UCSB blasted five home runs and salvaged the final game of its three-game baseball series at Fresno State, 13-5, on Sunday.
Zander Darby, Jared Sundstrom, Christian Kirtley, Aaron Parker and Broc Montensen all cleared the fences at Beiden Field, and reliever Hudson Barrett threw 4.2 shutout innings to earn his second win out of the bullpen.
UCSB improved to 18-6 on the season and Fresno State fell to 15-11.
The Gauchos scored their first run in the second as Mortensen led off the inning with a single to right, stole second base and scored on Nick Oakley’s two-out double.
They added three runs in the third before Fresno State came back with a run in the bottom of the third and another in the fourth off starter Reed Moring.
Darby went yard off Bulldogs’ starter Roman Angelo for his fifth home run of the season. Kirtley followed with a four-pitch walk and Sundstrom came up as a pinch hitter against left-handed reliever Robbie Peters. Sundstrom crushed a three-run homer to make it 7-2.
The Bulldogs scored three runs in the bottom half of the fifth, loading the bases and ending Moring’s afternoon.
Barrett entered as was nearly untouchable, He allowed just two baserunners over the final 4.2 innings.
The Gauchos’ offense continued to feast on Bulldog pitching. Darby picked up his second RBI of the day on a fielder’s choice in the sixth, then Kirtley mashed his second no-doubt home run of the weekend in the seventh to make it 9-5.
Fresno State sent out their closer in the top of the ninth, and Parker turned on the first pitch he saw, taking it well over to right-center fence for the 10th run.
Mortensen capped things off with his fourth home run of the season, a three-run bomb to right.
The Gauchos are back home Monday against Santa Clara. First pitch is at 2:05 p.m.
BY THE NUMBERS
• With their nine total home runs over the weekend, UCSB is the first team in The Big West to 40 homers this season; only one other team in the conference has more than 30
• Sunday was the Gauchos’ second five-homer game this season (at Oregon Feb. 25).
• Five UCSB hitters finished with multiple hits, including LeTrey McCollum, who went 2-for-5, extending his hitting streak to 11 games, the longest streak by a Gaucho this season
• After his 4.2-inning outing on Sunday, Barrett has now pitched 24 innings this season, the most of any UCSB reliever. He lowered his ERA to 0.75.
• Sundstrom is the first Gaucho to record a pinch-hit home run this season