SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The No. 25 UC Santa Barbara Baseball team earned a third straight come-from-behind victory on Sunday, completing a three-game sweep of Long Beach State with a 7-4 win. The Gaucho offense erupted in the sixth inning, scoring five runs in the frame to turn the tide. Cole Tryba locked things down out of the bullpen, pitching the final four innings to earn the win. Nick Oakley and Jonathan Mendez each provided a pair of RBIs on the day, with Brendan Durfee and Aaron Parker each driving in a run as well.
 
FROM ACTING HEAD COACH MATT FONTENO
"I told the boys I was really proud of them, how they fought through the adversity of the week," Fonteno said. "I think we're getting there in terms of getting to a good spot, trying to play good baseball on a consistent baseball. But again, today didn't start off our way offensively, we were slow to start then we got some opportunities, got some big hits from our guys and ultimately came out on top. Tryba did a good job closing the thing out."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
For a third straight game, the Gauchos only used two pitchers, with Ryan Gallagher working the first five innings before Tryba took over for the last four. Gallagher himself would admit Sunday was not his finest outing, as he committed a pair of errors and allowed a pair of runs, one each in the second and third, but he bounced back and worked one-two-three innings in both the fourth and fifth before handing over to Tryba.
 
The Gaucho offense also started slowly, putting just one runner on base in the first three inning, but they scratched across a run in the fourth to spark a flame. After a walk and a single put runners on the corners, the Dirtbag pitcher was called for a balk, which scored Parker from third to get Santa Barbara on the board, cutting Long Beach's lead to 2-1.
 
After Tryba set down the Dirtbags in order to start the sixth inning, the Gaucho bats went about hanging a really crooked number on the scoreboard. They got the lead-off man on, with Reiss Calvin getting aboard via a walk, then took advantage of Long Beach miscues. Zander Darby singled into left, sending Calvin to third, and a bobble by the fielder allowed Darby to move up to second. Durfee's groundout scored Calvin to tie the game at 2-2, and Darby took third. Parker promptly drove him home, smacking a single through the left side of the infield.
 
That chased the Long Beach starter, though their reliever promptly committed the second error of the inning, a bad throw keeping everybody safe after Justin Trimble's grounder. After Santa Barbara loaded the bases, Oakley drew a two-out walk to make it 4-2, then Mendez broke the game open with a two-RBI single back up the middle.
 
The Dirtbags were unable to score off of Tryba until they cracked a solo homer in the eighth, but the Gauchos immediately got that run back in their half of the inning. Ivan Brethowr worked his second walk of the game, and the speedy Jonah Sebring pinch-ran for him. When Oakley drove a double into the left field corner, Sebring flew around the bases for Santa Barbara's seventh run.
 
The Dirtbags threatened to make things interesting in the top of the ninth, getting a run off of three straight two-out singles, but Tryba induced a flyout to end the threat and the series.  
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• Over the course of the weekend's series, the Gauchos only used six pitchers, with their starters working 15 1/3 of the innings and three relievers handling the other 11 2/3.
• Cole Tryba was the only Santa Barbara relief pitcher to allow a run this weekend, as he, Tyler Bremner and Jackson Flora combined to strikeout 14 Dirtbags while maintaining a batting average against of just .167.
• Zander Darby returned to the lineup after a two-week absence, playing his first ever game at first base on Sunday. He recorded six outs on six chances and went 1-for-4 at the plate.
• With Sunday's come-from-behind win, the Gauchos are now 5-2 on the season when their opponent scores first, with four of those five wins coming in their last two weekend series.  

 
UP NEXT
Santa Barbara will head north next weekend for the 2024 Blue-Green Rivalry Series against Cal Poly, March 22-24. The games will be played at Baggett Stadium in San Luis Obispo, where the Gauchos have won their last five games. First pitch times are set for 6 p.m. Friday, 3 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.