MORAGA, Calif. — Back at home to kick off the month of April, Saint Mary's Baseball and Portland locked up in a long one on Thursday afternoon. These two teams are two of the best pitching teams in the WCC and they did not disappoint, with a lot of zeroes on the scoreboard going deep into extra innings. When the sun set on the afternoon, Portland was able to sneak across one final run to take down Saint Mary's by a final of 4-3 in 13 innings. Both teams are now 12-12 overall, but Portland is 5-2 in conference play while the Gaels are just 2-5.
 
IT ONLY TOOK TWO
Saint Mary's only recorded two hits on Thursday afternoon, which is a surprise for a couple of reasons. The Gaels had chances to score throughout the ballgame, and got their three runs on just those two hits. In the third, Saint Mary's got their first hit when JC Santini singled to lead off the inning, and he moved to second on a Chris Santiago walk. A sacrifice bunt moved the runners into scoring position, and then they both scored without a hit: a wild pitch, and a sacrifice fly from Nick Mistone, giving the Gaels a 2-1 lead. In the fourth, Saint Mary's added their last run on an RBI ground out from Santini, after Justin Banks singled with one on in the inning. Saint Mary's did not get a hit in the final eight innings of the game.
 
ZERO FOR ZERO
For six innings, from the seventh inning through the twelfth inning, both teams traded zeroes on the scoreboard. Gaels pitching did a great job of limiting the bats of Portland that were hot early on, allowing just two hits over that six inning stretch. After Gaels starter Carlos Lomeli exited the game in the sixth, Liam Steigerwald allowed three hits while getting five outs, but he did a great job of keeping a zero up on the scoreboard, keeping the game tied. Michael Hobbs relieved him and pitched the seventh and eighth innings in clean fashion, adding a pair of strikeouts. Christopher Campos came on for four outs, and got them all, while Ryan Taurek got two outs before being pulled for a pinch hitter.
 
THE CRUCIAL MOMENTS
In the bottom of the 11^th, Saint Mary's loaded the bases with two down after three walks in the inning from Eric Smelko, Jacob Talamante (intentional walk), and Nathan Chong. Campos was the man tasked with winning the game for the Gaels, and he sent a deep fly ball into left center, that was tracked down on the run in diving fashion by Jake Holcroft, who sprawled out for the amazing catch. The game was eventually won in the 13^th inning when Ty Saunders hit for the first time on the afternoon and singled home Ethan Smith to secure the win for the Pilots.
 
UP NEXT
Both teams have dipped a decent ways into their bullpen, so starting pitching will be of the utmost importance. Fortunately for Saint Mary's, they will send one of the best starters in the conference in Sam Bower in game two, looking for a rebound performance. First pitch of the second game of the series on Friday is set for 3:00 pm before shifting to 1:00 pm on Saturday afternoon.