Despite a pair of late-inning rallies, Dixie State could not salvage the final game of its weekend series at No. 9/19 UC Santa Barbara as the Gauchos completed the three-game sweep with an 8-7 win on Sunday afternoon at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium.
 
The Trailblazers (19-32) drew first blood in their first offensive frame thanks to consecutive two-out hits to take an early 1-0 lead. Kaden Hollow drilled an opposite field double to left and scampered home four pitches later on a Tyson Fisher single.
 
UCSB (37-11) quickly countered with two runs in the home first and added another in the second on a lead-off Gianni Bloom homer to vault to a 3-1 advantage.
 
Dixie State came back to tie the game in the fourth when after Tyler Hollow singled and Chase Rodriguez walked, Mathew Ivancich rapped a base hit through the left side.

Gaucho leftfielder Christian Kirtley, anticipating a possible play at the plate, overran the baseball, which allow both Blazer runners to score and knot score at 3-3. Meanwhile Ivancich advanced to third on the one-out error, but the Trailblazers could not drive him in with the go-ahead run.
 
The game remained tied until the UCSB fifth when the Gauchos struck for three runs on a bases-loaded walk and a two-run Bloom single, which gave his side its biggest lead of the day at 6-3.
 
DSU spun some more two-out magic in the seventh, stringing together three-straight hits to trim the deficit to 6-5. Parker Schmidt started the rally with a single to left and would race all the way home when Kaden Hollow beat the Gaucho shift with a double to right field.
 
Fisher then followed with his second RBI-hit of the day three pitches later to draw the Blazers to within a run.
 
However UCSB would get those two runs back after the stretch on a Broc Mortenson two-run home run to right that pushed the lead back to three at 8-5.
 
In the DSU ninth, the Blazers loaded the bases with one out. Jagun Leavitt walked to lead off the frame, while Shane Taylor followed with a sharp single to center.
 
Then after a flyout, Kaden Hollow blooped a single to center, but both baserunners had to hold up to make sure the ball landed safely on the ground before advancing.
 
Fisher followed with an infield single to drive in Leavitt, then Tyler Hollow beat out the relay throw on a potential game-ending double play to allow Taylor to score and make it a one-run game.
 
That would be as close as the Trailblazers would get as Gaucho reliever Alex Schrier got Zach Thomas to flyout to center on a 3-2 pitch to end the game.
 
Dixie State lost despite outhitting UCSB 12-8, with Kaden Hollow and Fisher collecting three hits apiece, while Fisher led DSU with three RBI. In addition, Tyler Hollow and Taylor both tallied two hits as the top-five spots in the Blazer batting order went a combined 11-for-17 at the plate overall.
 
Dixie State continues season-ending SoCal road swing with a non-conference tilt at Loyola Marymount this Tuesday night in Los Angeles.