SANTA BARBARA, CA--- It was a heartbreaker for the California Baptist baseball program on Monday evening, as CBU fell to UC Santa Barbara 7-6 in a walk-off season-series finale. Ninth-inning magic went the Gauchos' way this time, moving the Lancers to 22-19 on the season.
It was a quiet first four innings on both sides to open the Monday night game. Despite UCSB taking a one-run lead in the bottom of the first, CBU would not answer until the top of the fifth with an RBI single from Bubba Rocha to knot the game. The Lancers added to their lead with a pair of runs courtesy of Connor Ross' sixth homer of the year before another RBI single from Rocha put CBU ahead 4-1. The Guacho bats woke up in the bottom of the seventh via a grand slam and RBI single for five runs.
Down by two, California Baptist did well to shut out UCSB in the eighth as Andrew Rudd sat down the Gauchos in order and ended the inning with a swinging K. Rocha came in clutch again in the top of the ninth with a tying two-run bomb that fell over the right field with no outs, but CBU would not be able to bring in any more runs despite loading the bases. The bottom of the ninth was muddled by several solid Lancer defensive plays that were replayed by the Big West umpiring staff, which saw one get overturned despite UCSB having no challenges left. The overturned runner would ultimately go on to score off a single with two outs on the board for the walkoff win. CBU is now 1-2 against the Gauchos this season.
Though the evening ended in heartbreak for CBU, Rocha had himself a night at the plate with three hits and four RBI. All together, the Lancer offense combined for 13 hits, with multi-hit games coming from Chris Ramirez, Matt Chavez, and Rocha. California Baptist will turn its attention to the second half of its two-week road trip, as the Lancers will now prepare to head to Orem, Utah, to duel Utah Valley as Western Athletic Conference play continues.
