General 4/26/2021 4:07:00 PM

This Week in Gael Athletics | Apr. 26-May 2

Take a look at what Saint Mary's teams are up to this week...

THURSDAY

Golf at WCC Championship, 8:40 am (Henderson, Nev.)
Leaderboard

Saint Mary's concludes their regular season at the West Coast Conference Championship this weekend in Nevada. The tournament will be played at Reflection Bay Golf Course in Henderson, just outside of Las Vegas. There are a total of nine men's golf programs in the WCC and the Gaels will tee off on Thursday alongside No. 7 Pepperdine and No. 28 San Francisco. SMC begins the first round at 8:40 a.m. on the first tee.

Baseball at BYU, 5:00 pm (Provo, Utah)
Live Stream | Stats

Saint Mary's leaves the state for just the second time this season as they head to Provo to take on BYU in a pivotal three-game WCC series. Saint Mary's enters the series tied for fifth in the WCC standings, and hold a 1.5-game lead over the Cougars for that spot. The Gaels come into the series as one of the hotter teams in the WCC, having won five of their last six conference games to get their record to 9-9 against WCC foes. This marks the first matchup between these teams since 2019, when the Gaels last went to Miller Park. Saint Mary's has not won a game at BYU since the 2015 season, but swept the most recent home series in 2018.

FRIDAY

Golf at WCC Championship, All Day (Henderson, Nev.)
Leaderboard

This season will mark the first time the conference championship will be hosted at Reflection Bay. The tournament was scheduled to be played at the course last year but was cancelled due to COVID-19. In the 2019 WCC Championship, Saint Mary's finished third behind Pepperdine and USF. Ethan Farnam and Ethan Ashbrook led the Gaels by finishing t-8th with combined scores of 2-under. Four of the five student-athletes who played in that tournament are still on the roster. The last time SMC won the championship was in 2016 when it was held at Blackhawk Country Club in Danville.

Beach Volleyball at WCC Championship (Santa Monica, Calif.)

The 2021 Beach Volleyball season comes to an end this weekend as Saint Mary's participates in the 2021 WCC Championships in Santa Monica. Saint Mary's has shown a lot of success in the last few weeks, nearly taking down #6 Cal Poly last weekend in San Luis Obispo. The Gaels last played in the WCC Championships in 2019, after the pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic last year. Saint Mary's finished in third place overall at that year's event. This year, the two-day tournament should not feature any surprises, as the Gaels have played ranked-Pepperdine and LMU teams, as well as WCC foes in USF, Santa Clara, and Pacific.

Baseball at BYU, 5:00 pm (Provo, Utah)
Live Stream | Stats

Game two of the three-game series against BYU takes place on Friday night at 5:00 pm, becoming the second WCC series this year for Saint Mary's where multiple games will be played under the lights. Game twos have been very kind to the Gaels the last two weekends, where they have won middle games in dramatic fashion. Two weeks ago, the Gaels beat Santa Clara in ten innings thanks to a Nick Mistone walk-off single. Last weekend, it was JC Santini bringing home the winning run after a throwing error on his sacrifice bunt, beating Pacific in ten innings.

SATURDAY

Golf at WCC Championship, All Day (Henderson, Nev.)
Leaderboard

Saint Mary's final tune-up of the season before the Championship was over the weekend Provo, Utah. The Gaels competed in the PING Cougar Classic and finished in seventh place out of 20 teams. Ethan Ashbrook shot 2-under on Saturday to conclude the tourney tied for seventh out of 104 at 8-under, his best result so far this season. The junior had the lineup's two best scores in the first two rounds and his performance on the final day was second best on the team. Prior to the Cougar Classic, SMC tied for first at the El Macero Classic held at El Macero Country Club earlier this month.

Beach Volleyball at WCC Championship (Santa Monica, Calif.)

The 2021 WCC Championships conclude on Saturday as the Gaels look to force their way into title conversation. It's not out of the realm of possibility either, considering the Gaels have already beaten a ranked-Pepperdine team once this season, and Pepperdine stands to be one of the teams in their way this weekend. During the 2019 championship tournament, Saint Mary's finished third place overall, losing twice to LMU but beating Portland, Santa Clara, and San Francisco on neutral sand.

Baseball at BYU, 12:00 pm (Provo, Utah)
Live Stream | Stats

The three-game series in Provo concludes on Saturday as the Gaels will look to keep their hot streak going with Ky Bush on the mound. Bush has delivered some of his best work in his last two starts, fanning 20 hitters across 13.2 innings, with zero walks allowed. There is speculation that Bush could be the best draft prospect the Gaels have this season, but he will be put to the test against a BYU lineup that is capable of hitting a lot of home runs in the thin Provo air. Saint Mary's will return home following the series with Sunday off for the second time in as many weeks, before remaining in the Bay Area to close out the season.

Softball at Pacific (DH), 12 and 2 PM (Stockton, Calif)
Game 1 Stream | Game 2 Stream | Stats

The Gaels hit the road for a three-game series against the Tigers in Stockton over the weekend. Pacific is 14-14-1 this year and 4-5 in conference compared to 11-20 and 2-4 for the Gaels. The Tigers dropped two of three last weekend to Loyola Marymount at home. Pacific tends to play in low scoring games as the team has a 2.52 ERA while also averaging just over three runs per contest on offense. Myka Sutherlin has led UOP's pitching staff this year with a 1.88 ERA across 59.2 frames.

SUNDAY

Softball at Pacific, 12 pm (Stockton, Calif)
Live Stream | Stats

In the Gaels' last series, they took two of three from Santa Clara at Cottrell Field. In the first game of the series, Sofia Earle threw a complete game shutout and the offense erupted for a 10-0 win in five innings. Santa Clara managed to take the second game with a late rally but SMC earned the series win by taking down the Broncos 3-2 in the third contest. Center fielder Indya Smith went 5-for-8 in the three-game set to boost her average this year to a team-best .344. She ranks sixth in the WCC this season in that category.

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