SANTA BARBARA (Interstat) — Ruger Riojas pitched five shutout innings of no-hit baseball and Aiden Robbins delivered a go-ahead two-run homer in the seventh inning as Texas defeated UC Santa Barbara 6-4 on Sunday.

Riojas, a right-hander, allowed one unearned run on no hits and struck out six over five innings. The only run charged to him came in the first inning when Rowan Kelly homered to right-center field, but that run was unearned due to an error later in the inning. Riojas left with the game tied 1-1 after five innings.

Texas improved to 43-13 while UC Santa Barbara fell to 40-20.

The Longhorns broke a 1-1 tie in the sixth inning. Aiden Robbins singled and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Rodriguez. Ethan Mendoza followed with an RBI single, scoring Tinney to give Texas a 2-1 lead.

UC Santa Barbara answered in the bottom half. After Riojas was replaced by Leffew, the Gauchos loaded the bases on two walks and a single. A throwing error by reliever Brett Crossland allowed two runs to score, giving UC Santa Barbara a 3-2 lead.

Texas regained the lead in the seventh inning. With one out, Borba singled and advanced to second on a bunt interference call. Robbins then homered to right-center field, his 12th of the season, driving in both runners to put Texas ahead 4-3.

The Longhorns added two more in the eighth. Rodriguez singled and scored on a double by Mendoza. Mendoza later stole third and scored when a pickoff attempt by reliever AJ Krodel went into left field, making it 6-3.

UC Santa Barbara pulled within two in the bottom of the eighth. Barrett singled and moved to third on a double by Kelly. A groundout by Vasseur scored Barrett, cutting the lead to 6-4.

Thomas Burns pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings of relief for Texas, striking out three. Ethan Mendoza finished 2 for 4 with two RBIs. Aiden Robbins went 2 for 5 with a home run and two RBIs.

For UC Santa Barbara, Rowan Kelly went 2 for 3 with a home run, a double and an RBI. Kellan Montgomery started for the Gauchos, allowing two earned runs on six hits over 5 2/3 innings with five strikeouts. AJ Krodel struck out four in 2 2/3 innings of relief but allowed one unearned run.

The game was a tight pitchers’ duel early as Riojas and Montgomery traded zeroes. Riojas retired 12 of the first 13 batters he faced after the leadoff homer. Montgomery stranded runners in scoring position in the second and fourth innings.

The Longhorns improved to 8-3 in their last 11 games. UC Santa Barbara had won six of its previous eight before Sunday.

The Gauchos threatened in the ninth. With runners on the corners and one out, Texas reliever Luke Harrison came in and induced a popup to shortstop and another popup to end the game.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Texas 7, UC Santa Barbara 6. The ELO system gave Texas a 62.10 percent probability to win. Texas was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of plus-4.5.