Photo by: Saint Mary's Athletics / Tod Fierner
SB | Gaels Face Exciting Schedule in 2019
10/30/2018 6:44:00 PM | Softball
MORAGA, Calif. — As they welcome seven newcomers this year, the Saint Mary's softball team anxiously awaits the coming season where they will compete against a handful of powerhouse opponents.
"This season we are blessed to host a number of teams at home and we will be facing some very tough opponents," said head coach Sonja Garnett. "We are looking forward to hitting the field this team."
The Gaels will play their first games of the season at the Hawaii Invitational in Oahu, Hawaii from Feb. 7-9 where they will face Georgia State, Fresno State, UT Arlington, UCLA, and host, Hawaii.
The team will also play in three other tournaments in the season including the UC Davis Tournament and the Southern Utah Tournament. The Gaels will host a five-game tournament against Bucknell and Manhattan from March 15-17.
Saint Mary's returns home for their first home game of the season on Feb. 20 against Cal. Later in the season, SMC will play a three-game series at home versus BYU, who won the conference championship last year, from May 3-4 for an exciting West Coast Conference battle. The team's last homestand of games will take place from May 10-11 where they will face San Diego in a three-game conference series to finish off their season.
The Gaels enter the season with a number of key returners including sophomore Kimiko Zapanta who was named to the All-WCC Second Team and senior Abbey Mariani who received an Honorable Mention last year.
Zapanta was the leadoff hitter for the Gaels last season and batted .333 a with a .417 on base percentage. Zapanta finished the season top-10 in the conference in batting average, hits, walks, and on-base percentage. Mariani, one of the team's four seniors, posted a strong .968 fielding percentage while also picking up four extra base hits at the plate.
The new additions to the team consists of a variety of talent while four freshmen enter the team as a infielder, middle infielder, outfielder, and left-handed pitcher.
"This season we are blessed to host a number of teams at home and we will be facing some very tough opponents," said head coach Sonja Garnett. "We are looking forward to hitting the field this team."
The Gaels will play their first games of the season at the Hawaii Invitational in Oahu, Hawaii from Feb. 7-9 where they will face Georgia State, Fresno State, UT Arlington, UCLA, and host, Hawaii.
The team will also play in three other tournaments in the season including the UC Davis Tournament and the Southern Utah Tournament. The Gaels will host a five-game tournament against Bucknell and Manhattan from March 15-17.
Saint Mary's returns home for their first home game of the season on Feb. 20 against Cal. Later in the season, SMC will play a three-game series at home versus BYU, who won the conference championship last year, from May 3-4 for an exciting West Coast Conference battle. The team's last homestand of games will take place from May 10-11 where they will face San Diego in a three-game conference series to finish off their season.
The Gaels enter the season with a number of key returners including sophomore Kimiko Zapanta who was named to the All-WCC Second Team and senior Abbey Mariani who received an Honorable Mention last year.
Zapanta was the leadoff hitter for the Gaels last season and batted .333 a with a .417 on base percentage. Zapanta finished the season top-10 in the conference in batting average, hits, walks, and on-base percentage. Mariani, one of the team's four seniors, posted a strong .968 fielding percentage while also picking up four extra base hits at the plate.
The new additions to the team consists of a variety of talent while four freshmen enter the team as a infielder, middle infielder, outfielder, and left-handed pitcher.
Players Mentioned
UT
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