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SMC California Athletics

Saint Mary's College Athletics Gaels
Tyler Thornton
Saint Mary's Athletics / Tod Fierner
7
Winner Saint Mary's SMC 34-20
3
Gonzaga GON 30-23
Winner
Saint Mary's SMC
34-20
7
Final
3
Gonzaga GON
30-23
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Saint Mary's SMC 5 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 7 9 2
Gonzaga GON 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 7 0

W: Thornton, Tyler (10-2) L: TROGRLIC-IVERSON, Ni (4-3) S: Ponce, Dalton (1)

Game Recap: Baseball |

BASE | Gaels Take Down 2-Seed Gonzaga in 1st Round of WCC Tourney

STOCKTON, Calif.  – Saint Mary's roared ahead in the top of the first and never looked back, defeating Gonzaga in the first game of the WCC Tournament by the score of 7-3.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
  • The Gaels got on the board early, scoring five runs in the top of the first. Sophomore Gio Diaz got the rally going with a one-out double down the right field line. Then, junior Ryan Novis worked a four pitch walk which was followed by a hit-by-pitch to junior Kevin Milam. The very next pitch, senior Eddie Haus hit a single to right field with the bases loaded to drive in Diaz which set up a sacrifice fly from senior Austin Chauvin. The biggest at-bat of the inning, however came from freshman Bryce Willits who sent the first pitch he saw over the right-center field wall. His third homerun of the season made it a 5-0 Gaels advantage with freshman Tyler Thornton heading to the mound.
  • Gonzaga made a game of it in the bottom of the fourth: the Bulldogs pushed three runs across off of three hits and two Gael errors. The score was 5-3 SMC at the end of the fourth.
  • The Gaels responded in the top of the fifth: senior Conor Thane led the frame off with a single to left field and junior Joe Vranesh put down a sacrifice bunt to put Thane at second with one out. After Diaz's groundout pushed Thane to third, Novis singled to right center in a seven-pitch at-bat to give SMC a 6-3 advantage. Novis then stole second and two batters later, Haus came through once again with a single through the left side make it a 7-3 lead in favor of Saint Mary's.
  • Thornton recovered after the fourth, pitching two more innings and he struck out three of his last seven. He ended the night with nine strikeouts and just one walk while giving up three runs on five hits. 
  • Freshman Dalton Ponce pitched the last three innings to record the first save of his career. He allowed just two hits and struck out one while giving up no walks.
QUOTABLE

"Our three freshmen were lights out all night," said head coach Eric Valenzuela. "Tyler did well against a really good hitting team and was able to come back and throw strikes after giving up three in the third."

NOTABLE NUMBERS
  • 5: The Gaels scored five runs in the first inning – the largest total in the first this season
  • 3: Three Freshmen (Thornton, Willits, and Ponce) propelled the Gaels to the game-one victory
  • 3: Willits hit his third home run of the season in the first inning
  • 9: No. of strikeouts for Thornton
  • 10: Thornton now has 10 wins on the season (10-2) - the most of any Gael since 1991 (Toby Foreman)
 
COMING UP

Saint Mary's will now face No. 4-seed Loyola Marymount in the winners bracket after the Lions defeated No.1-seed BYU 4-1. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on Friday.
 
#GaelsRise
 
 
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