No. 12 Gauchos Upset No. 3 UC Irvine in Five Set Thriller

Recap, photo courtesy of UCSB

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Playing its final home game of the regular season, the No. 12 UC Santa Barbara men's volleyball team gave the crowd a lasting memory with a thrilling 3-2 (23-25, 25-23, 23-25, 25-23, 15-13) upset over No. 3 UC Irvine inside Rob Gym on Thursday night.

It was sweet redemption for the Gauchos (11-11, 4-5 Big West), who lost both matches last season to the Anteaters (19-8, 5-4 Big West) in five sets. In fact, five of the last nine meetings between these two teams have gone the distance while Thursday's win was just the second for UCSB over UCI during that nine-game stretch.

UC Irvine came out of the gates hot in the first set, tallying a .500 hitting percentage with 13 kills on 22 attempts and just two errors. The Gauchos were hanging around early until, with UCI leading 18-16, the Anteaters scored four straight points to go ahead 22-16. The six-point lead was the largest for either team all night in a closely contested battle and it did not last long.

Kills from Connor Drake and Corey Chavers kept the Gauchos close and gave UCSB momentum despite trailing 24-19. After a service error gave the serve back to UCSB, the Gauchos rattled off four straight points of their own, highlighted by back-to-back kills from Brandon Hopper to make it 24-23. A UCSB service error, however, gave the opening set to UCI.

The two teams battled back and forth in the second set until, with UCI leading 8-7, the Gauchos went on a four-point run behind a pair of UCI attacking errors and a pair of kills from Chavers to put UCSB ahead 11-8. A 6-3 spurt for UCI tied the game at 14-14 before the Gauchos went on a 5-3 run behind kills from Hopper and Casey McGarry. UCI battled back to tie the score at 21-21, but the Gauchos got two clutch kills from Roy McFarland on assists from McGarry to take a crucial two-point lead down the stretch, 23-21. UCI bounced back once more with two straight points, but UCSB turned to Drake for a big kill followed by a UCI attacking error to even the game at 1-1.

The Gauchos outhit the Anteaters .321 to .296 in the second but the third set would see both teams hitting percentages drop significantly.

As the back-and-forth action continued, UCSB pulled ahead 13-10 in the pivotal third set before UCI went on an 8-1 run to take a 19-15 lead. The Gauchos rallied all the way back to tie the score at 22-22 after strong plays from Keenan Sanders, but UCI snagged three of the last four points behind a pair of kills from Aaron Koubi to take a 2-1 lead. UCI hit their lowest percentage of the night in the set, .205, but had their highest kill total of 18 while the Gauchos managed just seven kills in the set on a .133 hitting percentage.

In the fourth, however, the Gauchos would significantly tighten up their accuracy and hit .343 with 16 kills, pulling out another close set 25-23 to force a decisive fifth set. UCSB found itself trailing 21-19 before rattling off four straight points behind two UCI errors and kills from McFarland and Hopper. After a UCI ace tied the set at 23-23, McFarland slammed home a kill for game point and a bad set from the Anteaters sent the game to the fifth.

In the fifth, UC Irvine raced out to a 7-4 lead, but the Gauchos looked to flip the script from the previous season and scored three of the next four points, highlighted by a Drake kill, to get within one point, 8-7, as the teams switched sides. McFarland came through late in the set with a kill to tie the score at 10-10 and moments later giving the Gauchos a 12-10 lead. The two teams traded points until a service error from the Anteaters gave UCSB the 15-13 set and match victory.

McFarland finished with 16 kills on 40 attempts to lead the Gauchos while Sanders also reached double figures with 10 kills. Hopper was close behind with nine while Drake and Spencer Fredrick tallied seven apiece in a well-rounded offensive game for UCSB. McGarry handled most of the setting duties on the night with 34 assists while Randy DeWeese pitched in 10. McGarry also notched 12 digs for the double-double. Fredrick finished with five total blocks at the net while Drake finished with four.

Karl Apfelbach led UC Irvine with a game-high 17 kills and Koubi finished with 16. Setter Dante Chakravorti dished out 57 assists and David Parker tallied a game-high 13 digs.

UCSB rounds out the regular season with another match against UC Irvine on the road this Saturday, Apr. 14 at 7:00 p.m. at the Bren Events Center.

Walk-Off Caps Wild Win

Recap, photo courtesy of Biola University

Ricky Perez hits a walk-off three-run homerun and Biola score five in the final two innings to shock Holy Names.

LA MIRADA, Calif. --- It's not often that the weather plays a significant role in a baseball game played on a clear day in Southern California. But constant winds at Eagles Diamond made for difficult pitching conditions and eventually help Biola to an 8-5 win in walk-off fashion.

The Eagles hit three homeruns in a game for the first time since March 6 and got two over the final two innings, including the walk-off three-run shot from senior Ricky Perez.

The win snaps a three-game skid for the Eagles and pushes them to a record of 22-13, 14-11 PacWest. The Hawks lose their 11th game in a row despite holding a lead from the third to the eighth inning and are now 7-28 overall.

The starting pitchers took care of business through the first two innings to keep the game scoreless and limited the effects of the windy conditions by inducing groundouts. But Holy Names was able to lift fastballs from Troy Stainbrook in the third inning and scored the first two runs of the game on a wind-aided triple down the right-field line and a sacrifice fly.

The Hawks deserve credit for adding two more runs in the inning with three two-out hits, but so does Stainbrook for gutting out the next three innings and limiting Holy Names to four runs. Stainbrook went 5.2 innings and got a double-play in each of his last two innings to get out of jams.

His best Houdini act came in the top of the fifth, when Stainbrook and the Eagles wiggled out of a bases-loaded jam without allowing a run. After three Hawks reached safely to begin the inning, Stainbrook bounced back by striking out Keenan Reardon on three pitches for the first out of the inning  over his final two innings.

Then he got Alex Denobriga to line back to the box and start the exciting double play and started to turn the momentum in Biola's favor. The liner was hit just soft enough to Stainbrook to deflect it with his glove hand, angling it just enough for Joey Magro to dive for the ball and then touch second to take the Eagles off the field.

Biola was able to scratch together three runs over the first half of the game to make the score 4-3 after five innings. Ryan Gallegos collected his fifth homerun of the year with a solo shot in the third and chipped in a second RBI with a sacrifice fly in the fifth.

But the Eagles climbed back in the game for good when Head Coach Jay Sullenger found lighting in a bottle with two outs in the eighth. The Eagles turned to senior River Fawley to salvage the inning after two strikeouts from reliever Jimmy Doyle held Colton Worthington's leadoff double at second base.

Fawley did exactly what Biola hoped for in the pressure situation, smashing a 2-2 fastball to deep center field for a two-run homer that tied the game at 5-5.

Reliever Josh Ludeman got back-to-back strikeouts to end the ninth and leave Hawks standing at first and third. Then Anj Bourgeois led of Biola's half of the inning by hitting a pop fly that swirled around in the wind above the left field foul line before landing in fair territory for a leadoff double.

Holy Names attempted to prolong the game by walking Jerron Largusa and by bringing an outfielder in to be a fifth infielder against Ricky Perez. But Perez made the shift a moot point when he launched a 3-1 fastball from Joshua Nelson high over the left-field fence for the walk-off blast.

It was just the eighth hit of the game for Biola, but the Eagles fifth extra-base hit. The Eagles had as many singles on Thursday as they did homeruns.

Royals Finish First-Ever Season Sweep Of San Diego Christian

Recap, photo courtesy of Hope International University

FULLERTON, CA – Hope International played host for San Diego Christian on Tuesday, Apr. 10, in the series finale at Bastanchury Park. The Royals (37-5, 11-3 GSAC) used a pair of run-rule victories – a 14-1 win in game one and an 11-2 win in game two – to complete the season sweep of SDC (10-24, 0-12 GSAC).

In between games one and two of the doubleheader, the NAIA office released the latest Coaches' Top 25 poll. After compiling a 34-4 record coming into the week, the Royals now find themselves ranked No. 6 in the NAIA. The Top 10 ranking is the Royals' best in program history and is another first added to an ever-growing list of accolades this season for the Royals' softball program.

"We're going to enjoy [the best ranking], but we can't stop," Coach Dennis Blas said after the doubleheader. "We'll live in the moment a little bit, but you still have to play the games. Our goal from the beginning of the year has been to get to the [NAIA] playoffs and I think people around the country are starting to recognize what we're about… I'm proud of the effort our girls have put in this season."

Taylor Pierce and Jamie Ponce got the wins in the circle for HIU after combining to pitch nine innings of seven-hit, three-run softball. None of the runs allowed to SDC were earned. Between the two starters and a relief appearance from Taylor Asio, HIU held the Hawks to a .179 batting average on the day and did not allow an extra-base hit.

The Royals fell behind early in game one after an error extended the first inning and brought home a runner from third. SDC would not score after that, however, as the Royals put 14 unanswered runs on the board in the win. Justice Walker drove in two runs in the second to take the lead, and the Royals exploded for nine more in the third with four home runs in the inning.

Kaitlyn Lanksbury cleared the bases with a three-RBI blast, Bree Maikai hit her first homer in a Royals uniform for two RBI, Walker produced a solo shot, and Ponce lifted her second career homer out in left field for three more RBI and a 12-1 lead. A two-RBI double from Cynthia Barba in the fourth capped the unanswered offense for the 14-1 final.

Game two for HIU did not feature as many big hits, but the Royals' bats would produce 10 singles and a double. HIU hitters also showed good patience by drawing six walks in game two for extra baserunners.

The Hawks took another 1-0 lead in the first inning of game two after back-to-back errors from the Royals' middle infield allowed an unearned run to score, but HIU had a seven-run inning to answer in the bottom half of the frame. The first six HIU batters all reached base safely and the Royals would send 12 players to the plate in the first inning alone, finishing the frame with a 7-1 lead.

The Hawks would get one back in the second to make it 7-2 but did not score again after that point. HIU tacked on three more in the third with walks, singles, and a sacrifice fly, and capped the game with a single tally in the fourth. An Alexis Sargent double in that inning was cashed in for the 11-2 lead after a Karen Creech single brought her around from second to score.

"It's taken three years for our program to get to this point, but I'm really proud of our kids for buying in," Coach Blas said after the sweep. "We work on [hitting] everyday, we can hit a little bit as a team, and I'm really proud of our kids for doing what they're doing this season…We need to go and play the way that we know we can this weekend [against Ottawa and Arizona Christian] if we want to go 4-0 on that road trip."

HIU travels to face Ottawa (AZ) on Friday, Apr. 12, and will wrap up a season series against Arizona Christian on Saturday, Apr. 13, to finish off a grueling stretch of 10 games in six days. Links to live stats and video will be available from hiuroyals.com.

Amanda Melodia lifts Softball to split with Claremont-M-S

Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

WHITTIER, Calif. – Freshman Amanda Melodia (Placentia, Calif.) had a stellar weekend capping off the four game stretch with another win, this time against Claremont-M-S helping the Whittier College Softball team come away with a split during their Strike Out Cancer Event.

Game 1 (L, 11-3)

The Poets were matched up against CMS ace Anna Gurr in game one and she proved tough to hit with WC totaling three runs on six hits.  CMS added three runs over the first two innings getting after Poet starter Sam Casanas (La Habra, Calif.).  They tacked on another three in the 4^th to open the game up until the Poets were able to get on the scoreboard in the bottom half of the inning thanks to Brittany Attaway (Claremont, Calif.) who doubled to left scoring Melodia, who pinch ran for Marialena Ahern (Fremont, Calif.) after her single up the middle.

Trailing 6-1, Whittier still couldn't slow down the CMS bats as they would add another five in the top half of the 5^th behind a three-run blast from Fox that put the game out of reach.

WC got two back in the bottom half of the frame thanks to freshman Monique Amaro (Whittier, Calif.) who sent a pinch-hit two run shot to right center but it was a little too late, as the Athenas would secure the victory in five innings.     

Casanas went a complete game and picked up the loss dropping to 3-4 on the season.  On offense, Hayley Wishner (Chino, Calif.) was 2-2, Attaway was 1-2 with an RBI, Ahern was 1-3 and Amaro was 1-1 with a run scored and two runs batted in.   

Game 2 (W, 3-2)  

The second game of the doubleheader was a pitchers dual as Gurr and Melodia went after it both throwing complete games.  Gurr looked to pick up the clean sweep on the mound but the Poets had something to say about that edging CMS 3-2 and handing her, her sixth loss on the season.

This time around the Poets went on top this time as Alli Fonseca (Pico Rivera, Calif.) drove in Jade Sanchez (Whittier, Calif.) in the 4^th.

CMS rebounded though and brought across two in the 6^th to claim their first lead of the game with Perron singling down the left field line that plated two.  But that lead soon evaporated as the Purple & Gold would answer with the eventual game-tying and winning runs in the bottom half of the inning.

Sierra Rodriguez (Whittier, Calif.) led off the inning reaching on an error by the shortstop.  Ahern then stepped in and reached on a fielder's choice but due to an error by the third baseman, both runners were able to move up into scoring position.  The very next batter, the miscues continued for CMS with Sanchez reaching on an error by the second baseman bringing in the tying run.  Then to end the inning, Attaway would drive one to the left side, but again another error by the shortstop would put WC on top. 

Those four errors proved costly for the Athenas as Melodia would shut down the CMS bats in the 7^th en route to picking up her sixth win on the season giving up two unearned runs on six hits. 

Fonseca finished 2-3 scoring once.  Sanchez was 1-2 with two runs scored and an RBI and Rodriguez was 1-2 coming around to score once. 

Coyotes swept

Recap, photo courtesy of CSUSB

ROHNERT PARK (April 8, 2018) — CSUSB lost the final games of its series against host Sonoma State on Sunday, losing 5-4 in 12 innings
 
The Coyotes, now 10-24 overall and 10-18 CCAA, return to Fiscalini Field this weekend with a four-game series against San Francisco State.
 
Game 1: Sonoma State 5, Coyotes 4 12 innings
Erick Allegro keyed CSUSB with a two-run home run in the sixth, and finished the game with a 3-for-4 effort and two runs scored.
 
Mando Rodriguez and Anthony Ortega also had run-scoring hits, with Rodriguez coming through in the first, and Ortega in the second.
 
Starter Blake Timm went seven innings, giving up six hits, four runs (all earned) with four strikeouts. Senior RHP Matthew Moriarty came on in relief in the eighth and finished with two strikeouts.
 
Game 2: Sonoma State 13, Coyotes 2 6 innings
The game finished in six innings due to the CCAA rule regarding the final game of a conference series cannot begin a new inning after 4:30 p.m.
 
SSU scored 10 runs in the fifth.
 
CSUSB had four hits, with singles by Allegro, Alec Ceniceros, Shawn Porthan and Jake Peloquin.