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SMC California Athletics

Saint Mary's College Athletics Gaels
JC Santini HR Celebration
Stephen Ellis
7
Winner Saint Mary's SMC 32-20, 16-10 WCC
5
Pepperdine PEPP 24-24, 14-12 WCC
Winner
Saint Mary's SMC
32-20, 16-10 WCC
7
Final
5
Pepperdine PEPP
24-24, 14-12 WCC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Saint Mary's SMC 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 2 7 12 0
Pepperdine PEPP 0 2 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 5 7 1

W: Milam, Kevin (4-4) L: KNISKERN, Trevor (4-5) S: Hobbs, Michael (7)

Game Recap: Baseball |

BASE | Gaels Come From Behind to Clinch a Berth to the WCC Tournament

MALIBU, Calif.  – Saint Mary's earned every part of Saturday's back-and-forth victory with Pepperdine, clinching a berth to the West Coast Conference Tournament for the third time in four years.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
  • The Gaels got on the board first in the top of the second: junior Kevin Milam and senior Eddie Haus started off the frame with back-to-back singles to put runners at the corners. Haus moved to second on a wild pitch and two batters later, sophomore Gio Diaz delivered Milam with an RBI groundout to the shortstop. The Gaels exited the second with a 1-0 lead.
  • The Waves responded in their half of the second, plating two runs off of three hits to take a 2-1 lead.
  • Pepperdine tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the third, scoring on a sacrifice fly and a two-out single up the middle. The Waves led 4-1 after three innings of play.
  • The Gaels cut the deficit to two runs in the top of the fourth: Milam and Haus hit back-to-back doubles with one out to make it a 4-2 game.
  • Saint Mary's continued to chip away at the lead in the top of the sixth: junior Ryan Novis led off the inning with a single to left field and then senior Austin Chauvin hit a double off of the left field wall to score Novis from first with two outs.
  • Sophomore JC Santini completed the comeback for SMC as he led off the seventh with a homerun to left field. His second homer of the season tied the game at four runs apiece.
  • Pepperdine retook the lead in their half of the seventh, scoring on a two-out single to left field. The Waves led 5-4 heading to the eighth.
  • The back-and-forth affair continued in the top of the eighth as Novis led off the inning with a double down the left-field line. Then, with two outs and two strikes, Diaz came through with an RBI single over the first baseman's head. His second RBI of the day tied the game at 5-5.
  • Saint Mary's took the wind out of Pepperdine with a two-run top of the ninth: back-to-back-singles from senior Conor Thane and junior Joe Vranesh were followed by a 5-pitch walk from freshman Bryce Willits. With the bases loaded and no outs, Novis chopped a ground ball over the head of the third baseman to give Saint Mary's their first lead since the second inning. Then, Milam produced a sac fly to right field two pitches later to make it 7-5 SMC. 
  • Sophomore right-hander Michael Hobbs shut down the Waves in the ninth, retiring the side in order on 15 pitches to record his seventh save of the season. 
QUOTABLE

"It feels like we have a weight off our shoulders," said head coach Eric Valenzuela. "Knowing what we did last year and coming into a very tough place to play, it makes me very proud of these guys for getting the win today the way they did."

NOTABLE NUMBERS
  • 19: Vranesh has now extended his heat streak to 19 games
  • 24: Vranesh has now reached safely in 22-consecutive games
  • 10: No. of consecutive batters that junior Ken Waldichuk retired between from two outs in the third to the start of the seventh (five strikeouts during that time)
  • 2: Santini hit his second homer of the season in the seventh to tie the game 4-4
  • 3: The Gaels have reached the WCC Tournament three of the last four years.
  • 12: No. of hits for the Gaels - they have recorded double-digit hits in seven of the last eight games
  • 3: No. of hits for Novis – his fourth 3+ hit game this season
  • .500: The Gaels' 3-5 hitters went 7-for-14 with three RBI and three doubles in Saturday's game. 
COMING UP
 
Saint Mary's will play the series finale against the Waves on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.
 
#GaelsRise
 
 
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