MORAGA, Calif. – The Gael's offense was relentless and freshman Tyler Thornton shined on Friday afternoon as they shutout San Diego 20-0 in the series opener.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Gaels got to San Diego's pitching right away as their starter hit the leadoff batter and then walked the next two batters in a row. Junior Joe Vranesh then hit a grounder to the second baseman, but beat out the throw and brought in the first run of the day for SMC. Following two strikeouts, the Gaels went up 2-0 after another walk.
• Saint Mary's kept runners on the bases in the bottom of the second as senior Conor Thane was walked to begin the inning before there were two successful bunts laid down by sophomore Gio Diaz and senior Eddie Haus. A sacrifice fly from Vranesh put the Gaels up by three runs and then a single to short center field gave SMC the 4-0 lead.
• The Gaels recorded their fifth hit of the day in the bottom of the third as sophomore JC Santini drove a single to right field. Thane followed up with a hit past the shortstop to put runners at first and second. Haus was then walked to load the bases and in his third at-bat in three innings with the bases loaded, junior Kevin Milam drilled a single up the middle to score the runners on second and third to put SMC up 6-0.
• With two outs in the bottom of the fourth inning, Santini was walked before freshman Jack Murphy came in to pinch hit and sent a ground rule double to center field. Thane then hit a single up the middle to score both Santini and Murphy to give Saint Mary's the 8-0 advantage. Haus then hit a deep double to left field that put the Gaels up by nine runs. Vranesh then hit a single to left field that was fumbled by the outfielder and cleared the bases for the Gaels. Junior Ryan Novis and senior Austin Chauvin were both hit by pitches back to back to reload the bases, but the following batter flied out and the inning was over with Saint Mary's up 12-0.
• Thane and Diaz were hit by pitches back to back in the bottom of the fifth inning with one out. Milam then singled to center field and scored the 13th run of the day for Saint Mary's. Novis followed with a hit up the middle to score two more runs and put the Gaels up 15-0.
• The Gaels brought in five more runs on six hits in the bottom of the eighth inning to extend their lead to 20 runs.

QUOTABLES

"I feel like we when we put it all together we are a really dangerous team," said head coach Eric Valenzuela. "Hopefully this is the start of something for us and gives them confidence that they can do this to a legitimate Friday guy like Chris Murphy."

NOTABLE NUMBERS

• 5: First game since March 17 where the Gaels have scored runs in each of the first five innings.
• 39: Pitches through the first 4 innings for freshman Thornton.
• 12: Thornton sat down 12 consecutive batters between one out in the first inning through one out in the fifth inning.
• 20: Last time SMC scored 20 or more runs was April 11, 2017 against Cal (W 24-7)
• 13: Number of Gael hitters who recorded at least one hit in Friday's matchup
• 20: The most runs scored in a WCC game in program-history

COMING UP

The Gaels will play game two of the series against San Diego on Saturday with first pitch at 1 p.m. Tomorrow's game will be presented by 5A Rent-A-Space in Moraga.  For all your storage needs, home and business, contact 5A Rent-A-Space at 5Aspace.com.

#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.