On day three of the 2022 Gaucho Classic, the UC Santa Barbara softball team was defeated by Boise State by a final score of 20-7.
The Gauchos (3-11) held the Broncos (10-2) without a hit in the first inning, but the visitors would score two in the second and five more in the third to take a 7-0 lead.
Both teams got hot in the fifth inning. BSU added another five runs, but UCSB answered with five runs of its own. Sam Denehy led off with a walk and second baseman Maci Fines was hit by a pitch on the following at bat.
Shortstop Madelyn McNally helped the Gauchos get on the board with an RBI single through the left side. Right fielder Ally Nodohara followed with a fielder’s choice and first baseman Rayna Cohen tacked on her own RBI single through the left.
After the first five Gaucho batters got on base, catcher Teah Thies provided UCSB’s biggest swing of the day, a three-run homer to score runs from Cohen and Nodohara.
In the sixth, both teams matched each other in runs again. Boise State scored twice in the top half of the inning. Chloe Stewart reached on a fieder’s choice and Fines hit an RBI double to right center. Nodohara would get her own RBI on a groundout to first that brought Fines home, making it 14-7 in favor of the Broncos.
Unfortunately for the Gauchos, Boise would save its best scoring inning for the seventh, picking up seven more runs. UCSB got a hit from Thies and a walk from Ashley Donaldson in the bottom of the seventh, but the game would end several at bats later.
Tomorrow, the Gauchos will close out their second home tournament in a rematch against Boise State at 11:00 a.m. at Campus Diamond.