MORAGA, Calif. –– Saint Mary's is gearing up for 2019 with their season opener just three weeks away. Ahead of game play, the team will host their First Pitch Dinner on February 1 at Blackhawk Country Club followed by an Alumni game on February 2 at 10 a.m. If you are interested and want to participate in Saturday's game, SMC baseball alumni should reach out to Ross Gusky at reg6@stmarys-ca.edu.

Saint Mary's is coming off of their third-consecutive 30+ win season for the first time in program history. Prior to the start of the season, Ken Waldichuk was named a 2019 Collegiate Baseball Preseason Second Team All-American while  Kevin Milam was named to the 2019 Perfect Game NCAA Preseason All-American Second Team. Both were also listed as preseason All-Americans by D1Baseball.

In Waldichuk's first year in the Gaels' starting rotation, he led the West Coast Conference in both earned run average (2.05-27th nationally) and strikeouts (118-16th nationally), while tying for the conference-lead with eight wins. He posted seven double-digit strikeout performances including a career-best, 14 punchouts against San Francisco on April 8. Last year's efforts earned him a spot on the All-WCC First Team as well as Second-Team All-American and Second-Team All-West Region Honors. Waldichuk is the WCC's only starting pitcher to be named a preseason All-American and one of just two WCC players to be recognized in total (also Gonzaga's reliever Casey Legumina).

Last season, Milam proved to be one of the best two-way players in the country, entering the starting rotation while batting over .300 at the plate for the second straight year. Milam led SMC with a .302 batting average and a .430 on-base percentage. He was second on the team behind Jackson Thoreson with five home runs, 12 doubles and 29 runs batted in. In his first year as a starter on the mound, he went 6-4 with a 3.68 earned run average, striking out 81 in 85 2/3 innings. He set a new career-high with 12 strikeouts against BYU on May 3 and limited opponents to just four hits in four of his starts.

The Gaels will begin the season against the Washington State Cougars at Louis Guisto Field for the first time since 2004.

#GaelsRise

For ticket information to all home baseball games, call the SMC ticket office today at 925-631-4689 or click the link here to purchase your seats now. Email smctickets@stmarys-ca.edu with any questions.
Season Tickets: $80 (Adult), $60 (Youth/Senior)
Single Game: $10 (Adult), $5 (Youth/Senior)
Team Package: $15 per player, $5 per non-player (includes food voucher and national anthem with team)
Group Tickets: $8 (15-49), $7 (50+)