Highlanders End 2026 in Santa Barbara

Saturday, May 16

Santa Barbara, CA

1:00 pm

UC Riverside

15-37, 10-20

UC Santa Barbara

37-16, 22-9

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
UC Riverside	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	7	1
UC Santa Barbara	0	0	0	0	4	1	0	0	X	5	9	0

5/16/2026 4:25:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - UC Riverside's season came to an end at UC Santa Barbara after the Gauchos completed the series sweep winning 5-3. The Highlanders got on the board first scoring three times in the top of the second. Esteban Sepulveda clubbed his second homer of the series, a three run shot today, to give UCR a 3-0 lead. It was his third homer and 18th RBI on the year.

Joshua Martinez got the start for UC Riverside and pitched well. He went four innings and gave up one run with three strikeouts. The blemish came on a homer by Jonathan Mendez.

He was relieved in the fifth by Marco DiGirolamo. The senior righty made history today. It was his 32nd appearance on the season, which according to the UC Riverside Baseball Record Book set a new single season record for appearances. The previous mark, of 31 back in 1994, was set by Scott Tebbetts.

After the four Gaucho runs in the bottom of the fifth they added one more in the bottom of the sixth to make it 5-3.

The Highlanders came alive in the top of the ninth. Jarren Sanderson led the inning off with a single and Robert Pitts followed a couple of batters later with a base hit. With two on and only one out UCR could not get that big hit to extend the game.

Wrapping up the season the Highlanders won ten conference games. They doubled their conference wins from a year ago and the ten wins was the most conference wins since 2021 when they won 12. The ten home wins was the second since the COVID shortened season in 2020.