MORAGA, Calif. — It's been a while since Saint Mary's has taken a series win, but that wait is finally over. After winning the series opener against Santa Clara on Friday afternoon, the Gaels found the win column again on Saturday, but in a bit of a different fashion. It took ten innings, but the Gaels were winners in their first walk-off win of the 2021 season, taking game two from the Broncos in a 2-1 fashion. With the win, the Gaels are back at the .500 mark with a record of 16-16 (6-8) while dropping Santa Clara to 12-19 (5-9).
 
MUSTA BEEN MISTONE
All season long, Nick Mistone has been the best man at the plate for Saint Mary's with runners in scoring position. He entered Saturday afternoon with ten hits with me on second or third, the most among all Gael hitters. He was the hero in game two, winning it for Saint Mary's in the bottom of the tenth. The frame began when Kyle Velazquez singled to the hole on the left side, his third single of the afternoon (and second-consecutive three-hit game). A pitching change was forced in front of Jacob Talamante, who hit a bouncing ball to the left side that was thrown away, leading everybody safe. Another pitching change was made in front of Mistone, who took an elevated 2-1 pitch with the runners going and sent it on a line into right field. Mike Bowes went back and leaped up, but saw the ball glance off his glove for the walk-off winner. It stands as the first walk-off this year for Saint Mary's, and the first in the career of Nick Mistone.
 
COULD HAVE BEEN NINE
The Gaels nearly had the game in front of them in the ninth inning, when they came knocking on the door of a chance to win the ballgame. In the ninth, Justin Banks walked to open the inning, and Javy Espinoza bunted the pinch runner Jack Murphy to second base. Gavin Napier then drew a four-pitch walk, before Eric Smelko came to the plate as a pinch hitter and was hit by an 0-2 pitch, loading the bases with just one out. Austin Elder pinch hit with all the pressure on him, but the Broncos were ready defensively. Elder hit a ball to second base that was thrown to the plate and then back to first base for a 4-2-3 double play to force extra innings.
 
FIRST BIG FLY
The Gaels got on the board in the third inning thanks to a relatively unlikely home run hero. Coleman Schmidt drew the start for the third-straight game, and he delivered with a home run to left field in the third. The ball cleared the yellow padding in left by a few feet before being caught in the netting out in left field. The first home run in the collegiate career of Schmidt gave the Gaels a 1-0 lead on their 11^th home run of the 2021 season.
 
RUNNERS STRANDED
Part of the reason Saint Mary's was able to survive long enough to win in extra innings was thanks to their pitching staff and what they did to the Broncos with men on base. Santa Clara went just 1-15 with runners in scoring position, and did not score after the fourth inning. Sam Bower needed just 59 pitches to get through 5.2 innings of one-run ball, and the bullpen combined for just one hit across the final 4.1 innings. Liam Steigerwald, Michael Hobbs, and Jackson Hulett struck out a combine six, with five of those coming in the looking fashion. Hulett picks up his first win of the season after pitching a clean tenth.
 
UP NEXT
Saint Mary's and Santa Clara will wrap up the series on Sunday afternoon with a 1:00 pm first pitch. The Gaels are looking for their first series sweep of the season, while keeping their streak of success against the Broncos intact. Saint Mary's has won 12 of the last 14 games against the Broncos dating back to 2015. Ky Bush will get the start for Saint Mary's.