THE BASICS:

RESULT: UCSB 7, Hartford 6
LOCATION: Caesar Uyesaka Stadium (Santa Barbara, Cali.)
RECORDS: Hartford (6-4); UCSB (12-3)

THE LEAD:
The Hartford baseball team got off to a quick start on offense, but UC-Santa Barbara rallied in the seventh inning to claim a 7-6 victory over the Hawks on Sunday afternoon.

Billy Walker hit a three-run homer and Erik Ostberg added three hits, but it wasn't enough as the Hawks fell just short of a victory. Clay Fisher had two hits and two RBIs for the Gauchos, while relievers Trever Bettencourt and Kyle Nelson tossed two scoreless innings each.

HOW IT HAPPENED:
·         The Hawks jumped out to an early lead in the first inning to get the bats going. David MacKinnon and Chris DelDebbio doubled with one out in the inning, and Ostberg walked to load the bases. Ben Bengtson drove in MacKinnon on a sac fly to plate a run, and Ashton Bardzell came up with a big two-run single to push the lead to 3-0 in favor of the Hawks.
·         UCSB answered right back in the bottom half, grabbing a run on an RBI single to make it 3-1.
·         Hartford got a big boost from Walker when the senior hit a three-run bomb to left to open the lead up to 6-1. Walker brought home Ostberg and Bardzell after the pair both singled in the inning.
·         UCSB added two runs on a single from Fisher in the fourth inning to cut down on Hartford's lead, the score then 6-3. The Gauchos added another run in the fifth inning, which chased starter Brian Murphy from the game after 4 1/3 innings of work.
·         Jacob Mellin relieved Murphy and managed to get the Hawks out of a jam to keep Hartford's lead at 6-4. After walking his first batter, Mellin struck out Michael McAdoo and forced Billy Fredrick to foul out to end the inning.
·         Hartford brought out Seth Pinkerton for the seventh to try and continue to hold the lead, but UCSB managed to load the bases with nobody out. Sam McKay was then called on to try and hold off a rally, but the Gauchos broke through on base hits from Fredrick and Kyle Plantier to take the lead at 7-6.
·         Aaron Wilson singled to get on base in the ninth, but the Hawks could not put together a rally, with Hartford falling by a final score of 7-6.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
·         Walker clubbed his second home run of the season today, giving the Hawks an early lead. Walker had just two home runs in his Hawks career before this season.
·         Bardzell collected two more hits and a pair of runs driven in for the Hawks. The freshman is batting .400 over his last four games, driving in a pair of runs on four hits.
·         Ostberg continues to mash the ball, adding three more hits on the day. The sophomore designated hitter leads the team with 16 hits and a .371 batting average.
 
NEXT UP:
The Hawks will return to the Northeast for a Wednesday afternoon matchup with Manhattan in Wappinger Falls, N.Y. The game will begin at noon, and be sure to check out @HartfordBASE on Twitter for in-game updates