June 5, 2016
NASHVILLE – UC-Santa Barbara is now squarely in the driver’s seat at the Nashville Region.
After defeating Xavier, 5-4, on Sunday afternoon at Hawkins Field, the Gauchos are just one win away from advancing to the Super Regionals.
UCSB will play on Monday afternoon against the winner of Sunday night’s Xavier-Washington game, which starts at 8 p.m. The Xavier-Washington winner will have to beat the Gauchos twice on Monday (with the first game scheduled for 2 p.m. and the if-necessary game scheduled for 8 p.m.) to advance.
Clay Fisher went 3-for-4 and drove in three runs for No. 2-seeded UCSB (39-18-1) during the win over fourth-seeded Xavier (31-29).
Andrew Calica added two hits and scored a run for the Gauchos, who scored three runs in the first inning and added two more in the fourth to build a 5-0 lead and then held off Xavier from there.
David Morton had three hits, including his second homer of the season, and two RBIs for Xavier. Will Larue added two hits and an RBI, and Chris Givin had two hits and scored a run.
UCSB’s Noah Davis (6-4) earned the win, working six innings and allowing four runs, all earned, on nine hits. He finished with two walks and six strikeouts.
Justin Kelly pitched the final 2 2-3 innings in dominating fashion, recording seven strikeouts and allowing one hit while earning his first save of the season.
Xavier’s Trent Astle was saddled with the loss after allowing five runs, all earned, on eight hits in 3 1-3 innings.
UCSB’s offense got rolling early, scoring a run before the game’s first out was recorded. Calica opened the top of the first with a single, and scored one batter later on Fisher’s triple. Fisher then scored on JJ Muno’s sacrifice fly, and Bush capped the inning with a solo homer, his ninth of the season.
Xavier rallied back into the game by scoring two runs in the fourth and single runs in the fifth and sixth to pull within 5-4. But the Musketeers were held scoreless over the final three innings.