SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - What looked like a promising start for the UC Santa Barbara Softball team (10-10) quickly turned in the middle innings for the Gauchos as they fell to UNLV, 10-4 at Campus Diamond.

HOW IT HAPPENED
In the first inning, UC Santa Barbara took an early lead with a two-run homer by Ainsley Waddell, bringing in Santos who had singled earlier. This gave UC Santa Barbara a 2-0 advantage. The second inning saw UC Santa Barbara unable to add to their lead as they were held scoreless despite Erin Mendoza reaching base and subsequently stealing second.

UC Santa Barbara's third inning included a sacrifice fly by Bella Fuentes, which allowed Delaina Ma'ae, who had singled earlier, to score, narrowing the gap to 4-3. In the sixth inning, Alexa Sams was hit by a pitch and later scored on a single by Mejia, adding another run to UC Santa Barbara's total but leaving the score at 8-4.

Throughout the game, UC Santa Barbara collected a total of eight hits and left seven runners on base, ultimately falling short with a final score of 10-4 against the Rebels.

UP NEXT
The Gauchos will wrap up their tournament tomorrow as they host Creighton and UNLV each one final time. First pitch of game one will be at 10 a.m.