Baseball Closes Season with Super Regional Appearance

SANTA MARIA, Calif. - After a historic season that included the program's first 3C2A Super Regional appearance since 2013 and a new school record for wins, the No. 5 Allan Hancock College baseball team saw its 2026 campaign come to an end against No. 13 Santa Barbara City College at John Osborne Field.

The Bulldogs wrapped up the year with a 34-12 overall record, surpassing the previous program record of 33 wins that was set in 1989, while making the deepest postseason run for the program in more than a decade. 

Game one featured a dramatic, extra-inning showdown between the familiar rivals in a back-and-forth contest that featured 25 combined hits and multiple momentum swings. Hancock jumped out early with five runs over the first two frames, highlighted by a three-run homer from Matt Kovach. Santa Barbara answered with a run in the fourth before breaking through with four runs in the sixth and three more in the seventh to take the lead. The home squad battled back to force extra innings, but the SBCC pushed across the go-ahead run in the top of the 10th to escape with the win.

Chase Wise led the way with four RBIs on the day, followed by Kovach's three and one apiece for Trent Martin and Braden Oliver. 

Gustavo Crawford earned the start on the mound but did not factor into the final decision after 5.2 innings of work. Gabriel Moralez suffered the loss after appearing for 2.2 frames. He struck out three but walked four and allowed one earned run on five hits. 

The season came to a close in game two after suffering an 8-3 loss to SBCC as the visiting team on the scoreboard. The Bulldogs scored first in the opening frame when Parker Schwake sent a shot to center field, plating one runner. Santa Barbara answered in the bottom of the inning by scoring three and managed to hold the advantage through to the end. 

Kovach provided the big bat for Hancock once more and drove in the final runs of the game for AHC after sending a two-run shot over the fence at right-center. The Vaqueros answered one run in the third, then broke the game open with a three-run fourth inning before scoring one more time in the fifth. 

Seth Tedeschi made the start and was charged with the loss after allowing two earned runs on five hits through the opening 3.1 frames. Gage Mattis closed out the final 4.2 innings, striking out one and allowing one earned run while scattering five knocks. 

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