MORAGA, Calif. — Once the rain moved out of the Bay Area on Saturday afternoon, Saint Mary's Softball hosted Loyola Marymount in the final game of a three-game series. After LMU swept both games on Friday, the Gaels were hoping to come back strong on Saturday, and they were in the game all the way through. Still, LMU was too powerful for the Gaels to overcome, eventually falling 10-2 in the series finale. Saint Mary's drops to 13-23 (1-5) while LMU improves to 28-13 (5-1).
 
BRYANT BRINGS A SPARK
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Saint Mary's got a much-needed spark on offense, and it was provided by some players off the bench. With one away, Angelina Franco came up as a pinch hitter and sent one into centerfield for her third hit of the season. Bry Waters came in the game to run for her, and moved to second on a wild pitch. That brought up Jojo Bryant, who was hitless on the season, but changed that in her pinch-hit appearance. She stuck one well out to the alley in right center, banging it off the wall for a run-scoring triple and her first RBI of the year. She scored on the next at bat, as Marissa Nishihara brought her in on a sacrifice fly to right field, making it a 5-2 LMU lead.
 
LMU LEAPS IN FRONT
The Lions offense was able to continue tacking on runs as the game progressed, scoring in five of the seven innings. In the first inning, the Lions got out front quickly on the strength of an infield single, a fielding error on a sacrifice bunt, a sacrifice fly, two walks, and a dropped pop up to score a pair of runs. Despite all the chaos, Sofia Earle settled in, holding the Lions scoreless the next two innings. That changed in the fourth when Peyton Angulo launched a two-run homer to right center, making it 4-0. The Lions then kept adding on, scoring one in the fifth, three in the sixth, and two more in the seventh to post 10 runs.
 
UP NEXT
Saint Mary's will look for their first West Coast Conference series win of the year next weekend when they travel to Santa Clara to take on the Broncos in a three-game series. The three-gamer begins on Saturday, April 23 with a doubleheader at Santa Clara beginning at noon. The final game of the series takes place on Sunday, April 24 at noon. The Gaels will then be at home for the next five games beginning on April 27.