MORAGA, Calif. — During the 2021 season for Saint Mary's Baseball, the Gaels treated fans to just about everything over the course of the year. The two things no one had seen yet during the year were a complete game and a walk-off hit by pitch, and both of those came to fruition on Friday afternoon at Louis Guisto Field. Playing for the final time at home, Saint Mary's capped off a four-game series against Santa Clara with an exciting 3-2 win in the ninth inning, pulling their record even to .500 at 24-24 while sending the Broncos to 15-30.
 
THE NINTH INNING GIVETH
With the score tied at 2-2 in the bottom of the ninth inning, Saint Mary's came roaring to life to ensure extra innings were not needed. Jacob Talamante opened the inning with a solid single to right field, giving him three hits on the afternoon. Kyle Velazquez then hit a bouncer to the hole on the right side, where Dawson Brigman made an errant throw going to first base, leaving both runners safe. Gabe Giosso then squared to bunt and laid it down, but the Broncos failed to make a throw to any base, loading them up for Christopher Campos. After driving home eight runs last weekend, he was hit by an 0-1 pitch to end the ballgame and send the Gaels home happy in their final home game of the year, representing their third walk-off win of the season.
 
THE NINTH INNING TAKETH AWAY
Saint Mary's had a chance to end the game with a 2-0 final thanks to the brilliant pitching of Carlos Lomeli. He opened the ninth inning by inducing a groundout, but then ran into big trouble. Singles from Jason Dicochea and Mike Bowes put runners on first and second before Tony Boetto singled home the first run for Santa Clara, pushing Bowes to third. John Hanley hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game up and end all hope for back-to-back shutout wins for the Gaels.
 
COMPLETE GAME CARLOS
Don't let the ninth inning distract you from the fact that Lomeli was dominant all afternoon long. Making his first top-of-the-rotation start in over a month, Lomeli was in position for a complete game shutout. After allowing hits in each of the first two innings, he failed to allow a hit until the top of the eighth inning, at one point retiring 10 consecutive Broncos. His final line shows just six hits and three walks allowed, while striking out five and needed 105 pitches to get through all nine innings. It is the first complete game of the season for the Gaels, and the first complete game in over two years, when Lomeli blanked the Pilots on April 7, 2019.
 
TRIP TO THE BANKS
Saint Mary's pulled out in front in the bottom of the seventh inning thanks to Justin Banks and some impressive opposite-field power. Talamante opened the inning by doubling deep into the alley in left-center, and after a failed sacrifice bunt attempt, Banks took matters into his own hands. For the first time this season, Banks hit a true opposite-field home run, smashing one to deep left field to put the Gaels up 2-0. His eleventh home run of the season puts him at third in the WCC.
 
UP NEXT
The four-game series shifts to Santa Clara as it concludes, with a doubleheader scheduled for Saturday afternoon. First pitch is slated for 1:00 pm, with a tentative first pitch scheduled for 5:00 pm in game two. The Gaels will send Sam Bower and Ryan Taurek to the mound as they look to keep their record at or above .500.