BASE | Gaels Fall to San Jose State in Midweek Matchup

Tuesday, February 26

San Jose, Calif.

2:30 PM

Saint Mary's College of California

4-4

San Jose State

6-2

Saint Mary's

San Jose State

Photo by: Saint Mary's Athletics / Tod Fierner

BASE | Gaels Fall to San Jose State in Midweek Matchup

2/26/2019 6:25:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Saint Mary's took an early lead in Tuesday's midweek game against San Jose State, but a potent Spartans offense could not be held at bay as the Gaels fell 7-3 at Municipal Stadium.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Strong defense from the Gaels cut the Spartans' rally short in the bottom of the first after SJSU put runners on first and second with one out: senior right-hander Jonathan Buckley picked off the leadoff runner from second and sophomore JC Santini caught the runner stealing from first.

It was small-ball that got the Gaels going in the top of the second: junior Ryan Novis led the inning off with a perfectly-placed push bunt for a base hit. He advanced to second after junior Matt Green's sacrifice bunt which was followed by a wild pitch that placed him on third. Then, senior Eddie Haus drove Novis in with a groundout to second to give SMC a 1-0 lead.
SJSU got their first two hits and runs in the bottom of the third as two-consecutive extra-base hits gave the Spartans a 2-1 lead.

SMC responded in the top of the fourth as a two-out, RBI single from Haus delivered sophomore Gio Diaz from second. Diaz's run tied the game at two runs apiece.

In the bottom of the sixth, four-straight singles, an SMC error, and a double-steal gave the Spartans three runs and they took a 5-2 lead.

San Jose State tacked on two more run in the bottom of the seventh, taking a 7-2 lead off of two hits and two walks.

In the ninth, sophomore Jack Murphy reached on a one-out single and advanced to second on a throwing error. After moving to third on a wild pitch, sophomore Gabe Giosso drove him in with an RBI groundout. Santini doubled down the left field line in SMC's next at-bat, but their rally was cut short and the Gaels fell 7-3.

NOTABLE NUMBERS

4: Career-high four innings pitched for senior Jonathan Buckley in the second start of his career.
8: Junior Joe Vranesh pushed his hitting streak to eight games to begin the season. HE is now batting a team-high (.429)
1st: First start for Buckley since March 6, 2016 (the second of his career)

COMING UP

Saint Mary's will play a split home/away series against Cal February 27-March 2. They will play two games in Berkeley to begin the series and then host March 1 and 2.

#GaelsRise Tickets for all upcoming home game are available for purchase here on SMCGaels.com or by calling the SMC Ticket Office at (925) 631-GoTx. Fans can find all live coverage links on SMCGaels.com.