SAN FRANCISCO — For the second time in as many days, Saint Mary's Baseball opened up with a significant lead against the San Francisco Dons. The difference on Saturday was that the Gaels were able to hang on and avoid the Dons coming from behind. Staked to a 6-0 advantage early on some huge hits, the Gaels were able to lock down a 6-4 win against San Francisco and get back to the .500-mark on the season, running their record to 21-21 (10-13) while sending San Francisco to 19-21 (14-9).
 
JUMP ON IT…AGAIN!
After scoring three times in the top of the first inning on Friday afternoon, Saint Mary's came out of the gates hot again on Saturday, to the tune of scoring four times. It all began with Chris Santiago lining a double to left center with one out, and quickly the bases were loaded after a walk to Justin Banks and a single to right field by Blake Mann. With nowhere to put Kyle Velazquez, he smashed a double down the left field line to plate a pair and give Saint Mary's an early 2-0 lead. The Gaels weren't done, with Nick Mistone batting next and sending a ball to left field to score two more runs, making it 4-0 and chasing the Dons starter just six batters into the ballgame. It represents the biggest first inning for the Gaels under head coach Greg Moore.
 
BACK-TO-BACK ON BACK-TO-BACK
While home run hitting hasn't necessarily been a strength of this year's Gaels team, they did have 15 home runs as a team entering Saturday's ballgame. One home run feat that had not yet happened was hitting back-to-back home runs, and the Gaels were able to change that in game two of the series, doing so on back-to-back pitches. Opening up the third inning, Banks took a 2-2 pitch the other way to left field for his ninth home run of the season, tying him for the lead in the WCC, and giving the Gaels a 5-0 lead. On the very next pitch, Mann hit an absolute no-doubter to left field, nearly in the same spot, and suddenly the Gaels were up 6-0. It marks the first back-to-back home runs for Saint Mary's since April 20, 2019 against LMU.
 
SURVIVING THE SCARE
For most of the day, Ryan Taurek was locked in for the Gaels. Making the Saturday start, Taurek allowed just one hit through his first five innings of work, with that one hit being a solo home run. He ran into some trouble in the sixth inning, allowing a pair of home runs around a double in the inning, with three runs scoring for the Dons. He got out of the inning and turned it over to the bullpen to secure the win. Christopher Campos pitched two perfect innings, and then it was up to Michael Hobbs to snag his fifth save. Despite the fourth Gael error of the game putting a runner on, Hobbs pitched around it to keep the score at 6-4.
 
UP NEXT
The three-game WCC series concludes on Sunday afternoon at Benedetti Diamond with first pitch scheduled for 1:00 pm on Mother's Day. Saint Mary's will send Ky Bush to the mound, looking to bounce back after taking the loss at BYU last weekend. The left-hander will be opposed by Eric Reyzelman, who is 2-2 with an 8.05 ERA.