MORAGA, Calif. – Saint Mary's Baseball begins the 2022 this weekend with a home-and-away series with UC Davis, playing Friday and Saturday in Davis before playing their home opener Sunday in Moraga. The Gaels also had two players receive WCC Preseason All-Conference honors for the 2022 season as announced today by the West Coast Conference.
 
GAELS PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE SELECTIONS
Christopher Campos was named to the 2022 All-WCC Preseason Baseball Team position players, after also being named to the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper's 2022 Preseason All-American Second Team as a utility player.
 
Though Campos made the WCC's position player list, he truly emerged as a two-way threat last season with 10 doubles, 30 hits, and 17 RBI as a hitter, with five saves, striking out 16 batters in 14 innings while posting a team-leading 0.63 ERA on the mound. SMC plans to have Campos as their primary shortstop this season and return to the closer's role.
 
Sam Bower was one of the five pitchers named to the WCC's All-Conference Team after going 4-5 with a 3.43 ERA in 2021. Bower had some dominant outings last season, including his start against Portland on April 2 when he threw 108 pitches over eight innings and allowed just two runs in a 14-2 victory.
 
He also shut out Cal Baptist over 7.1 innings and held San Diego scoreless over seven innings. The Visalia, Calif. native notched seven quality starts last season with 59 strikeouts to just 13 walks in 81.1 innings last season. The Gaels expect to use Bower as their Friday starter this season.
 
OPENING WEEKEND DETAILS
UC Davis Aggies (14-43, 8-32 in 2021) vs. Saint Mary's Gaels (25-26, 11-16 in 2021)
Friday-Sunday, February 18-20
Dobbins Stadium – Davis, Calif. and Louis Guisto Field – Moraga, Calif.
Friday: 2:30 pm (Watch Live | Live Stats)
Saturday: 1:00 pm (Live Stats)
Sunday: 1:00 pm ( Live Stats)
 
SEASON OUTLOOK
Saint Mary's has added more size to its lineup as they seek to improve their offense from last season. Head Coach Greg Moore enters his third season as the Gaels skipper and likes the new players they've added to a now more experienced group of collegiate players already on the roster.
 
"I can see us getting better at almost every position from an offensive production standpoint," Moore said. "Either because we have more experience with the young position players we played last year or due to some new guys we've mixed in. We think we're better because we're more complete this year."
 
NEWCOMERS
Junior Christian Almanza comes to the Gaels from Delta College and the University of Utah. The six-foot-four first baseman projects a 3-or-4-hole type hitter in the Gaels lineup. The outfield has a mix of experienced newcomers and players new to the collegiate level with six-foot-four transfer Seth Nager from Arizona State and freshman Dalton Mashore out of Eagle High School in Idaho. On the mound the Gaels added transfer Connor Roberts from UC Santa Barbara who had a 4.25 ERA in 55 career innings with the Gauchos. The De La Salle High product struck out 65 batters to 26 walks at Santa Barbara.

KEY RETURNERS
Along with Campos and Bower, other key returners include redshirt junior Mark Goulart who projects to be the primary catcher in 2022. The Hayward, Calif. native brings a lot of athleticism behind the plate and appeared in 17 games last season. Kyle Velazquez will move from shortstop to second base with Campos back, which gives the Gaels a slick double-play combo in the middle infield. Chris Santiago has looked impressive on the mound and at the plate in the fall and early part of the spring, as he could be a factor as a pitcher and at third base along with Nick Mastone at the hot corner. The Gaels also get hard-throwing Nathan Schneider back after missing all of the 2021 season.
 
ADDITIONAL NOTES
Saint Mary's will allow fans in for free this season to Gaels baseball games as construction on the new stadium seating will take place this season.
 
ABOUT UC DAVIS
The Tommy Nicholson Era begins for The 11th head coach in the history of the program, Nicholson spent the previous four seasons as an assistant at Stanford before taking the reins of an Aggie program that finished 14-43 overall and 8-32 in Big West Conference play a season ago.
 
Prior to his time in Palo Alto Nicholson spent the 2017 season as an assistant at Sacramento State, where he helped lead the Hornets to the Stanford Regional. He also served as Sacramento State's infield coach in 2011 and 2012. In 2012, the Hornets finished with a .979 fielding percentage. 

Nicholson began his coaching career at his alma mater at Texas, working as a volunteer assistant from 2009-10 and then as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator from 2013-16. 

The Longhorns advanced to the College World Series final in 2009 and 50 games in 2009 and 2010. In 2009, Texas ranked eighth nationally with a .976 fielding percentage and led the nation in 2010 with a .980 clip. Nicholson first recruiting class at Texas in 2013 was ranked No. 2 in the nation by Baseball America. 

Before entering the coaching ranks, Nicholson was selected in the 11th round of the 2000 MLB Draft by the Chicago White Sox. He spent 2000-2005 with the White Sox and Rockies, reaching Triple-A. 

Nicholson hit .327 over his collegiate career at Texas with 147 runs scored, 223 hits, 37 doubles, four triples, nine home runs, 114 RBIs and 20 stolen bases and was the team's most valuable player in 1999 and 2000. 
 
WCC PREDICTIONS

Preseason Coach's Poll   Rank   Team                     Points 1.      Gonzaga (9)            81 2.      BYU (1)                    69 3.      San Diego               63 4.     San Francisco          54 5.      Pepperdine            48 6.      Portland                 42 7.      LMU                        34 8.      Saint Mary's          31 9.      Santa Clara            16 10.   Pacific                     12   2022 All-WCC Preseason Baseball Team – Position Players Sam Brown, Portland Christopher Campos, Saint Mary's Jack Costello, San Diego Cole Gambill, BYU Thomas Gavello, Pacific Cody Jefferis, San Diego Luke Keaschall, San Francisco Stephen Lund, Gonzaga John Peck, Pepperdine Andrew Pintar, BYU   2022 All-WCC Preseason Baseball Team – Pitchers Sam Bower, Saint Mary's Gabriel Hughes, Gonzaga William Kempner, Gonzaga Eli Morse, Portland Trystan Vrieling, Gonzaga

 
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