LONG BEACH – Though Shelby Wisdom made history with her 10th home run of the season, UCSB (19-35, 6-15) dropped its season finale with Long Beach State (28-24, 15-6) 5-4, as the 49ers surmounted a 4-0 Gaucho lead.
Wisdom’s three-run homer in the fourth sparked her team’s four-run effort, but it also placed her among the best home run hitters in UCSB lore. With it being her 10th of the season, she became just the fourth Gaucho ever to record double-digit home run figures in a single season. The four-bagger was also the 30th of Wisdom’s career, which ties her for second in school history with Tiffany Wright.
Overall, Wisdom led the team with two hits and three RBI. In the circle, Lena Mayer pitched the lion’s share of innings with 4 and 2/3, while Ashley Ludlow closed out the final 1 and 1/3. Mayer tossed three scoreless frames to open the game, but the 49er offense caught fire in the fifth inning in scoring four runs and taking the 5-4 lead.
With both teams struggling to get on the board early, UCSB ended the scoring drought in the top of the fourth anchored by Wisdom’s three-run blast. Jacqueline Hinojosa led off with a walk and quickly moved to second after a single from Arianna Palomares, setting the stage for Wisdom’s scoring play. The Gauchos would tack on one more run with DeJanee Moore singling to center field to bring Emily Brucelas home from second.
Long Beach State was quick to cut into the lead with one run in the bottom of the inning, as later took the lead in the fifth thanks to Darian Tautalafua’s three run dinger.
The Gauchos had chances in both the sixth and seventh innings to tie the game, but came up short. In the sixth, Wisdom led off with an infield single to third and was moved into scoring position off a sacrifice bunt. However, 49er pitcher Christina Clermont retired the following two batters to end the inning. In the seventh, UCSB again saw its lead off batter reach second base, but Clermont tallied three consecutive outs to seal the win.
