on a fastball, scorching a rising line drive over the head of Aggies left fielder Austin March to plate the game-winning run.
On the hill, Tate (7-3) picked up his fourth consecutive win by allowing just two earned runs and five hits while punching out seven in his eight frames.
He erred only in the fifth inning, when a one-out hit by pitch was followed up by a run-scoring double down the left field line from Tanner Bily which tied the game 1-1 at that point. UCD then took their only lead of the game when Nick Lynch bounced into an RBI groundout.
That Aggies lead was as short-lived as can be, as the Gauchos came back to tie in the bottom of the frame. UCSB loaded the bases with one out on a pair of singles and a walk, and then senior left fielder Cameron Newell legged out a potential double-play ball to score Woody Woodward – who reached base a team-high three times on the day – and keep the inning alive.
Freshman lefty Kyle Nelson tossed a mostly uneventful ninth inning to earn his first save of the season. The 5-11 southpaw has now gone without allowing an unearned run in 10 consecutive outings spanning 13 innings.
Woodward, Calica, and senior third baseman Peter Maris all had multiple hits for the Gauchos. Maris extended his team-leading hitting streak to 18 games with a third inning single, and his first inning sac fly – scoring Woodward, who tripled into the left center gap to lead off – opened the game’s scoring.
Koopmans took the loss for the Aggies, falling to 5-4 after allowing all three earned runs on eight hits with a walk and five strikeouts in six full innings.
The Gauchos and Aggies resume their series tomorrow afternoon at 2:00 p.m., with junior lefty Justin Jacome (6-2, 2.46 ERA) slated to take the ball for UCSB. He will be opposed by righty Raul Jacobson (4-2, 4.15).
