FRESNO, Calif. - The UC Santa Barbara Softball team (6-3) dropped both games on the day. Their first losses in over a week. The Gauchos were unable to find a timely hit in both games to tie or take the lead late in the contests.

GAME ONE: GAUCHOS 1, LIONS 5
In the first inning, UC Santa Barbara's Jazzy Santos started the game with a single, and Erin Mendoza followed with a walk, putting two runners on base. Despite this promising start, the team was unable to capitalize, leaving two runners stranded with the score tied at 0-0. The third inning saw Santos again contributing with a single through the left side. However, the team could not bring her home, as subsequent batters were retired, keeping the game scoreless.

During the fourth inning, the Lions took the lead with three runs, taking advantage of a UC Santa Barbara error. The Gauchos responded with Delaina Ma'ae getting on base with a single, but a double play ended the inning without any runs scored. The seventh inning provided a highlight for UC Santa Barbara as Ma'ae singled and then advanced to third on a double by Katie Terrazas. Santos brought Ma'ae home with a sacrifice fly, marking the team's sole run of the game, concluding the contest with a final score of 5-1 in favor of LMU.

GAME TWO: GAUCHOS 4, BULLDOGS 9
In the first inning, UC Santa Barbara went down in order with three consecutive outs. Fresno State capitalized early, scoring five runs on three hits, including an RBI walk and an RBI single. The inning ended with UC Santa Barbara trailing 5-0.

In the second inning, UC Santa Barbara responded as Ma'ae hit a solo home run, putting the Gauchos on the scoreboard. Despite a single by Alexa Sams, Santa Barbara couldn't add more runs, leaving the score at 5-1. The Bulldogs were held scoreless in the bottom half of the inning with three quick outs.

The fourth inning saw UC Santa Barbara narrow the gap with three runs. Bella Fuentes started with a single followed by Emily Carr's RBI double. Tehya Banks added an RBI double and Mendoza's single brought Terrazas home, bringing the score to 5-4. Fresno State was unable to score in their half, as the Gauchos stayed within reach.

In the sixth inning, the Bulldogs extended their lead with four runs on three hits, including a two-RBI double and an RBI triple. Despite the Gauchos efforts in the seventh, with hits from Ainsley Waddell and Alexa Sams, they could not score, resulting in a final score of 9-4 in favor of Fresno.

UP NEXT
The Gauchos will close out the 2025 Fresno State Kickoff Classic with games against LMU and Utah tomorrow. The first game will begin at 10 a.m. with the second game being played at 12:30 p.m.