UCSB was able to bounce back from a tough 12-2 run-rule loss to No. 7 UCLA and take a 3-0 lead in the first inning of game two of Tuesday’s doubleheader, but a big fourth inning from the defending national champions helped the Bruins earn the second win, 10-4.
With the pair of losses, UCSB falls to 12-16 on the season while UCLA improves to 23-5. The Gauchos have lost seven straight, marking their longest skid of the year. The last five losses have all been to top-10 ranked opposition.
In Tuesday’s second game, Keilani Jennings got the Gauchos on the scoreboard when she drove Kathryn Pilpil home from second base with a single up the middle. Kendall Gill followed with a single through the left side that pushed Allison Taylor across home plate. A fielding error by third baseman GiOnaa DiSalvatore allowed Jessica Beristianos to load the bases with two outs. Lauren Boser grounded out to first on the following play, but not before giving Jennings ample time to come home and put the Gauchos up, 3-0.
A two-run homer hit to right field by DiSalvatore in the bottom of the same inning cut the UCSB lead to one run. Then, in the bottom of the third, Kellie Fox hit a double to right center field, sending DiSalvatore home for the game-tying run.
B.B. Bates broke the tie in the next inning with a double to right center that sent Amy Crawford and Devon Lindvall across home plate. One walk later, Andrea Harrison hit a long ball down the right field line, pushing the Bruin lead to five runs.
In the fifth, Crawford hit a two-run homer over the center field fence to further distance UCLA at 10-3. Beristianos hit her first home run of the season with a 2-2 count to lead off in the sixth inning, but it was the final run of the game as the Gauchos fell, 10-4.
Krista Cobb (4-8) suffered the loss after allowing 10 earned runs on seven hits. She walked six and struck out five in the effort.
During the first game of the doubleheader, UCLA got ahead early when Dani Yudin hit a two-out bases loaded homer to center field. A sacrifice fly by Bates in the second drove Jessica Hall home for an unearned run and in the third; the Bruins tacked on two more runs with a pair of solo homers hit by Alyssa Tiumalu and Hall.
The Gauchos were finally able to break through in the fourth inning when Pilpil scored on a wild pitch.
The Gauchos turned three double plays during Tuesday’s twin bill bringing their Big West-leading total to 16 on the season. UCSB currently ranks among the nation’s top-10 for double plays per game with an average of 0.57.
UCSB will return home this Saturday to host its Big West Conference opener against Cal State Fullerton. The three game series will begin with a noon doubleheader on Saturday and conclude with a noon game on Sunday, all at Campus Diamond.
