SACRAMENTO, Calif. - In a series with three very competitive games, Sacramento State was able to rally from down 2-0 and 6-4 to force extra innings but No. 18 UC Santa Barbara got two runs in the 11th and was able to finish an 8-6 win in the rubber game of the weekend series.

The contest was the first extra inning game of the season for both teams. After taking a 5-4 win on Saturday Sacramento State (7-6) held a 4-2 lead over the Gauchos into the seventh inning on Sunday behind six strong innings from senior pitcher Ty Nichols. UC Santa Barbara (11-4) was able to battle back against the Hornet bullpen and improve to 4-1 this season on the road.

The Gauchos scored twice in the first inning, capitalizing on a Hornet error to score one run followed by another error and a passed ball to score a second on just one hit. That lead held until the fifth inning when, for the second consecutive day, the Hornets put a crooked number on the scoreboard in the inning.

Freshman Devin Lehman led off the fifth with a single before sophomore Brandon Hunley launched his first home run of the season over the left field wall to tie the score. After a walk and single the Hornets had runners at second and third with one away and senior Scotty Burcham hit a sacrifice fly to bring in one run and junior Nathan Lukes followed with an RBI single up to middle to put the Hornets up 4-2.

UC Santa Barbara regained the lead in the seventh as a leadoff double and a sacrifice fly brought in one run and first baseman Dalton Kelly came through with a 2-run homer to deep right center. The Gauchos extended their lead to 6-4 in the top of the eighth when Robby Nesovic doubled in a run off the left field wall with two away.

The Gauchos went to the bullpen in the bottom of the eighth and the Hornets jumped on reliever Connor Baits with a quick walk and a single. Joe Record came in to try to get his team out of trouble but with two away and runners on second and third Lehman singled into the 5.5 hole to bring in Burcham and Hunley followed with a single of the middle to score senior Kyle Moses and level the game at 6-6.

The game extended to extra innings and in the 11th the Gauchos got a leadoff single and, after a sacrifice, intentional walk, and strikeout, center fielder Andrew Calica smoked a 2-out double off the right field wall to bring in both runners. Record got the Hornets in order in the bottom of the inning, getting a sensational diving catch from left fielder Cameron Newell for the final out.

Nesovic went 4-for-5 in the game with three doubles, two RBIs, and two runs scored to pace the Gauchos. Hunley finished 2-for-5 with the home run and three RBIs and Lehman also had a two-hit game for the Hornets, who totaled nine hits while UCSB finished with 13.

Nichols allowed the two unearned runs in the first inning and nothing more, allowing just four hits with no walks and two strikeouts over six innings. Junior Grant Kukuk threw two strong innings of relief to get the game into extra innings but allowed the two runs in the 11th to take the loss. Four Hornet pitchers combined to allow just one walk in the game, the intentional free pass in the 11th, and had six strikeouts.

For UC Santa Barbara, starter Justin Jacome allowed four runs on six hits and two walks in seven innings. Record allowed the runners he inherited in the eighth inning to score but did not permit another base runner, pitching the last 3.2 innings and totaling four strikeouts for his first win of the season.

Sunday's game was played in front of a season-high crowd of 694 fans. The Hornets are back at John Smith Field at 2 p.m. Tuesday vs. William Jessup before their final non-conference series of the year next weekend at Cal Poly.