The Hornets are now 19-17 on the year while the Gauchos improved to 18-10.

UC Santa Barbara scored four early runs to take a 4-0 lead after two innings. In the first, Taylor Vogt drove in Nate Sutton from second with a single to right field. In the second inning, Greg Powers hit a three-run home run over the right-field wall.

Sacramento State cut the deficit to 4-2 with a run in the third and a run in the fourth. Freshman Billy Sinacori scored the Hornets’ first run when he advanced home on a balk by Gaucho starter Michael Martin. In the fourth, junior Buddy Morales drove in junior Ronnie Machado, Jr., from third with a sacrifice fly to right. Machado, Jr., led off the inning with a triple to right-center field.

The Gauchos increased their lead to 5-2 in the fifth after an RBI single to short by Matt Wilkerson scored Vogt from third.

The Hornets made it 5-3 in the bottom of the fifth when junior Andy Hnilo scored from first base after a two-base error by Matt Emerick in center field. Junior Bret LeVier hit single to center and the ball got past a charging Emerick to allow Hnilo to score.

UCSB took a 7-3 advantage in the seventh after Vogt scored on a passed ball and Bill Rowe hit an RBI single to center field.

Sacramento State added another run in the bottom of the seventh when Hnilo drove in junior Brett Flowers from third with an RBI groundout to short. Flowers led off the inning with a double to left-center field.

The Gauchos increased their lead to 8-4 in the eighth after a solo homer down the left-field line by Matt Kalafatis.

The Hornets answered with a run in the bottom of the eighth after junior Craig Johnson hit an RBI single to right with the bases loaded. With one out and the bases still loaded, Gaucho reliever Ivan Ramirez induced an inning-ending double play to end the Hornet threat.

UCSB pushed the advantage to 10-5 in the ninth when Valaika drove in a run with a fielder’s choice to short and Kalafatis hit an RBI single to left field.

Martin (8-0) earned the win after allowing four runs (three earned) on 10 hits while walking four and striking out four in 6.0 innings of work. Ramirez registered his first save after allowing only two hits in 1.2 innings of relief.

Katz (6-2) had his three-game winning streak ended after allowing seven runs (five earned) on nine hits while walking three and striking out three in 7.0 innings.

Arroyo, a native of Manteca, Calif., now leads the squad with a .359 batting average and 55 hits this season. LeVier finished 3-for-5 from the plate while Flowers extended his season-high hitting streak to 11 games after going 2-for-4.

Sacramento State and UC Santa Barbara will continue its series on Saturday, April 3, at 1 p.m. at Hornet Field. The series finale will be on Sunday, April 4, at 1 p.m. This weekend’s series will not be available on www. hornetsports.com.

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