MORAGA, Calif.  – The Gaels completed the sweep of the Santa Clara Broncos on senior day as well as broke the program record for number of wins at home.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Junior Joe Vranesh got the game started as well as extended his hitting streak to 16 games on Sunday as he hit a single to left field. Freshman Bryce Willits then hit an infield pop-fly that was bobbled by the Bronco third baseman and resulted in runners at the corners. Junior Ryan Novis then drilled a deep triple to left field that scored Vranesh and Willits to put SMC up 2-0. A wild pitch in the dirt then scored Novis from third base and gave the Gaels their third run of the inning.
• Sophomore JC Santini hit a double down the left field line to begin the bottom of the second inning before he advanced to third on a wild pitch. Senior Conor Thane then hit a sacrifice fly to left center field that scored Santini and gave SMC the 4-0 advantage.
• Willits singled through the right side to leadoff the bottom of the third before he stole both second followed by third base. Junior Kevin Milam then sent a pop fly to left field that was dropped by the outfielder and Willits scored. Austin Chauvin followed with a single to left field that put runners at the corners with one out. Another wild pitch scored Willits from third and advanced Chauvin to second base to put the Gaels up 7-0. Santini came to the plate and sent a double to the left field wall to score Chauvin.
• The Broncos put their first runs on the board in the top of the fourth as Jake MacNichols hit a two-run home run over the left field wall with one out.
• Vranesh hit a leadoff double to get things started in the bottom of the fourth before Milam doubled to shallow center field and scored Vranesh to give the Gaels their ninth run of the day.
• MacNichols hit his second home run of the game in the top of the ninth as he drove in two more runs and brought the Broncos within five runs of SMC, but it wasn't enough and junior Michael Hobbs struck out three batters in the ninth to secure the 9-4 win.

QUOTABLES

"It's great to be comfortable at home and the wins-at-home record says a lot about what this program has done," said head coach Eric Valenzuela. "The seniors are the first group that have never been part of a losing season. They have done so much for our program and always continued to grow, so we are definitely going to miss them. When you're playing a rival anything can happen so it was a really nice weekend. We have a big week coming up so we just have to stay in the moment."

NOTABLE NUMBERS

• 1: One more conference win will secure Saint Mary's a position in the WCC Tournament
• 3: Strikeouts for junior Michael Hobbs in the ninth inning on Saturday
• 16: Vranesh has now extended his hit streak to 16 games
• 21: Vranesh has now reached safely in 21-consecutive games
• 4: Fourth consecutive season the Gaels have recorded at least 30 wins
• 4: Fourth game in a row that SMC has recorded 11 or more hits
• 26: Total number of runs for Saint Mary's in the series, compared to SCU's seven
• 22: Breaks the program record for number of wins at home for SMC in a single season

COMING UP

Saint Mary's will hit the road following Sunday's game for their final four games of the regular season starting with a midweek matchup against Sacramento State before traveling south to face-off against Pepperdine.  

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