BASE | Gaels Drop Pitching Duel, Series Opener at USF

Friday, April 12

San Francisco

3 PM

Saint Mary's College of California

San Francisco

Photo by: Saint Mary's Athletics / Tod Fierner

BASE | Gaels Drop Pitching Duel, Series Opener at USF

4/12/2019 6:04:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

SAN FRANCISCO–– A Friday afternoon pitching duel between two of the West Coast Conference's premiere starting pitchers held the game scoreless until the eighth. However, San Francisco pushed two runs across in the frame which ultimately decided the series opener.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Gaels put runners in scoring position in five of the first six innings, but were unable to push a run across. In the top of the sixth, sophomore JC Santini and freshman Bryce Willits hit back-to-back doubles with one out, but a great play off of the wall prohibited Santini from scoring. Then, with runners on second and third with one away, senior Conor Thane roped a liner to left, but a diving play from the left fielder denied him of an RBI single. With two outs, sophomore Gio Diaz was unable to cash in the run either, grounding out to first on a 2-2 count.
It took junior left-hander Ken Waldichuk coming out of the game for the Dons to score: in the bottom of the eighth, they put two across on four hits to take a 2-0 lead.
Unable to respond in the top of the ninth, SMC dropped the series opener 2-0.

NOTABLE NUMBERS

1: Just one USF baserunner reached third base through the first seven innings.
7: No. of scoreless innings for junior left-hander Ken Waldichuk (3H, 2BB)
9:No. of strikeouts for Waldichuk. He has three starts this season with 9 or more strikeouts.
3.2: Waldichuk left the game without allowing a hit for 3.2 innings.
6: No. of SMC runners left on base

COMING UP

Game two of the series will take place on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. Tyler Thornton will be opposing Scott Parker.

#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.