SANTA CLARA, Calif. — For the final time during the 2021 season, Saint Mary's Baseball played two as the Gaels and Broncos met up across the Bay for a doubleheader. Saint Mary's needed to win two of the final three games of this series to ensure a winning record in 2021, but it was the Broncos who found success on their home field. Thanks to some big innings, the Broncos were able to sweep the doubleheader from Saint Mary's with final scores of 5-2 and 5-3, running their record to 17-30 while dropping the Gaels to 24-26.
 
Game 1: Santa Clara 5, Saint Mary's 2
 
TWO SWINGS, TWO RUNS
The Gaels got their offense in game one on a pair of swings, both resulting in fly balls, but one went over the wall. In the fifth, Saint Mary's had a chance to get even with the Broncos, while the Gaels trailed 2-0. Ryan Novis opened the inning by reaching on a fielding error, and then Chris Santiago singled and JC Santini walked to load up the bases with nobody out. Jacob Talamante was able to bring home the first run of the game on a deep fly ball to left field, with the sac fly making it 2-1. Unfortunately, the Gaels could not add on further to draw even and would not score until the eighth inning, when Justin Banks blasted his second home run in as many days to make it 5-2 Broncos. Banks now has 12 home runs on the season, a top-three mark in the WCC. Game one marked just the third time this season when the Gaels out-hit the opponents but fail to win.
 
TWO BIG INNINGS
The Broncos were able to down the Gaels thanks to a pair of crooked innings that accounted for all five of their runs. They leaped out to a 2-0 lead in the first off of Gaels starter Sam Bower on a two-run single from Eamonn Lance, after a pair of Broncos reached with two outs and nobody on. The bats were dormant thanks to a strong recovery from Bower and Liam Steigerwald in the sixth, but with Preston Howey on the mound in the seventh, the Broncos struck for three more on one mighty swing. With the bases loaded, Dawson Brigman smashed a double down the left field line to clear the bases and provide the insurance runs necessary for the Broncos to hang on for the win.
 
Game 2: Santa Clara 5, Saint Mary's 3
 
PITCHING AROUND TROUBLE
From the onset of the second game, the Gaels pitching staff found themselves with runners on base. Ryan Taurek allowed the first four hitters of the game to reach, with a double, two hit batters, and a single doing the trick. Saint Mary's gave up two in the first inning before getting an out, and through five innings, the Gaels had stranded 11 Broncos on base. All five of those innings saw Santa Clara put at least two runners aboard, but Taurek (and then Ryan Sanders) did a great job of keeping Saint Mary's in the game long enough to keep it close. Over eight innings, Gaels pitching stranded 13 runners on base.
 
KEPT BATTLING
Saint Mary's got on the board in the first inning without a base hit, and then proceeded to keep the game close enough to keep chipping away. Three walks to begin the game led to an eventual bounce out by Christopher Campos to score the game's first run. In the sixth inning, the Gaels took advantage of some errors by the Broncos to score a run, with Ryan Ellis singling home Ryan Novis, who had reached on an error, to make it a 4-2 game at the time. One inning later, down by three runs again, the Gaels added one with an Austin Elder RBI single, scoring Kyle Velazquez and making it a 5-3 game. Despite being outhit by 11, the Gaels were never out of this game.
 
UP NEXT
The four-game series concludes on Sunday afternoon with a 12:00 pm first pitch. Sunday's game marks the final game of the 2021 season for Saint Mary's, who will look to end their season on a positive note with Ky Bush on the mound, making what is likely his final start as a Gael. The mighty left-hander figures to a prime draft prospect in the upcoming 2021 MLB First Year Player Draft.