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Saint Mary's College Athletics Gaels

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BSB | Gaels Host Cal Poly, Travel To Santa Clara To Close Out 2014

MORAGA, Calif. -- The Saint Mary's baseball team brings its 2014 campaign to a close this week as the Gaels host nationally ranked Cal Poly before heading to rival Santa Clara for a season-ending three game series.

Action begins Tuesday at 3 p.m. when the No. 6-ranked Mustangs come to Louis Guisto Field for Saint Mary's final home game of the season. Play shifts to the South Bay this weekend when the Gaels and Broncos square off in a three-game set beginning Friday at 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday games are scheduled for 1 p.m. at Stephen Schott Stadium.

Links to live streaming video and statistics for Tuesday's game as well as this weekend's road series can be found on the Schedule page on SMCGaels.com.

Saint Mary's enters the final week of the season looking to finish strong after taking one of three during a weekend series against San Francisco. The Gaels won Friday's series opener 4-1 behind a fantastic performance by starter Ryan Brockett in the left-hander's final start at Louis Guisto Field.

Brockett has been Saint Mary's stalwart in the rotation this season, taking the ball for the first game of every series and setting the tone consistently. The southpaw from West Hills, Calif. made his final home start a memorable one, throwing a complete game in a 4-1 win over San Francisco on Friday. He'll enter his final start as a Gael with a 5-7 record and a 3.52 ERA.

Saint Mary's other notable pitching performance over the weekend came from right-hander Jake Valdez. The sophomore from San Diego entered in the second inning on Sunday and proceeded to throw 7 1/3 dominant innings, allowing just three hits, walking one and striking out four.

On the offensive side, there isn't much question who the Gaels' hottest hitter is. DonAndre Clark went a scalding 8 for 14 (.571) in four games last week, scoring four runs and driving in another while hitting all over the Saint Mary's lineup. Clark also played his typically brilliant center field, tracking down balls all over the field as the man in the middle of SMC's outfield. Michael Valentin also enjoyed a solid week at the plate, going 5 for 10 over the same stretch.

Cal Poly comes to Moraga for its final non-conference game of the season and the Mustangs have firmly established themselves as one of the top teams on the West Coast. Head coach Larry Lee's group enters the week with a 41-10 record and heads into the final four games of the regular season on the heels of a series win over UC Irvine.

The Mustangs feature plenty of offensive firepower throughout the lineup but infielder Mark Mathias leads the way with a .383 batting average. Nick Torres is Cal Poly's RBI leader with 43 and also leads the team in home runs (5) to go with a .316 average.

Saint Mary's and Cal Poly have already met once this season, with the Mustangs claiming a 6-2 victory in San Luis Obispo on April 8. Eight Gaels pitchers saw the mound that day, with Valdez, Trevor Abrams and Vince Braman each tossing a scoreless inning.

Santa Clara enters this weekend's series with a 24-27 overall record but a 14-10 West Coast Conference record will provide plenty of motivation for the Broncos when they host the Gaels. Entering the weekend, Santa Clara sits in a tie for fifth in the WCC with Pacific but the Broncos hold tie-breakers over both the Tigers and current fourth-place team San Diego. The top four teams qualify for the WCC Championships in Stockton next week.

Offensively, catcher Stevie Berman has shown the way for Santa Clara this season. The freshman from Saratoga, Calif. leads the Broncos with a .319 batting average and is also tied for the team lead in home runs with four. Jose Vizcaino, Jr., son of the longtime professional infielder, is next with a .317 average.

On the mound, Santa Clara ran three right-handers out for starts in last weekend's series at BYU. Senior D.J. Zapata got the ball on Thursday, Peter Hendron followed on Friday and Jacob Steffens got the start Saturday as the Broncos took two of three from the Cougars in Provo. Steffens had the best start of the three, working eight innings and allowing just one run in a 5-1 win on Saturday.

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