MORAGA, Calif. — Saturday afternoon featured a lot of baseball, and a lot of important baseball for the Saint Mary's Gaels. After dropping game one of the series to Pacific on Friday, Saint Mary's needed a pair of wins on Saturday to secure their second-straight WCC series win as they attempt to climb the conference standings late in the year. It wasn't easy, but in a pair of 3-2 decisions, the Gaels were able to achieve that series win, running their win total to 20-17 and pulling even in conference play with a record of 9-9.
 
Game 1: Gaels 3, Pacific 2 (10 innings)
 
HOW WE GOT THERE
Sam Bower got the start for Saint Mary's and was very strong through seven innings, allowing just one earned run (two total) and scattered five hits without a walk, while striking out six. Saint Mary's scored their two runs of regulation in the third and fourth innings, when Marc Goulart walked with the bases loaded in the third to score Jacob Talamante, and Coleman Schmidt brought home Javy Espinoza in the fourth with an RBI-single. Both Espinoza and Schmidt played crucial roles for the Gaels, as Espinoza recorded two hits and Schmidt had three hits in the first game of the doubleheader, combining for five hits out of the final two spots in the Saint Mary's lineup.
 
HOW IT ENDED
In the tenth inning, with Carlos Lomeli pitching his third inning in relief of Bower, he got into some trouble. The Tigers had runners at second and third with just one out, but Lomeli wiggled out of trouble. He first struck out Thomas Gavello and then, after an intentional walk, struck out Charles Middleton on a 3-2 fastball to send the Gaels back to the dugout. In the bottom of the tenth, Kyle Velazquez doubled to open the inning, and after the third walk of the game from Justin Banks, JC Santini attempted to lay down a sacrifice bunt. After two unsuccessful tries, he bunted an 0-2 pitch that was thrown errantly to first base, allowing Velazquez to score and giving the Gaels their second walk-off win in the last eight days.
 
Game 2: Gaels 3, Pacific 2
 
STARTED FROM THE BOTTOM
As was the case all weekend, Saint Mary's received a bulk of their offensive production from the bottom of the order. They again scored in the third and fourth innings of game two, and did so thanks to the bottom of the order. Espinoza singled to lead off the third, his sixth hit of the series, and after a Nick Mistone single with one out, came around to score on a sacrifice fly from Jacob Talamante. In the fourth, Saint Mary's put two runners on in the form of Nathan Chong and Espinoza, and with two outs, JC Santini waited on a pitch on the outer half and drove it to deep right center for a two-run double, giving the Gaels a 3-0 lead.
 
DIDN'T NEED MUCH
For the second consecutive start, Ky Bush was electric for the Gaels, proving that just three runs would be enough. He allowed just three hits across 6.2 innings, without allowing a walk, and striking out seven. Each of the first four innings featured a Bush strikeout, and he capped it off with two more in the sixth inning. Despite getting chased in the seventh after allowing a run, the bullpen helped him seal the deal. Liam Steigerwald got out of the seventh with a groundout, and then, after allowing just his second run of the season, Michael Hobbs stranded the tying run on base in the eighth with a strikeout. Hobbs then added two more strikeouts in the ninth to wrap up the game and earn his fourth save of the year, and the doubleheader sweep for the Gaels.
 
UP NEXT
Saint Mary's will head out of state for just the second time this season as they await the BYU Cougars in Provo, Utah next weekend. Saint Mary's will play on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, with the series opener on Thursday set for 6:00 pm. Saturday will be a day game with a 1:00 pm start. Saint Mary's is fighting with BYU and Pepperdine for the fifth spot in the conference standings.