SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Saint Mary's Softball had their hands full on Saturday afternoon in a pair of games against Utah State in the opening of the Silicon Valley Classic. Playing on a neutral field in Santa Clara, the Gaels and Aggies went back and forth for two highly competitive games. Utah State came back to win game one in eight innings with a 6-5 final, but the Gaels had the last laugh in an 8-6 win in game two of the doubleheader. Saint Mary's now stands at 5-9 with one game left in February.
 
Game 1: Utah State 6, Saint Mary's 5 (8 innings)
 
PULLING AHEAD
Saint Mary's had what seemed like a commanding 5-0 lead after using a four-run fifth inning to take that lead into the last two innings. It began with an Angelina Franco pinch hit single, and the Gaels then quickly loaded the bases after a hit by pitch and a single from Marissa Nishihara. Alex Casas drove in the first run on a sacrifice fly, and then Indya Smith delivered with her first RBI double of the day, a two-run double, that made it 4-0 Gaels. After an Ellen Ebbers pinch hit single, that set up Claudia Kirchner for the second sacrifice fly of the inning, the Gaels suddenly had a 5-0 lead.
 
EXTRAS, THE ENDING
The Saint Mary's pitching staff let Utah State get back in the game, with a four-spot in the bottom of the sixth inning making it a 5-4 game. The Aggies, though, had the bases loaded in the inning with two outs, but the Gaels got out of the inning with Kayla Scott in the circle. Utah State then led off the seventh with a game-tying home run, and in extra innings, after the Gaels failed to score, a game-winning single with two outs ended the ballgame at 6-5.
 
Game 2: Saint Mary's 8, Utah State 6
 
BACK AND FORTH
Game two of the doubleheader was about as back-and-forth as it could have been, but Saint Mary's prevailed thanks to some big innings in the middle of the game. After being down 3-0, they scored five times in the bottom of the third, then allowed three runs in the top of the fourth, before scoring the final three runs of the games. The two runs scored in the bottom of the fifth inning wound up being the winners for Saint Mary's, as Elena Barragan hit the go-ahead single with a knock to left-center, and the Lindsay Cabral reached on a fielder's choice to score the second run.
 
BIG BOUNCE BACK
That early deficit wound up just a hill for Saint Mary's to climb, as they erased a 3-0 deficit in the third by scoring five times and taking advantage of three Utah State errors. Cabral opened the inning with a single, and Marissa Montelongo ran for her, stealing second and taking third on an error. A second error allowed Sasa Koria to reach base, and then Nishihara laid down a sacrifice bunt that scored the first run. A single from Casas set up Smith again, who recorded her second RBI double of the day, dropping one into left field and making it 3-2. A fielder's choice that scored two runs (with another Utah State error), and another bunt, this time from Barragan, and the Gaels suddenly had put up five runs in a chaotic inning.
 
UP NEXT
Saint Mary's will continue in the Silicon Valley Classic with a single game on Sunday against San Jose State. First pitch is scheduled for 11:30 am at the home of Spartans Softball. On February 13, the Gaels were able to come out on top over the Spartans in extra innings thanks to a Claudia Kirchner walk-off hit to win 4-3. Sunday will mark the final game of the opening month of the season for SMC.