SACRAMENTO, Calif.  – The Gaels never trailed in the 6-3 victory over Sacramento State, handing the Hornets their first home loss in a midweek matchup and collecting their fourth-straight win in the process.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 

• Saint Mary's got started early – first pitch early – as junior Joe Vranesh took the Hornets' starter Evan Gibbons deep on the first pitch of the game. His 14th homerun went at least 430 feet as it cleared the batter's eye over the 395-foot sign in straight-away center field.
• The Gaels added two more in the top of the second thanks to a bases-clearing, 2-RBI double to left-center from senior Conor Thane. Sophomores Jack Murphy (a hit-by-pitch) and JC Santini (a walk) reached with one out before Thane's first double of the season gave SMC a 3-0 lead.
• Junior Ryan Novis led the top of the third inning off with a double to right field and advanced to third on a fielding error by the right fielder. Junior Kevin Milam delivered Novis from third three pitches later with a sac fly to center field, giving the Gaels an early, 4-0 advantage
• Saint Mary's loaded the bases with one out in the fifth, thanks to a single from Milam and a pair of walks from seniors Eddie Haus and Austin Chauvin. Then, Murphy hit a sac fly to center to give the Gaels a 5-0 lead.
• Sac State got on the board in the sixth, scoring on a 1-out double. Then, the Hornets took advantage of a two out, SMC error and plated two more runs to cut the deficit to two runs. The Gaels led 5-3 after six innings.
• SMC was back in business in the eighth inning as sophomore Gio Diaz hit an RBI single into center field after entering the game as a pinch-runner for Murphy in the seventh. Milam scored on the hit and SMC went ahead 6-3. The Gaels then loaded the bases for the fourth-consecutive inning after Santini walked on five pitches. However, Thane struck out and Vranesh grounded out to third base to end the frame.
• Milam headed to the mound in the ninth inning and shut the door for his second save of the season. The righty collected a pair of punchouts and allowed two hits.

 
QUOTABLE
 
"Buckley pitched great today," said head coach Eric Valenzuela. "He gave us an opportunity to score early runs. Overall, the pitching this season has been huge. When you're swinging the bats the way we are, playing good defense, and pitching this way, you're going to win games."
  
NOTABLE NUMBERS

• 17: Vranesh has now extended his heat streak to 17 games
• 22: Vranesh has now reached safely in 22-consecutive games
• 7: No. of strikeouts for senior Jonathan Buckley (ties a career-high)
• 6: SMC has recorded double-digit hit totals in 6-straight games.
• 11: No. of hits for the Gaels – 24 games with double-digit hits this season
• 19: 19-straight games with at least one double for SMC
• 14: No. of strikeouts for Gael pitchers – 22nd game for SMC with 10+ punchouts (3rd-straight game and 38Ks during that time)
• 2.99: The Gaels' strikeout-to-walk ratio. SMC entered the game with a 2.92 figure which was ranked 12th in the country.

 
COMING UP
 
Saint Mary's will now head to Malibu for their final series of the regular season. The Gaels need just one victory against Pepperdine to secure a berth into the WCC Tournament.
 
#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.