BASE | Three Gaels Named All-Tourney, SMC Finishes as Runners-Up

Saturday, May 25

Stockton, Calif.

3 PM

Saint Mary's College of California

35-22

Loyola Marymount

32-23

Loyola Marymount

Saint Mary's

BASE | Three Gaels Named All-Tourney, SMC Finishes as Runners-Up

5/25/2019 7:03:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

STOCKTON, Calif. – Saint Mary's battled their way to championship Saturday against Loyola Marymount and came within inches of walking off in the 10th, but they fell in the first game to place second in the West Coast Conference.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Lions took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second, putting runners on by way of a hit-by-pitch and a single. Then, two wild pitches scored the first run of the game.
After junior Kevin Milam put up zeros in the third through fifth, the Gaels took the lead in the bottom half of the inning. Senior Austin Chauvin led off the inning with a double to left field and freshman Bryce Willits hit a single through the right side to tie the game. Then, with one out and the bases loaded, sophomore Gio Diaz hit a sacrifice fly to right field to give SMC a 2-1 advantage.
Loyola Marymount came right back to score a run of their own in the top of the sixth, tying the game at two runs apiece with a sacrifice fly from Alex Lambeau.
Chauvin led the bottom of the ninth off with a double to left-center which came within inches of clearing the fence and sophomore Jack McCarthy replaced him at second as a pinch-runner. In the next at-bat, Willits hit a sharp ground ball to first base and the Lions' Esquerra was able to nab McCarthy at third on the play. Willits reached on the fielder's choice, but with one out, the Gaels were unable to score, forcing the game to head to extra innings.
LMU pushed two runs across in the top of the 10th, collecting three hits including a 2-run, RBI triple.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

Tyler Thornton: Thornton led the Gaels to victory against Gonzaga in the first game of the tournament: he tossed 6.0 innings, allowing three runs on five hits while striking out nine batters.
Carlos Lomeli: Lomeli led SMC to their second win over Gonzaga in the tournament on Friday. He went 7.2 innings, allowing just two earned runs on seven hits and he struck out eight batters.
Dalton Ponce: Ponce had two relief appearances over the tournament and he did not give up a run over seven innings, giving up just three hits and collecting four strikeouts.

NOTABLE NUMBERS

11: Gael pitchers finished the game with 11 strikeouts. It was their 25th time this season with 10 or more.
14: SMC's pitchers stranded 14 LMU runners
35-22: The Gaels' record in 2019 – their fourth season with 30+ wins
8-2: Saint Mary's finished the season with eight wins in 10 games

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