Box Score

DAVIS, Calif. -- Visiting UC Santa Barbara scored four times in the fourth inning to erase an early UC Davis lead, and then held off a pair of late-game rallies by the Aggies, lifting the No. 13 Gauchos to a 7-3 victory in game two of their Big West Conference series on Saturday afternoon at Dobbins Stadium.

UC Davis fell to 14-26 overall and 3-11 in league play with the defeat, snapping a season-long five-game winning streak that included a 6-2 win in the series opener on Friday. UCSB improved to 31-11-1 overall and 9-5 in the Big West, collecting 11 hits on the day to even the series at one win apiece.

After the game was pushed back two hours from its originally scheduled 1 p.m. start due to rain, the Aggies struck first with a run in the first, taking advantage of a bit of wildness by Gaucho starter Joe Record (5-4), getting a one-out single by Alex Aguiar and loading the bases with two outs when Logan Denholm was hit by a pitch and Caleb Van Blake drew a walk. That brought up Alex Roeser, who worked the count in his favor before drawing a five-pitch walk to drive Aguiar home for the 1-0 lead.

A ground ball got Santa Barbara out of the inning, but the offense could not respond until the fourth, stranding a pair of runners in scoring position in the process. UCSB sent eight batters to the plate in its decisive fourth inning, tying the game on a sacrifice fly and going ahead for good on an RBI single by Michael McAdoo two batters later. Another RBI single and a sac fly plated two more runs as the Gauchos took control with a 4-1 lead.

An RBI groundout in the sixth gave the Gauchos a four run advantage, but the Aggies got the run back in its half, loading the bases once again before pushing across a run. A one-out single by Olson, an error on a ground ball that would have ended the inning, and another walk, loaded the bases for Mason Novak, who worked a five-pitch walk off Record to score Olson and make it 5-2. A strikeout ended the inning, leaving the bases loaded for a second time.

Record struck out seven while allowing just three hits in six innings, walking five.

UC Davis inched even closer in the eighth as Denholm led-off with a single, went to second on a balk, and third on a passed ball, with Van Blake at the plate, and the freshman delivered, skying a ball to centerfield, deep enough to place Denholm and make it a two-run contest.

The Gauchos, however, put it out of reach in the ninth when Austin Bush connected on his fifth home run of the season, this a two-run shot, for the final 7-3 advantage.

Back-to-back walks off reliever Alex Garcia to start the home half of the ninth had the Aggies threatening again, but Kyle Nelson came in out of the bullpen to get the final three outs, locking down his fifth save of the season.

In all, UC Davis stranded nine on the base paths for the game, stranding seven of those runners in scoring position. Meanwhile the defense did well to limit the damage, also stranding nine Gauchos on the base paths, seven of those in scoring position.

Spencer Henderson (1-3) suffered the loss allowing four earned on eight hits, and striking out three in six innings.

Sophomore Brad Pluschkell finished 1-for-3 to extend his hitting streak to seven games with a single in the seventh, while senior Tanner Bily had his 11-game hitting streak come to an end with an 0-for-5 day.

The rubber game of this three-game series is scheduled for Sunday afternoon (May 8) at 1 p.m. at Dobbins Stadium.

UC Santa Barbara 7, UC Davis 3 (May 07, 2016 at Davis, Calif.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
UC Santa Barbara.... 000 401 002 - 7 11 1 (31-11-1, 9-5 BIG WEST)
UC Davis............ 100 001 010 - 3 4 1 (14-26, 3-11 BIG WEST)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Pitchers: UC Santa Barbara - Record, Joe; Kelly, Justin(7); Garcia, Alex(9); Nelson, Kyle(9) and Rowan, Thomas. UC Davis - Henderson, Spencer; Mullins, Justin (7); Hannah, Blake (9) and Denholm, Logan.
Win - Record, Joe (5-4) Save - Nelson, Kyle (5) Loss - Henderson, Spencer (1-3) T-3:15 A-382
HR UCSB - Bush, Austin (5).
Weather: it's moist outside
Henderson, S faced 1 batter in the 7th.
Record, J faced 1 batter in the 7th.
Garcia, A faced 2 batters in the 9th.