SAN FRANCISCO — Wrapping up their final road West Coast Conference series of the season, Saint Mary's Baseball went to San Francisco one more time to take on the Dons, this time playing on Mother's Day. A day at the ballpark with Mom saw 20 total hits, and a first-career home run from a Gael, but ultimately it was the Dons sending folks home happy with a 6-2 win to take the series from Saint Mary's. The Gaels are now 21-22 (10-14) while the Dons are 20-21 (15-9).
 
MOTHER'S DAY BLAST
What better time for your first collegiate home run than on Mother's Day? That's what Chris Santiago did for Saint Mary's, sending his first collegiate home run out to left field in the fourth inning, the very first pitch of the inning. It gave Saint Mary's a short-lived 2-1 lead, their first lead of the afternoon. For Santiago, he now has five runs batted in on the season. The home run also gave Saint Mary's their first back-to-back games with home runs since a four-game stretch that went from April 16-21.
 
BUSH BATTERED
Entering Sunday, Ky Bush had been one of the best pitchers in the West Coast Conference for about a month. He had been pitching deep into games, throwing strikes, and avoiding solid contact. He did his part in throwing strikes, getting eight strikeouts in just four innings, but he labored through those four innings. He needed 103 pitches to get just 12 outs, and fell victim to a big inning in the fourth. Pitching with a 2-1 lead, Bush allowed four runs to score, including a two-run double that capped off his afternoon. The final line showed six hits and five runs, while also walking four and hitting one batter, in what became his fifth loss of the season.
 
POUNDING THEM OUT
Saint Mary's did match the Dons with 10 hits on the afternoon, including at least one hit from eight of the nine starters. Kyle Velazquez and Justin Banks each had two hits, with one of the knocks from Banks being a double. Coleman Schmidt had the other double for Saint Mary's, and he also scored the other Gaels run in the game on a balk. Blake Mann, Gabe Giosso, Ryan Ellis, and JC Santini all also recorded hits on the afternoon.
 
CRAWLING ALONG
Sunday marked the second-longest game of the season for Saint Mary's, lasting three hours and 39 minutes. The only longer game the Gaels have played in this season came on April 1 when Saint Mary's and Portland played 13 innings in four hours and 15 minutes. The previous longest nine-inning game for the Gaels this year came back on March 13 at Pacific, when the two teams played three hours and 28 minutes.
 
UP NEXT
While the Gaels and Dons are done playing in WCC play, they will play one more game to wrap around the weekend series. The final game against San Francisco will shift to Moraga on Monday afternoon, with first pitch scheduled for 3:00 pm. Neither team has announced a starting pitcher, but it does figure to be a bullpen day for both sides. It also represents the final midweek game for Saint Mary's during the 2021 season, and their only Monday game.