FULLERTON, Calif. (Saturday, April 22) - Coming into the weekend the UC Santa Barbara Softball team (23-16, 10-8 Big West) trailed Cal State Fullerton by a game in The Big West standings. After dropping game one, the Gauchos were highlighted by Ashley Donaldson and Alexa Sams on the offensive side of the ball. Unfortunately, UC Santa Barbara was unable to take down the conference leaders and fell 11-1 and 5-0 in Saturday's doubleheader. 

GAME ONE: GAUCHOS 1, TITANS 11
The Gauchos got out to a fast start loading the bases in the top of the first inning. Madelyn McNally singled to open up the game before Ashley Donaldson reach on a fielder's choice. Alexa Sams then doubled putting two Gauchos in scoring position. Hannah Damore walked to load the bases, but UC Santa Barbara could not plate a run leaving three runners stranded. 

The Titans would take the lead in the first on an RBI double and extend their lead to 2-0 with another double in the third. 

In the fourth, the Gauchos would put pressure on the Titans having runners at first and second. Malaya Johnson stepped in and smoked a ball right at the first baseman ultimately ending the inning. As the game went to the bottom of the fourth the Titans offense put up nine runs on seven hits taking an 11-0 lead. 

As they did in game one of the series, the Gauchos strung good at-bats together but it was too little, too late. A Donaldson double brought in McNally to erase the shutout but it's all UCSB could muster as the Gauchos fell 11-1. 

GAME TWO: GAUCHOS 0, TITANS 5
As in the first game, the Gaucho offense applied a lot of pressure to Cal State Fullerton early on in the game. UC Santa Barbara left four runners on base through the first two innings of play in game two of the doubleheader. 

As in the first and second games of the series, the Titans took a lead in the second inning of play. Fullerton scored two runs on three hits to take an early lead. In the top of the third At the Gauchos would again strand a runner. 

Two errors by UC Santa Barbara in the third brought in two more runs for Cal State Fullerton as they extended their lead to 4-0.

Starting pitcher, Camryn Snyder pitched well in the final game of the series. Although she was tagged with the loss, the junior threw six innings, allowing five runs (three earned) scattering eight hits, and striking out five. Snyder kept the Gauchos within striking distance for the majority of the game but with the offense unable to create some timely hits the Gauchos would fall 5-0 

QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH JO EVANS
Thoughts on the weekend: "I thought they (Cal State Fullerton) did such a great job with two outs. We would get two outs and feel like your rolling and they did a nice job of stepping up and getting timely hits and we didn't. Their pitchers did a good job, but our hitters need to do a better job making adjustments. Camryn Snyder threw really well. You look at what she did in that game. You take away a couple of those cheap runs and it's a ball game we are fighting for. I thought she showed really good poise. She got some big outs and big strikeouts against some good hitters."

On sticking with the process: "You just don't want to make it too big, but you also want to feel a little sense of urgency without feeling panicked. We've played the two best teams in conference the past two weekends and the win against Long Beach State was a good one for us. Coming into Fullerton if we play well maybe we sneak one from them. Right now they are the better team and you can see that on the field. I looked at their lineup and they are all seniors and juniors and experienced. That's different than our team. We have a bunch of underclassmen and kids that haven't had a lot of playing experience until this year. You can see that they are the more experienced ball club."

On the tradition and history, Evans wants to build: "I love playing here (Fullerton) because you can look out there and see the history. It's a great history they have here. We are trying to build that at our place. I think this is a pivotal time for us to grow the program and get better. Our scores aren't reflective of it right now against this team, but we are a team that will compete against them in the next few years for championships. I told our players we are going to get there it's just going to take some time."

UP NEXT
UC Santa Barbara returns home next weekend as they host UC Davis. The Gauchos and Aggies will play a doubleheader Friday, April 28 starting at 12 p.m. The series will conclude on Saturday, April 29 with a single game at 1 pm.