SACRAMENTO, Calif. — UC Santa Barbara broke a 1-1 tie with a single run in the seventh inning, added two more in the eighth and five in the ninth to claim a 9-1 win in the second game of a three-game set against Sacramento State on Saturday night at John Smith Field.

The 22nd-ranked Gauchos evened the series at one game apiece and improved to 2-3 on the year. The Hornets had their three-game winning streak halted and dropped to 3-3.

Both teams had several scoring chances in the early innings but the game was tied at one through the first six frames. UCSB got off to a quick start using a leadoff walk, single and groundout to take a 1-0 lead in the top of the first.

Sacramento State tied the game in the fourth inning with leadoff home run from Tyler White for his second of the year.

Both starting pitchers lasted six innings and were able to pitch around traffic as both teams had just one 1-2-3 inning during that span. Senior right-hander Evan Gibbons allowed just three hits and struck out seven -- just one shy of his career high -- with a pair of walks for Sacramento State to lower his ERA to 1.64 on the season. Mike Gutierrez was equally impressive for the Gauchos scattering four hits with four strikeouts and two walks.

UCSB broke the deadlock in the seventh inning and then added some insurance the following two innings. Nick Oakley had a one-out double to right field and scored on single to center from Jessada Brown. The eighth inning started with a leadoff double from Zander Darby and Ivan Brethowr walked two batters later. Both runners scored on a single to left from Justin Trimble.

The Gauchos kept the pressure on in the ninth inning. The first two hitters reached and scored on a double to right from Brandon Durfee. Calvin Reiss later cleared the bases with a double to straight-away center.

Gutierrez (1-0) earned his first win of the year and Jackson Flora picked up his first save with three innings of hitless relief where he struck out seven.

White had his third multi-hit game this season and raised his batting average to .333 to lead the Hornet offense, extending his hitting streak to five games and logging at least one extra-base hit in each of those five contests. Junior Matt Masciangelo walked twice and has now reached base safely in all six of his appearances in the green and gold.

Darby finished 3-for-5 and scored a pair of runs and three other Gauchos had two hits for UCSB.

The series concludes on Sunday with the rubber game at 1 p.m. from John Smith Field and will also be streamed on ESPN+.