MORAGA, Calif. — The Gaels will face the UCSB Gauchos on Tuesday before returning home to take on the Santa Clara Broncos in the final home series of the season.

SCHEDULE
Game #46
Saint Mary's Gaels (27-18, 12-9 WCC) vs. No. 16 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos (36-7, 12-3 BW)
Tuesday, May 7, 3:00 p.m.
Santa Barbara, Calif. –– Caesar Uyesaka Stadium
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Game #47
Saint Mary's Gaels (27-18, 12-9 WCC) vs. Santa Clara Broncos (11-34, 4-17 WCC)
Friday, May 10, 3:00 p.m.
Moraga, Calif. –– Louis Guisto Field
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Game #48
Saint Mary's Gaels (27-18, 12-9 WCC) vs. Santa Clara Broncos (11-34, 4-17 WCC)
Saturday, May 11, 1:00 p.m.
Moraga, Calif. –– Louis Guisto Field
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Live Stats 

Game #49
Saint Mary's Gaels (27-18, 12-9 WCC) vs. Santa Clara Broncos (11-34, 4-17 WCC)
Sunday, May 12, 1:00 p.m.
Moraga, Calif. –– Louis Guisto Field
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Live Stats 

SCOUTING REPORT
The Gaels are riding high heading into this week after taking two of three from the conference-leading Gonzaga Bulldogs last weekend. Saint Mary's is now 27-18 on the season, just three wins shy of their fourth-consecutive 30-win season, and they are 12-9 in WCC competition. After a week of heavy hitting for SMC, the team is now ranked first in the conference with a collective batting average of .286. Gael pitching continued to be dominant over the weekend as the team is ranked first in the WCC with both their strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.80) and their strikeouts-per-nine-innings ratio (9.3). Saint Mary's is also ranked second in the conference in numerous other categories including slugging percentage (0.417), home runs (34), doubles per game (1.87), and fielding percentage (0.977). Freshman Bryce Willits is also atop the rankings this week as he leads the conference in batting average (.365). The Gaels received votes this week in the national poll from the NCBWA for this first time this season.

For the third time this season, Saint Mary's is the king of the baseball world in the West Coast Conference as Joe Vranesh (Player of the Week) and Tyler Thornton (Pitcher of the Week) swept the Rawlings WCC Weekly Honors.Thornton no-hit West Coast Conference-leading Gonzaga through the first 4.2 innings of Friday night's contest in Spokane. The freshman right-hander also sat down nine-straight batters and 12 of 13 from one out in the first to two outs in the fifth while striking out five of six batters between the second and fourth. Thornton went on to allow just two hits in 7.1 IP while giving up no runs and three walks. Thornton has now lowered his earned run average to a WCC-leading, 2.02, has a WHIP of 0.91, has not allowed a run in his last 21.1 innings (three starts), and has struck out 26 batters during that time. This is Thornton's second WCC weekly award of the season and both have come in the last three weeks.

Meanwhile, Vranesh went 7-for-14 (.500) with seven RBI and three home runs including a grand slam in the series opener against Gonzaga. In the series victory, he recorded an on-base percentage of .533 and a slugging percentage of 1.143 (1.676 OPS). He is currently on a 12-game hitting streak and has reached base safely in 17-consecutive games. Vranesh leads the Gaels with 12 homers this season and has raised his batting average to .333 for the year. This is Vranesh's first WCC weekly honor of the season and he was also named a Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week for his success in the series. Vranesh has the highest slugging percentage of the Gaels (.667), the second highest on-base percentage (.439), and leads the Gaels with 49 RBI which is 15 more than anyone else on the team.

NO. 16 UC SANTA BARBARA
No. 16 UCSB has a record of 36-7 this season and they are 12-3 in the Big West. The Gauchos are on a five-game winning streak after sweeping Cal State Northridge following a midweek win against CSU Bakersfield and a win over UC Riverside in the series finale. Santa Barbara only lost two games during the month of April including 13-game winning streak prior to the losses. The team is 21-1 at home this season and have not given up a loss at home since March 17th in a 5-1 loss to California Baptist. The Gauchos have a team batting average of .296 and they are leading the conference and the nation with a win-loss percentage of 0.837. They are also ranked first in the Big West and seventh in the country with a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 3.07.

On the mound, sophomore lefty Jack Dashwood has been the strongest starter for Santa Barbara with an ERA of 2.27 and a record of 7-1. Through 67.1 innings pitched, Dashwood has given up just 17 earned runs and only four home runs while striking out 72 batters and walking just 16. He has an average of 9.62 strikeouts per nine innings which is ranked fifth in the conference. He has also pitched a complete game this season and is the only one on his team to do so. In 23 appearances, freshman Michael McCreevy has also pitched well and has a record of 5-0 with six saves. He has gone 49.2 innings and has an ERA of 1.99 after allowing just 11 earned runs this season. McCreevy has an average of 8.70 strikeouts per nine innings and 48 strikeouts total on the season.

Junior Eric Yang has offensively led the Gauchos this season with his .368 batting average which is the highest on the team. Yang has the most total hits (60), he is tied with junior Armani Smith for most doubles on the team (13) and has the highest on-base percentage on the team (.478) with six home runs. Junior Tommy Jew is another leader for Santa Barbara as he has 11 home runs, nine doubles, and five triples. He has also been key on the base path this season and has 16 stolen bases. His .579 slugging percentage is the second highest on the team behind Smith (.648). Smith is batting .315 this year with 37 RBI, nine home runs and seven triples.

The Gaels faced the Gauchos on March 26 and completed a 7-6, comeback victory after initially trailing 6-0.

SANTA CLARA
The Broncos have struggled this season with a record of 11-34 and they are 4-17 in conference play. Santa Clara has lost five of their last seven matchups after dropping their two most recent series against San Diego and Portland. The team won just two of their 18 games in the month of March and went on a 13-game losing streak from March 2 to March 25. The Broncos have not won a conference series this season and have been swept in three different series against LMU, USF, and Pacific. Santa Clara has a midweek matchup against Stanford before traveling to face the Gaels over the weekend. Following the series against SMC, the Broncos will have one final series against the BYU Cougars before the end of the regular season.

On the mound, junior Russell Grant II has a 3.16 ERA and has been one of the go-to starters for the Broncos. In 57.0 innings pitched, he has given up only 20 earned runs while striking out 47 batters and only allowing two home runs. Grant has an average of 7.42 strikeouts per nine innings through his 13 appearances on the season. Sophomore Ethan Heinrich has made 14 appearances this year and has recorded an ERA of just 1.62. In his 16.2 innings pitched, he has given up only 12 hits and three earned runs, but he has struck out 17 batters and walked seven. Heinrich has the lowest ERA on the team among relievers and he is second among Bronco pitchers with two saves.

At the plate, junior Jason Dicochea has been efficient for Santa Clara with a batting average of .263 and 46 hits which is the most on the team. In 45 games this season, Dicochea has hit four home runs, recorded 19 RBI, and has stolen nine bases. His on-base percentage (.342) and slugging percentage (.366) combine for one of the best OPS on the team (.708), and he has been walked a total of 15 times. Junior Jake MacNichols has also hit well for the Broncos as he has 10 doubles, a triple, and 12 home runs this year with a slugging percentage of .528. He also leads the team with 23 RBI just ahead of Dicochea.

#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.