LAMB'S GRAND SLAM NOT ENOUGH, HORNETS DROP SERIES FINALE AT UC SANTA BARBARA
3/6/2011
Derrick Chung was one of four Hornets with two or more hits but the Hornets lost to UCSB.
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Catcher Justin Lamb blasted a grand slam and tallied two more RBIs on a double but it wasn't enough as the Sacramento State baseball team was beaten 10-9 by UC Santa Barbara in the finale of a three-game series at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium.
The Hornets fall to 4-8 overall on the season while the Gauchos improve to 5-4.
Sacramento State faced an early deficit when UC Santa Barbara tagged starter Sam Kuykendall for four runs in the first inning. But the Hornets rallied with a big third inning.
Eli Davis led off with a double and scored three at-bats later when Trevor Paine singled to left field. Later in the inning, with runners on second and third, Derrick Chung's single to right scored Andrew Ayers from third. Justin Higley walked in the next at-bat to join Paine and Chung on the basepaths. That's when Lamb crushed a 2-0 pitch over the fence in right center for the Hornets' first grand slam of the season. The six runs scored was the most in a single inning by head coach Reggie Christiansen's team this year.
But the lead would be short-lived for the Hornets, as UCSB tacked on another four-run inning in the fourth and put single runs up in the
sixth and seventh innings to take a 10-6 lead.
Sacramento State nearly tied it up with a three-run eighth, including Lamb's two-run double, but could not complete their second rally of the day in the ninth when UCSB reliever Nick Loredo pitched a 1-2-3 inning to give the Gauchos the one-run victory.
Lamb tallied a season-high six RBIs for the Hornets on three hits and Chung, Davis and Paine all tallied two-hit games. UCSB had four players with three hits and three with two hits as the Gauchos banged out 18 hits in the game.
Kuykendall (0-2) took the loss after going one inning with four runs on five hits and one strikeout. UCSB starter Greg Davis (2-0) earned the win and Loredo tallied his first save of the season.
The Hornets play a Tuesday game at San Francisco this week before starting a three-game set at UC Irvine on Friday. Sacramento State's next home game is Tuesday, March 15 against Minnesota.
UC Santa Barbara 10, Sacramento State 9 (Mar 06, 2011 at Santa Barbara, Calif) ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Sacramento State.... 006 000 030 - 9 10 0 (4-8)
UC Santa Barbara.... 400 401 10X - 10 18 1 (5-4)
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Pitchers: Sacramento State - Kuykendall, Sam; Chamberlin, James(2); Creel, Brandon(4);
Amaral, Steven(7); Lukes, Shea(7); Galvan, Andrew(8). UC Santa Barbara - Davis, Greg;
Whalen, Connor(6); Uhrig, Bryce(7); Winterburn, Joe(8); Cuneo, Cameron(8); Loredo, Nick(8).
Win-Davis, Greg(2-0) Save-Loredo, Nick(1) Loss-Kuykendall, Sam(0-2) T-3:04 A-791
HR SAC - Lamb, Justin.
Weather: partly cloudy, windy, chilly
