MORAGA, Calif. — The UC Santa Barbara Baseball team (16-7) got themselves headed back in the right direction on Tuesday, earning a 7-2 win over Saint Mary's (12-12) in Moraga. Jonathan Mendez finished a triple shy of the cycle, driving in three runs, and LeTrey McCollum added three RBIs of his own to help power the offense. Nathan Aceves and Donovann Jackson were all that the Gauchos needed on the mound, with Jackson working 4 1/3 scoreless frames of relief to earn the win. It puts Santa Barbara back in the win column, snapping a five-game losing streak, and gives the Gauchos a measure of revenge after the Gaels won the first meeting of the season.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
After the teams traded one-two-three innings in the first, the Gauchos got the scoring started in the top of the second, with Mendez's lead-off double kickstarting the frame. Two productive outs, groundouts from Nate Vargas and Jeremiah Crain in that order, brought him home, and Aceves buckled down to make the lead stick in the bottom of the second.
 
The Gaels got a lead-off double of their own to start the home half of the second, but Aceves responded with a strikeout for out number one. After he walked the next man he faced, he came back with another strikeout. A flyout to right center ended the threat, and Santa Barbara came out for the top of the third to get some insurance runs.
 
The Gaucho offense did just that, plating four runs in the frame. Reiss Calvin led off with a single up the middle, and Corey Nunez's sacrifice bunt moved him to second, scoring position. Calvin had to hold up at third on Xavier Esquer's single into center field, but after Esquer stole second base, both he and Calvin were able to score on McCollum's two-RBI base hit back up the middle. McCollum then stole second, and after Jack Holman walked to join him on the basepaths, the Gauchos pulled off a double steal, McCollum taking third and Holman second. Mendez kept things rolling with a two-RBI single through the left side of the Gaels' infield, and it was 5-0 Gauchos.
 
Aceves worked around a hit batter in the bottom of the third, then left a Gael stranded on third in the bottom of the fourth. Mendez came back to the plate in the top of the fifth and kept right on slugging, launching a solo home run to left field to extend Santa Barbara's lead to 6-0.
 
Saint Mary's responded with a lead-off homer in the bottom of the fifth, but Aceves bounced back to strike out the next two hitters he faced. He was one strike away from getting out of the inning but gave up a two-out double down the left field line, and with his pitch count at 89, the highest of his rookie season, Aceves' day was done. Jackson could not keep the second run from scoring, giving up back-to-back singles, but then settled in, getting the final out of the fifth to begin a stretch of six straight Saint Mary's hitters retired.
 
The next Gael to reach would do so with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, but Jackson left him stranded on base. The crafty lefty stranded another runner on base in the eighth after a two-out walk, and he got another run of support to work with in the top of the ninth.
 
Cole Kosciusko got on base the hard way, being hit by a pitch to start the final frame. He took second on a wild pitch, then moved up to third on Nunez's single to shallow left. McCollum drove him the rest of the way home with a two-out single through the right side of the infield.
 
Jackson wrapped up the win by setting the Gaels down in order in the top of the ninth.
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• Jonathan Mendez's fifth-inning home run was his sixth long ball of the season, tying him with Jack Holman for the team lead. The slugging sophomore also leads the team outright with 17 extra-base hits on the season, accounting for more than half of his total hits this year. His .616 slugging percentage leads all qualified Gaucho hitters.
• Donovann Jackson was up to his usual tricks on Tuesday, working three or more innings of relief without allowing a run for the fifth time in nine outings this season. The crafty lefty now has a 1.33 ERA in 27 innings and leads the team in both wins (4-0) and saves (2).
• Nathan Aceves has emerged as the Gauchos' go-to guy on Tuesdays, starting the last three. He matched his career high with six strikeouts in Moraga, and he was one out away from matching his career high for innings pitched too.

 
UP NEXT
Santa Barbara stays on the road for their next four games, with a three-game series at Long Beach State this weekend next on tap. First pitch times from Blair Field are set for 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday, then 1 p.m. on Sunday. Saturday and Sunday's games will be live on ESPN+ and all three will have a free audio broadcast and live stats available at ucsbgauchos.com.