LONG BEACH – UCSB starting pitcher Mario Hollands suffered his shortest start of the season and the Gauchos could never climb out of the early hole as Long Beach State racked up 19 hits in a 12-1 win on Friday night at Blair Field.
Hollands, the Gaucho ace who has averaged nearly 7.2 innings per start this season, lasted just 3.1 innings on Friday night, allowing 10 runs on 15 hits. The lefty didn’t strike out a batter.
UCSB dropped its fourth game in a row and falls to 16-16 overall and 3-4 in the Big West. Long Beach State is now 17-17, 5-5.
Meanwhile, Long Beach State sophomore Andrew Gagnon struck out six over seven innings, while allowing just the Gauchos’ lone run.
The fireworks started immediately for Long Beach State in the first. Brennan Metzger started the first with a single to extend his hitting streak, and after a single by Devin Lohman, Metzger would score to get The Beach on the board. Two more runs would score on a bases loaded double from Tinoco to give the Dirtbags a 3-0 lead.
Leadoff doubles in the second and third innings led to two more runs for Long Beach State, and the Dirtbags really broke the game open for good in the next inning. Kirk Singer hit his fourth home run of the season, a solo shot to begin the fourth, and Joey Terdoslavich followed with a base hit prior to a triple from Jones to make the score 7-0. Three more singles would follow as the Dirtbags had five straight hits off of Hollands to take a 10-0 lead before the fifth inning.
The Gauchos lone run came in the sixth inning when Sean Williams singled to lead off the inning. After a walk, an RBI single by Marty Mullins got UCSB on the board. The Dirtbags added another run in the eighth inning to account for the final total.
The teams return to Blair Field for game two on Saturday. First pitch is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Saturday’s and Sunday’s games can be heard on AM 1490 and streaming live online at UCSBgauchos.com.
