RIVERSIDE, Calif. - UC Riverside did their best to withstand UC Santa Barbara's anticipated outburst following the Highlanders' dramatic walk-off win in Friday's series opener, but four runs in the seventh inning proved too costly as UCR fell 9-5 on Saturday night at the Riverside Sports Complex to set up a Sunday matinee rubber match. 

The Gauchos put two on the board in the first and Anthony McFarland responded accordingly, putting a charge into an 0-1 pitch for a go-ahead three-run home run to deflate Santa Barbara's upstart momentum. It marked the Highlanders' eighth individual three-RBI outing of the season and McFarland's first of his career.

Tyler Weaver stayed hot with his fourth multi-hit game in his last seven overall, going 2 for 4 with a pair of runs and his first UC Riverside home run in the third. Jacob Badawi, who last year went 2 for 10 with two runs and two RBI in three meetings with the Gauchos, also saw continued success with his second multi-hit game of the series. 

McFarland's and Weaver's blasts marked UCR's fourth time this season with multiple home runs in a game and first since recording two apiece in all three games at CSUN back at the beginning of April. 

UCR and UC Santa Barbara had just two scoreless innings between them through four frames on Saturday before cooling down offensively in the fifth and sixth, where Caleb Turner's relief work sent Santa Barbara down semi-quietly with just one hit in each frame. Turner was pulled after 3.1 innings, but not before adding three more strikeouts to his season tally. 

Alexander Rivas did Turner one better in the eighth, however, retiring the side quietly with three punchouts to limit the damage. 

UC Riverside will go for its second consecutive series win on Sunday, with first pitch from the Riverside Sports Complex slated for 1:00 p.m. on ESPN+.