SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The 2021 Saint Mary's Baseball season came to a close on Sunday afternoon, as the Gaels took on Santa Clara in the final game of a four-game series. After struggling to score consistently on Saturday in a doubleheader, the Gaels offense ended the year on a high-note, pounding out twelve hits and scoring eight times to take the final game of the season with an 8-4 final over Santa Clara. The Gaels will end their season with a record of 25-26, while they send the Broncos into their final series of the year with a mark of 17-31.
 
TALLY MARKS
The Gaels scored in four of the first six innings to take a 4-2 lead. In the first, it was Christopher Campos continuing to stay hot, singling to right field to score Jacob Talamante for the game's first run. The Gaels took advantage of some poor defense by the Broncos in the second, with two errors scoring a run on a Ryan Novis flyout to right field, tying the game at 2-2. In the fourth inning, it was Chris Santiago singling and then stealing second to get himself in scoring position for Novis, who nearly left the yard. Novis doubled to deep left field, high off the wall, for his first run batted in in over two months, giving the Gaels a 3-2 lead. Then in the sixth, another single tally was added when Javy Espinoza drove home Santiago with a single up the middle, making it 4-2.
 
RESPECT YOUR ELDERS
In a game of constant back-and-forths, the Gaels got the biggest hit of the game in the top of the seventh. Free passes told the story, with Justin Banks starting the traffic jam on the bases with a one-out walk. A groundout moved him to second, but the Gaels were able to get two more on with two outs. Jack Murphy was hit on an 0-1 pitch, and then Santiago walked on four pitches after a Bronco pitching change. Austin Elder then stepped up to the plate in a pinch-hit role, and delivered his biggest hit of the season. Slicing one down the left field line, Elder cleared the bases with a three-run double, putting the Gaels up 7-4. In the final three weeks of the season, Elder has heated up, going 7-18 with four of his six RBIs.
 
WAITING GAME
There certainly is a lot of anticipation over where a couple of high-profile Gael pitchers might go in the 2021 MLB First Year Player Draft, and both pitched on Sunday. Ky Bush got the start in the season finale, and continued to mow down hitters, recording 11 strikeouts and picking up his seventh win of the season. With 112 strikeouts, Bush will claim the WCC strikeout crown, while also picking up the fifth-most strikeouts in a single-season in SMC history. The Broncos were able to score four times off of him, however, including a two-run home run in the first inning, but his strikeout total was enough to impress those in attendance. Michael Hobbs, the Gaels closer, pitched the seventh and eighth innings and failed to allow a run, dropping his ERA to 0.72, the lowest mark on the Gaels pitching staff.