BASE | SMC Sweeps Doubleheader at Pacific

Saturday, March 13

Stockton, CA

2:00 pm

Saint Mary's College of California

8-6

Pacific

5-6

Saint Mary's

Pacific

Photo by: Saint Mary's Athletics / Tod Fierner

BASE | SMC Sweeps Doubleheader at Pacific

3/13/2021 9:18:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

STOCKTON, Calif. — Great pitching and timely hitting are the staples of quality baseball teams, and this season, it seems like Saint Mary's has both of those things figured out. While the Gaels didn't score runs in large numbers on Saturday against Pacific, they scored them at the right times while holding the Tigers bats at bay to earn a doubleheader sweep over the Tigers with wins of 4-3 and 5-4. Saint Mary's now sits at 9-6 on the season while the Tigers record is 5-7.

Game 1: Saint Mary's 4, Pacific 3

ONE HIT WONDER
For every start so far this season, the postgame recap has had a section titled "Bower Outage" to show how dominant Sam Bower has been during his starts. Saturday's start in game one of the series deserved a new title as Bower allowed just one hit across his seven innings of work, seeming to somehow top his previous starts. Bower ran into trouble in the second inning where he allowed a pair of runs, but he did not allow a hit in the frame. He did, however, allow his first walk and hit batter of the season, but after a single in the third, he retired his final 14 batters that he faced as he ran his record to 2-1 on the young season.

TWO OUT TROUBLE
As was the case in game one of the series, Saint Mary's scored their first three runs of the series with two outs. It began in the third inning, when the Gaels got their first run courtesy of Jacob Talamante. Kyle Velazquez singled with one out, and two batters later, Jacob Talamante recorded the second hit of his afternoon with a double to left field to get the Gaels on the board. The sixth inning was an even greater example of the Gaels prowess with two outs, as their entire rally started with two men down. Gabe Giosso and Blake Mann were hit by pitches and then Marc Goulart singled to tie the game. Nick Mistone then sent a bouncing ball into center to give Saint Mary's a 3-2 lead, one they would not relinquish. The first six runs of the series Saint Mary's scored all came with two outs, and was a direct result of a pair of wins to open the series.

Game 2: Saint Mary's 5, Pacific 4

NO STOPPING NOVIS
For the second day in a row, Ryan Novis was a force at the plate for the Gaels. After going a modest 1-4 in game one of the doubleheader, Novis returned to be a run-producer for the Gaels. He went 3-5 in the game two of the twin bill, racking up three more RBIs to give him six in two days. In the third, with the Gaels trailing 2-0, Kyle Velazquez and Ryan Ellis opened up the inning with singles, which set the stage for Novis two batters later. After a run scored on an error, Novis brought home Ellis from second base with an infield single to short, thanks to great hustle from Ellis, to tie the game. In the fifth, it was Austin Elder who walked to start the inning, and after Ellis singled him to third, Jacob Talamante walked to load the bases. Novis delivered again with a two-run single to put the Gaels up 4-2.

HANGING ON FOR TWO W'S
Game two of the doubleheader did not come easy for the Gaels, as they had to climb out of the early 2-0 deficit. Ky Bush got the start in game two, and put the leadoff runner aboard in every inning he pitched, ultimately going 4.2 innings. He worked around all that trouble to allow just the two runs, while striking out a season-best nine batters. Preston Howey took over for Bush and worked 3.1 innings for the longest outing of his career, but he did allow a pair of runs to come across in the sixth inning after the Gaels went up 5-4. Howey settled down to pitch clean 7^th and 8^th innings, but walked the leadoff man he faced in the ninth, which ended his night and brought Jackson Hulett into the game. A sacrifice bunt put the tying run in scoring position, but Hulett forced a pair of groundouts to strand the runner at second and earn his first save of the season.

UP NEXT
The four game non-conference series wraps up on Sunday morning at 11:00 am as Saint Mary's and Pacific get underway at Louis Guisto field. Ryan Taurek will take the mound for SMC in his second start of the season, coming off a win against Cal in his last start. First pitch has been moved up to 11:00 am due to impending rain in the afternoon in the Moraga area.

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