12:34pm | Though they had already lost the series, the Dirtbags pulled through Saturday during their last game in a three-match series against UC Santa Barbara, preventing a Gaucho sweep.

The first game of the series found Andrew Gagnon hurling a complete game, allowing five hits, but five unearned runs proved to be Long Beach State’s undoing as the Dirtbags fell 5-3 last Thursday at UC Santa Barbara.

Long Beach State took an early lead in the first inning as Brennan Metzger beat out a grounder to short that Brandon Trinkwon fumbled. Jeff McNeil followed with a single on a hit-and-run, and an RBI groundout by Matt Duffy put Long Beach State on the board with an 1-0 lead. In the bottom of the first, the Gauchos added an unearned run of their own, as leadoff batter Derek Eligio led off the inning with a fly ball that was dropped by Juan Avila, a three-base error that led to a run scored on a sacrifice fly from Sean Williams. Long Beach State took the lead in the third inning. Duffy led off the inning with a single and was followed by Ino Patron, who crushed a home run to right field to give the Dirtbags a 3-1 lead. That looked to be all that the Dirtbags would need, as Gagnon had allowed just one hit through six innings. Jesse Meaux, the Gauchos’ starting pitcher, had settled down after allowing nine early hits.In the seventh inning however, Mark Haddow doubled with one-out to start a rally for UCSB, and after Joe Wallce reached on an error with two outs, a double by Ryan Palermo tied the game at 3-3. UCSB’s Joe Winterburn then hit his first home run of the season to give the Gauchos a 5-3 lead.Meaux held off the Dirtbags in the eighth and ninth innings to earn the complete-game win for UC Santa Barbara), while Gagnon also had a complete game in the loss, striking out four and allowing five hits over eight innings. Friday’s match found the Dirtbags faring no better. McNeil had three hits to lead the Dirtbags, but UC Santa Barbara pitchers threw their second straight complete game as Long Beach State fell 7-2. 

A standout performance was given by Ryan Strufing, who threw four hitless innings of relief for the Dirtbags.UC Santa Barbara got on the board in the bottom of the first inning, scoring the first on a sacrifice fly from Mark Haddow following a single by Derek Eligio, and after two walks, a single by Joe Wallace brought home a second run as UCSB took a 2-0 lead.The Gauchos added two more in the bottom of the second, as LBSU starter Shaun Stuart’s third walk of the game led to his being pulled. With the bases loaded following a hit batter by reliever Matt Johnson, a single scored one run and a double-play scored another, leaving the  Gauchos to lead 4-0 after two innings.UCSB added three more runs over the next two innings to take a 7-0 lead, which was more than enough cushion for Greg Davis, who earned his fourth win of the year with a complete game, the second of the series for the Gauchos.

The Dirtbags scored a pair of runs in the eighth inning. After a single by McNeil, his third of the day, Patron doubled to get the Dirtbags on the board. A base hit by Mike Marjama, his second of the day, cut the lead back to 7-2.

Other Long Beach State chances were stifled by the Guachos’ solid defense, including a ball caught over the top of the fence by Wallace, robbing Metzger of a home run.

Entering in the fifth inning, Strufing had a good outing in relief for the Dirtbags, throwing four hitless innings while striking out two as the third pitcher for Long Beach State.

Though their fate was already sealed after losing the first two games of the three-game series, the Dirtbags gave a stellar performance Saturday, stomping out UCSB’s hopes for a sweep. Patron had two home runs, including a three-run blast that provided the Dirtbags a four-run lead, on the way to a 6-2 victory over UC Santa Barbara in the final game of the series. Long Beach State had their best start of the series, taking an early lead on Saturday. Matt Hibbert drew the first of two walks to start the game, and after taking second on a wild pitch, scored on a sacrifice and an RBI single from Duffy. Patron then cracked his first home run of the day and the second of the series to give the Dirtbags a 2-0 lead. The Dirtbags took a larger lead in the third inning. McNeil drew a one-out walk, and after a single from Duffy, Patron cracked another home run over the right field wall to put the Dirtbags in front 5-0. Another home run in the fourth, a solo shot by Metzger, put Long Beach State up to 6-0, all in support of Branden Pinder, who threw five perfect innings on the way to the win. A double by UC Santa Barbara broke up the no-no in the sixth, and Ryan Palermo would come home after the hit to cut the lead down to 6-1. Then in the bottom of the seventh, the Gauchos loaded the bases with one out against Pinder, who plunked Joe Wallace to bring home a second run. Freshman Kyle Friedrichs entered the game  and induced a ground ball for a 5-4-3 double play to end the inning and the UC Santa Barbara threat. Friedrichs then pitched two more scoreless innings to finish the game, earning his first save of the season. Long Beach State will play one more game on the road facing USC at 6 p.m. on Tuesday before returning to Blair Field as the Dirtbags host Cal Poly for a three-game conference series starting on Friday, April 29.