BASE | Thornton Deals, Offense Comes Alive In 10-3 Victory

Thursday, February 28

Berkeley, Calif.

7:05 PM

Saint Mary's College of California

5-4

California

4-4

Saint Mary's

California

Photo by: Saint Mary's Athletics / Tod Fierner

BASE | Thornton Deals, Offense Comes Alive In 10-3 Victory

3/1/2019 12:13:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

BEREKELY, Calif. – Saint Mary's offense came alive in Thursday night's series opener against Cal as SMC took down the Bears 10-3.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Gaels got going early in game one: sophomore Gio Diaz started the game with a leadoff single before advancing to both second and third on a wild pitch. Two batters and one out later, junior Kevin Milam delivered an RBI-groundout to second base which gave SMC a 1-0 lead.

Milam gave the Gaels a 2-0 lead in the top of the third when he sent a two-out RBI single into left field. His RBI was the culmination of a 2-out rally which began with a double from Diaz and a walk from junior Ryan Novis.

SMC continued to push runs across in the fourth as junior Joe Vranesh sent the first pitch of the inning over the right-center field wall. Senior Eddie Haus followed with a single up the middle and advanced to third after stealing second and an errant throw from Cal's catcher went into center field. After a walk from junior Matt Green, senior Austin Chauvin laid down a sacrifice bunt to give the Gaels a 4-0 lead.

Making the second start of his career, freshman Tyler Thornton was rolling through the first 4.1 innings, striking out eight batters and not allowing a hit. However, the Bears got a rally going in their half of the fifth, stringing together three consecutive hits. As a result, Cal put two runs on the board with one out. However, Thornton did well to limit the damage: stranding a runner on third with one out.

Saint Mary's responded with two runs of their own in the top of the sixth as Vranesh set the table with a hit-by-pitch before Haus sent his first home run of the season over the left field wall. Saint Mary's exited the inning with a 6-2 advantage.

Four more came across for SMC in the eighth with the help of four straight Gaels reaching base to begin the frame. It was Haus' double that drove in the first run of the inning as he knocked in Vranesh with a shot down the left field line. Three more crossed the plate in the inning as Green, Haus, and Chauvin each scored.

The Bears scraped a run across in their half of the eighth, scoring on a sharp base hit to senior Conor Thane which he could not deliver to first in time.

NOTABLE NUMBERS

13: No. of hitters Thornton retired before giving up his first hit with one out in the fifth. He struck out eight batters in that time.
9: Vranesh pushed his hitting streak to nine games to begin the season. He is now batting a team-high, .452.
12: No. of strikeouts for Thornton in his 7.0 innings pitched
4: Thornton allowed just four hits on the night.
2: Two home runs for SMC in the game (a season-high)

QUOTABLE

"Tyler's performance tonight really shows a lot, especially for a freshman to come into this park against a very good team" said head coach Eric Valenzuela. "When our offense gets going, it's a lot easier to pitch because you're able to go after guys and throw strikes."

COMING UP

Game two of the series is set to take place on Friday at Evans Diamond with first pitch coming at 6:05 p.m.

#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.