SAN FRANCISCO — Back in California for the remainder of the 2021 season, Saint Mary's went across the Bay for the final road WCC series of the year, taking on San Francisco on Friday afternoon at Benedetti Diamond. This marks the first time in conference play these teams have met since the 2019 season, but the Gaels were able to take a non-conference victory at home against the Dons in March. Saint Mary's did not have the same good fortune on Friday, as the Dons overcame an early 4-0 deficit to beat the Gaels 5-4 in the series opener. Saint Mary's is now 20-21 (9-13) while San Francisco improves to 19-20 (14-8).
 
JUMP ON IT!
Saint Mary's took advantage of some mistakes by the Dons in the first inning to score three times, one of their best starts to a game this season. After a Javy Espinoza single with one down, the Dons were just one out away from ending the inning in harmless fashion. Blake Mann was hit by a pitch, and that started the snowball effect. A dropped catch by the Dons catcher on what could have been an inning-ending foul out gave Kyle Velazquez new life, and he walked to load the bases. Nick Mistone then singled to left-center to score a pair of runs, and he was followed by Ryan Ellis, back in the starting lineup, who singled on a soft bouncer to third base to score a third run in the inning, staking the Gaels to a 3-0 lead.
 
WHAT'S THIS?
One of the staples of the 2021 season for Gaels starting pitcher Sam Bower has been his excellent command. He entered his start on Friday with just seven walks allowed in 68.2 innings, certainly the best mark in the WCC. Command was not on his side come Friday afternoon, as he walked a season-high three batters and he also hit one San Francisco, allowing for three free passes. In the 4.1 innings that Bower pitched, two of his walks, and his one hit batter all came in to score, comprising the three runs he allowed. It was also the third-shortest start of the season for Bower, who leads the Gaels in innings pitched.
 
HOW IT WAS WON
With Bower out of the game, Carlos Lomeli took over on the mound in the bottom of the fifth inning, and allowed the game-tying two-run home run to Ryan Davis that made it a 4-4 game. After settling down in the sixth inning, Lomeli again ran into trouble in the seventh inning after a leadoff single and stolen base put a runner at second base with nobody out. A sacrifice bunt moved the runner to third, and a wild pitch scored the eventual game-winning run, putting San Francisco up 5-4.
 
UP NEXT
The Gaels and Dons will get together for game two of their WCC series on Saturday afternoon at 1:00 pm at Benedetti Diamond. Saint Mary's will send Ryan Taurek to the mound, looking for his first win since April 9, and his first win as a starting pitcher since March 7. There should be optimism aplenty for the Gaels, who are 9-6 on Saturdays during the 2021 season, their best record on any day of the week this year.