MORAGA, Calif. — The Gaels will begin their final week of the regular season with a matchup against Sacramento on Tuesday before traveling to Malibu for a weekend series against Pepperdine.

SCHEDULE
Game #50
Saint Mary's Gaels (30-19, 15-9 WCC) vs. Sacramento State Hornets (31-20, 16-8 WAC)
Tuesday, May 14, 7:00 p.m.
Sacramento, Calif. –– John Smith Field
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Game #51
Saint Mary's Gaels (30-19, 15-9 WCC) vs. Pepperdine Waves (23-22, 13-11 WCC)
Friday, May 17, 3:00 p.m.
Malibu, Calif. –– Eddy D. Field
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Game #52
Saint Mary's Gaels (30-19, 15-9 WCC) vs. Pepperdine Waves (23-22, 13-11 WCC)
Saturday, May 18, 1:00 p.m.
Malibu, Calif. –– Eddy D. Field
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Game #53
Saint Mary's Gaels (30-19, 15-9 WCC) vs. Pepperdine Waves (23-22, 13-11 WCC)
Sunday, May 19, 1:00 p.m.
Malibu, Calif. –– Eddy D. Field
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Live Stats 

SCOUTING REPORT
The Gaels are 30-19 entering the week with a WCC record of 15-9 after a sweep of Santa Clara. After a strong week for pitching and hitting, Saint Mary's is ranked in a number of categories. The team is ranked first in the conference and 50th in nation in batting average (.289) and second in the WCC with a win-loss percentage of 0.612 behind BYU. SMC is ranked first in the conference and 24th nationally with a fielding percentage of 0.978. The pitching staff is ranked first in the WCC and 12th in the country in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.92) while they are also ranked first in the conference and 17th nationally in WHIP (1.26). They are also ranked first in the WCC and 35th in the nation in strikeouts-per-nine-innings ratio (9.3). Freshman Bryce Willits is also ranked first in the conference and 43rd in the country with a batting average of .377 while junior Joe Vranesh is ranked first in the conference and 33rd nationally with a slugging percentage of .676.

Junior left-hander Ken Waldichuk posted a dominant outing on Saturday, helping to garner his third Rawlings West Coast Conference Pitcher of the Week award. Waldichuk tossed 7.1 innings in game two against the Broncos. He only allowed one run on four hits while striking out 11 batters and walked just one. The lefty struck out four consecutive Broncos between the second and third and did not surrender a hit until there were two outs in the third. He only gave up two hits in his final 4.1 innings of work and struck out six batters during that time. Waldichuk's three Pitcher of the Week awards are tied with Portland's Chris Clements for the most in the WCC. The Gaels now have nine conference weekly awards which is five more than the school with the second-most (BYU).

Vranesh has been on a hot streak as of late with a batting average of .346, which is second best on the team. During the most recent series, he extended his hit streak to 16 games and has now reached safely in 21-consecutive games since April 5. Vranesh also hit a home run in game two of the series against the Broncos which was his 13th of the season, good for fourth in the conference. The most homers a Gael player has hit in a single season was 20 in 2009. He leads the team with an OPS of 1.131 (SLG .676, OBP .455) and is one double shy of tying junior Kevin Milam for most doubles on the team. Vranesh is ranked first on the team and third in the conference with a total of 52 RBI.

SACRAMENTO STATE
The Hornets are 31-20 this season with a 16-8 record in the Western Athletic Conference. They have won four of their last six matchups, however they dropped their most recent contest against conference-opponent Utah Valley 14-4 while also losing 6-2 in the series opener. Sacramento State is tied for fourth place with UT Rio Grande Valley in the Western Athletic Conference. They have a team batting average of .239 and a .353 on-base percentage. The Hornets are 20-5 at home this season and have only given up one home loss in the last month. During the last face-off between Saint Mary's and Sac State on March 5, the Gaels took the 10-1 victory at home.

Junior Matt Smith currently leads the team with a .329 batting average through this point in the season. Smith also has the highest slugging percentage (.492) and one of the higher on-base percentages (.393) among the Hornets. He is also an asset on the base paths as he has seven stolen bases this year. With a deceptive batting average of .215, sophomore Steven Moretto has a team-high seven home runs and has recorded a .392 slugging percentage through 51 games played. Moretto is also second on the team with a total of 35 RBI recorded this season. Sophomore Nick Iwasa leads the Hornets with a .429 on-base percentage.

On the mound, sophomore Scott Randall has been efficient in the starter position in his 13 games. Randall has a record of 7-1 through 77.1 innings pitched and he has recorded an ERA of 2.56. He has an average of 7.91 strikeouts per nine frames and has collected a team-high 68 punchouts on the year. He is also the only Hornet to have pitched a complete game this season which he threw on March 31 in the 1-0 win over California Baptist. In the relief position, senior Tanner Dalton has been racking up the saves as he now has six total with an ERA of 1.56. In 23 appearances and 40.1 inning pitched, Dalton has a 4-1 record while allowing just seven earned runs.

PEPPERDINE
The Waves are 23-22 with a West Coast conference record of 13-11 going into the week. The team most recently won the series against the Portland Pilots, however they dropped the final game of the series 2-1. In the series prior, the Waves lost to USF in the first two games before winning the finale by a total of nine runs. Pepperdine is sixth in the conference ahead of San Diego and behind USF. The Waves will have a matchup on Tuesday against UCSB prior to returning home to take on the Gaels over the weekend. The team is 11-7 at home this season, but they have not played a game on their own field since April 30 in the 8-5 loss versus UCLA. Last season, Pepperdine took the series win against Saint Mary's as they won the first two games and SMC won the finale.

Wyatt Young has been an important addition to the Waves lineup as he is recording a team-high .317 batting average in his first season with the club. He also leads the team in hits (63) and stolen bases (6), while he is second on the team in runs (34). He is one of just two players to have played and started in every game for Pepperdine this season. Sophomore Quincy McAfee has also been offensively productive for the Waves as he has the second-highest batting average on the team (.314). McAfee has a team-high .404 on-base percentage and a slugging percentage of .444 which combine for the best OPS on the team (.848). He is also tied for second with teammate Matthew Kanfer for second-most stolen bases at four apiece. Sophomore Billy Cook leads the team with five home runs on the year.

On the mound, senior Jonathan Pendergast is leading the starters with an ERA of 3.55 and a 6-3 record. In 76.0 innings pitched, Pendergast has given up just 30 earned runs and is holding opposing batters to a .256 batting average. He has recorded two complete games this season which he pitched in back-to-back starts against BYU on April 13 and April 26 against Loyola Marymount. He has also given up only two home runs this year while striking out 58 batters. Freshman Trevor Kniskern has been good in the relief spot for the Waves as he has a 2.06 ERA through 13 appearances. Kniskern has tossed 43.2 innings this season and has a record of 4-4 while opposing batters are averaging just .238 against him. He has a total of 37 strikeouts and a WHIP of 1.30.

#GaelsRise – For ticket information to all home baseball games, call the SMC Ticket Office today at 925-631-4689 or click the ticket link here to purchase your seats now.