SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Saint Mary's Baseball took on their first opponent with a winning record on Tuesday afternoon and were up to the task against the Sacramento State Hornets, winning by a score of 8-2 to improve to 12-1 on the year. Sac State was ranked No. 24 last week before sliding out of the top 25.
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Jackson Hulett went 6.2 innings to get the win allowing just a solo home run in the second inning and an RBI double in the seventh while walking only one and striking out seven on 91 pitches.
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The Gaels got the scoring started with a
Christian Almanza solo shot to right to jump out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Sac State answered with their solo shot in the second, followed by seeing-eye single and error at first before Hulett got a pop up to first to end the threat.
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The Gaels took the lead for good after
Chris Santiago singled and
Blake Mann tripled off the wall in left to drive him in to go up 2-1 in with two outs in the fourth. After
Kyle Velazquez and
Seth Nager walked,
Gavin Napier singled to center to plate Mann and Velazquez as the Gaels went up 4-1.
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Saint Mary's was not done as a base hit by
Blake McDonald to right along with an error by the right fielder allowed Santiago to score again in the fifth for a 5-1 Gaels lead. SMC would tack on three more runs in the seventh with a two-RBI hit by McDonald and an error on a ball put in play by Mann scored McDonald to make it 8-1 Gaels.
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The Hornets managed to get a second run off of Hulett in the bottom of the seventh before
Nathan Schneider came in and shut the door with a strikeout. Schneider would pitch a scoreless eighth for 1.1 innings with no hits or walks while striking out three batters.
Ryan Wiltse came in to close it with a scoreless ninth.
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Napier, Almanza, and McDonald all had two-hit days, with Napier and McDonald each driving in a pair. Santiago scored twice, Mann hit his second triple of the season, and Almanza hit his third home run and seventh double of the year.
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UP NEXT
The Gaels will play a three-game set this weekend at East Carolina University from Friday to Sunday.
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