The Gaucho9 Podcast

Ep135: Playing Catch Up

UCSB Baseball enters this weekends series at CSUN a game out of first place and 30th in the RPI and continues to position itself for the post season.  On this episode we get listeners caught up on the Gauchos standing nationally as well as in conference and an update on recent, noteworthy performances.  Plus we have 4 interviews dating back to when UCSB snapped #1 UCLA's 27 game winning streak on April 14th.

First we have the Catchers Union with Nate Vargas, Nico Libed and Ian Fernandez, followed by the 3 pitchers that shut out the Bruins, Calvin Proskey, AJ Krodel and Cole Tryba.

Then we share the interviews from Bakersfield with the Peninsula Bro's Liam Barrett and Rowan Kelly as well as the Analytics Team in Jake Underwood and Aadi Chadha.

Ep134: Hoover & Montgomery, Kirtley, Week 5 Interviews

UCSB returns home to Caesar Uyesaka Stadium after seeing their 13 game winning streak snapped by UC Davis.  At 14-4 (4-2 BW) the Gauchos sit atop the conference standings and remain in the top 10 in the country in RPI bouncing between 6 and 7 going into a crucial stretch of games beginning this weekend v Hawaii.

On this weeks podcast we share 2 interviews from last weekends trip, first the 2 Santa Barbara pitchers, Kellan Montgomery and Chase Hoover and then our Dir. of Player Development and former Gaucho Christian Kirtley, all reflecting on the season to this point and their times as Gauchos.

Ep133: Noah Karliner, Coach Brontsema on Weeks 1-3

The Gauchos get set to begin conference play this weekend vs Long Beach St at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium and carry with them the 3rd best RPI in the Nation, plus a 9-2 record and 8 game winning streak.  On this weeks episode we revisit a pregame interview with UCSB right fielder Noah Karliner, the hero from last week's extra inning win at LMU.  Then we are joined by former Gaucho Head Coach Bob Brontsema to discuss the first 3 weeks of the season, the ferocious pitching staff, encouraging offense, and UCSB's standing nationally as we move through the early part of the 2026 season.

Ep132: Nick Husovsky + S.Miss Series, Goldstein & Mendez

UCSB begins the 2026 season 1-2 after a hard fought series in Hattiesburg, Mississippi with lots of positives to draw on.  SP Jackson Flora and 2B Cade Goldstein brought home BigWest Pitcher/Player of the Week Honors.  On this episode we dive into the career path of 5th year 1b Nick Husovsky and how grateful he is of the game of baseball.  Plus we include the pregame interviews from the weekend with Goldstein as well as SS Jonathan Mendez.

Gauchos take on the Portland Pilots this weekend and debut their new videoboard at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium, Friday 1st pitch scheduled for 4:05p.  All games are streamed on ESPN+

Ep131: 2026 Season Preview

It's Opening Day 2026 in College Baseball and the Gauchos are on the road in Hattiesburg, MS to take on Sun Belt power Southern Miss Golden Eagles.  Coach Checketts joins us to discuss UCSB's competitive schedule which includes games against 7 different regional teams from last season.  Then we conclude with a fun hotel lobby sit down with 4 starting pitchers, Jackson Flora, Nathan Aceves, Kellan Montgomery and Calvin Proskey. 

Ep130: 1st '26 Pod X ROW AJ

Xavier Esquer, Rowan Kelly & AJ Krodel join the Gaucho9 Podcast as we kick start a fresh season of UCSB Baseball pod content.  Opening Day is 8 days away so we decided to bring on these 3 veteran players to cover a variety of topics from their impressions of the new videoboard at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium, current baseball trends, as well as their baseball origins.

Ep129: Hot Ones with the Gauchos

As a homage to Matt Ager's favorite YouTube channel, the Gaucho9 Podcast presents Hot Ones with the Gauchos where we sample hot sauces on chicken wings and answer baseball questions.  6 former UCSB Baseball players sit down to test their tastebuds and try to conquer the infamous Thermageddon Hot Sauce which boasts a 2.6 million on the Scoville Heat Unit scale.  Hope you enjoy this one of a kind podcast with Matt Ager, Zander Darby, Ryan Gallagher, Aaron Parker, Justin Trimble, and Frank Camarillo!

Ep128: Coach Checketts Fall '25 Preview, Plus Willow on Blue Jays

The Pod is back for Fall of '25 and we kick things off with a recap and preview of things going on around the program with Head Coach Andrew Checketts.  UCSB finished the 2025 Season 36-18 (16-14) in 5th place in the BigWest after getting eliminated in the play-in game by Hawaii in the Conference Tournament.  Today we sit down and catch up on pro Gauchos, the latest news and a run down of the new roster.

Then we're joined by former Gaucho Jason Willow (50:15) as he reacts to the Blue Jays playoff run and Shane Bieber's start in game 3 of the ALCS v Seattle.

Ep127: Jason Willow '25 Midseason Report

For our 2025 mid season report we bring on Gaucho Alum and fellow podcaster, Jason Willow, from the Oppo Taco Podcast.  Just past the half way point of the season the Gauchos are 21-10 (7-8 BigWest) and have 15 conference games remaining to make the push towards the BigWest Tournament.  This week we unpack a variety of things in the sporting/life space as well as a break down of how the Gaucho season has gone and where the team is going as they hit the stretch run.

The Gaucho9 Podcast is presented by Kyle's Kitchen & the Yardi Youth Pass.  

Ep126: Donovann Jackson & Xavier Esquer, UCI Preview

Gauchos return home after a tough trip to Hawaii where they dropped their first series of the season to go to 15-4 (4-2 BigWest) and get set to take on UC Irvine in a pivotal home conference matchup this weekend at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium.  On this week's episode we recount the weekend interviews with LHP Donovann Jackson and 3b/SS Xavier Esquer, and then your host attempts a solo recap of the Hawaii series plus a preview for the upcoming series with the Anteaters.

The Gaucho9 Podcast is proudly presented by Kyle's Kitchen and Yardi.