DAVIS, Calif. – Saint Mary's Baseball has started the season 2-0 after a 9-3 defeat of the Aggies on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Gaels started the day by wrapping up the win of game one of the season that was suspended in the middle of the ninth on Friday. Saint Mary's would strike early against Davis in game two.
 
Gavin Napier started the game with a walk and Christian Almanza followed with a single to put runners on the corners. That immediate threat put pressure on the Aggies starting battery as a passed ball would advance Almanza to second and a wild pitch would score Napier. Nick Mistone singled to right to plate Almaza and the Gaels were up 2-0 when the top of the first was done.
 
In the top of the second, Napier drove in Kyle Velazquez with a base hit put the Gaels up 3-0. The Aggies would answer in the bottom half of the inning when some miscues by the Gaels starting battery would help Davis get on the board. Three walks with a wild pitch and a hit batter by starter Owen Cuffe, along with two passed balls by catcher Marc Goulart, allowed the Aggies to score an unearned run. But Cuffe would allow no further damage and settle in.
 
The Gaels would score again in the top of the third when Christopher Campos singled to left to plate Mistone and make it 4-1 Saint Mary's. UC Davis would threaten in the bottom of the fourth, as Cuffe allowed a single and a walk with four straight batters going to three-ball counts – including three full counts – though he did strike out two batters looking. After Cuffe allowed his fifth walk of the day, the Gaels went to Ryan Sanders out of the pen who struck out the next batter looking.
 
Campos would drive in Nathan Chong in the fifth to make it 5-1 Saint Mary's before the Aggies answered after an error on Almanza to make it 5-2. The Gaels would score again in the sixth when Napier doubled in Dalton Mashore for a 6-2 Saint Mary's lead.
 
SMC broke the game open in the top of the seventh. Velazquez drove in Chong with a single to left, a wild pitch allowed Campos to score, and Seth Nager drove a sac fly to center field to score Velazquez making it 9-2 Saint Mary's.
 
The Aggies would get a run across in the bottom of the eighth for the only earned run allowed by Sanders in the game. Nathan Schneider would close out the game for the Gaels with a 1-2-3 ninth.
 
TOP PERFORMERS
Sanders got the win after going 4.1, allowing two total runs with just one earned, while striking out six batters to no walks. Cuffe allowed just an unearned run in 3.2 innings in his Gaels debut.
 
Napier drove in two runs and scored a run in on a 2 for 4 day, Campos was 3 for 4 and drove in a run along with scoring twice, and Velazquez was 2 for 4 with an RBI and two runs scored.
 
UP NEXT
The Gaels will play their home opener at Luis Guisto Field against UC Davis at 12:00 p.m.