MORAGA, Calif. — The Gaels will host the Seton Hall Pirates this weekend as Saint Mary's looks to build on the success from their last two wins at home.
SCHEDULE
Game #12
Saint Mary's Gaels (4-7) vs. Seton Hall Pirates (4-6)
Thursday, March 5, 2:00 p.m.
Moraga, Calif. – Louis Guisto Field
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Live Stats
Game #13
Saint Mary's Gaels (4-7) vs. Seton Hall Pirates (4-6)
Friday, March 6, 2:00 p.m.
Moraga, Calif. – Louis Guisto Field
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Live Stats
Game #14
Saint Mary's Gaels (4-7) vs. Seton Hall Pirates (4-6)
Saturday, March 7, 1:00 p.m.
Moraga, Calif. – Louis Guisto Field
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Live Stats
SCOUTING REPORT
Saint Mary's has won their last two contests after picking up a win against UC Riverside in the final game of the series and then beating San Jose State in a midweek matchup. The victory on Sunday against the Highlanders snapped a five-game losing streak for the Gaels that included the series versus UCLA and the first two game against UCR. SMC has struggled with run production in a number of their games this season, however they have combined for 11 runs in the last two wins and 31 total runs on the year. Freshman Christopher Campos provided the late run production in Tuesday's win by dropping a little blooper right behind second base for a hit, that would score Diaz who had previously walked, and give the Gaels a 3-2 lead. Matt Green would later add a sacrifice fly for a final insurance run, but it was a big lift for the Gaels on the second collegiate RBI for Campos.
Junior infielder Gio Diaz continues to produce offensively for the Gaels as he leads the team in a number of categories. Diaz is hitting .463 (2nd WCC, 30th nationally) through the first month and has recorded a team-high, 19 hits thus far which is good enough to be ranked third in the West Coast Conference and 30th in the nation. He has the best on-base percentage among his teammates (.500). Diaz is also ranked as the second most difficult batter to strike out in the conference (20.5) as he has only struck out two times in 41 at-bats. Senior
Ryan Novis has the second highest batting average on the team (.286) with a total of 12 hits this season as he looks to achieve another strong season following 2019 when he recorded 75 hits and a batting average of .328 to end the season. Redshirt-junior
Nico Lima has also been key for the Gaels' offense as he leads the team with two home runs and a total of 10 RBIs through 10 games while batting .282.
SETON HALL
The Seton Hall Pirates are 4-5 through the first month of the 2020 season. Following a loss to No. 20 Wake Forest to open the year, the Pirates went on a three-game winning streak against Illinois and Milwaukee as well as winning the series opener against Liberty. However, Seton Hall has only won one of their last five contests as they dropped games two and three to Liberty before winning one against Southern California in a three-game series. Prior to traveling to Moraga, Seton Hall lost 4-5 in extra innings against Fresno State on the road. The Pirates ended the previous season with a losing record of 25-28, while splitting conference competition with an even 9-9 record. The weekend series against Saint Mary's and Seton Hall will be the first time in program history that the two teams have faced one another.
Senior infielder Connor Hood is leading the Pirates through the first few games of the year. Hood has recorded 13 hits in nine appearances with three doubles and eight RBIs. He has posted a team-leading .342 batting average and a slugging percentage of .295 thus far. Thomas Holdorf, Matt Toke and Alex Clyde each have one home run on the season. In the previous series, junior Casey Dana went 6-for-10 (.600) with two home runs, three runs scored and three RBI versus the Trojans. Senior Pitcher Noah Thompson has been doing well for Seton Hall through his first three starts as he has a 1.93 ERA while allowing just four earned runs off of 16 total hits. He recently tossed his longest start of the season last Saturday against USC when he went 7.0 innings and allowed just six hits and one earned run.
