SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – On the final day of the South Coast Invitational, the UC Santa Barbara softball team tallied their third win of the tournament against the Santa Clara Broncos, winning 9-6. The Gauchos have improved their overall record to 6-14.

Shortstop Madelyn McNally went 4-for-4, coming around to score each time against the Broncos' pitcher. This was the first game in the 2022 season where a Gaucho had a four-hit performance. First baseman Rayna Cohen and center fielder Tyler Goldstein followed behind McNally with three hits apiece. 

McNally opened the scoring for UCSB with a solo home run in the bottom of the first. However, the Broncos responded with three runs in the top of the second moving the score to 3-1 in favor of Santa Clara.

In the bottom of the third, McNally launched a triple into left center and was brought home with a sacrifice fly from right fielder Ally Nodohara, cutting the Bronco lead to one run. 

Both teams were scoreless in the fourth inning, but the Santa Clara first baseman hit an RBI single and pushed the score to 4-2 in the top of the fifth. 

Trailing behind by two, McNally led the fifth inning charge with a triple for the Gauchos, who sent 10 batters to the plate. Nodohara followed it up with a single RBI as McNally made it home.  

Cohen notched her second hit of the day with a single through the right side, advancing Nodohara to third and causing a pitching change for the Broncos. 

With Hannah Edwards now in the circle, Thies hit a sacrifice bunt to tie the game at 4-4. Riding the momentum, third baseman Korie Thomas hit an RBI single as pinch runner Lauren Lewis scored and Thies advanced to third.

Before the fifth inning ended, Goldstein and catcher Daryn Siegel each tallied an RBI as Thies and Thomas crossed the plate, taking the lead 7-5. 

Pitcher Camryn Snyder held the Broncos scoreless in the third and fourth, but gave up a run in the fifth and sixth before getting relieved by Lexy Mills. 

The bottom of the sixth saw four more hits from the Gauchos, one apiece from McNally, Nodohara, Cohen, and Goldstein - two of which translated into runs from McNally and Nodohara. 

UCSB headed into the seventh with a four-run lead (9-5), but the Broncos threatened in the final inning when they loaded the bases with no outs. Pitcher Alyssa Molina then came in relief to only allow a sacrifice fly to earn the save. The game ended in the top of the seventh, giving the Gauchos their sixth win at home. 

Next Up
Santa Barbara will host the SB Spring Break Bash, the fourth and final home tournament of the season, next weekend at Campus Diamond.