SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Saint Mary's Softball hits the road this weekend but will stay in the Bay Area as they take on the Santa Clara Broncos in a three-game series. The Gaels are in need of a big weekend, after dropping five of their first six games in West Coast Conference play. SMC will hope to take advantage of a potentially rusty SCU squad that has not played since April 10.
 
THE DETAILS
Saint Mary's Gaels (13-23, 1-5) at Santa Clara Broncos (16-22, 2-1)
Saturday, April 23 – doubleheader at 12:00 pm
Santa Clara Softball Stadium – Santa Clara, Calif.
Watch (Game 1) | Watch (Game 2) | Live Stats (Game 1) | Live Stats (Game 2)
 
Sunday, April 24 – 12:00 pm
Santa Clara Softball Stadium – Santa Clara, Calif.
Watch | Live Stats
 
LAST TIME OUT
Saint Mary's hosted Loyola Marymount in a three-game series last weekend before the Easter holiday, and the Lions swept Saint Mary's. The Lions outscored the Gaels 29-3 over those three games, but those scores were deceptive after the Lions blew a couple of games open with late run scoring. Game one of the series was the most competitive, where the Gaels fell 5-1 to LMU despite taking a 1-0 lead early in the game. Perhaps most impressive for the Lions, they were able to beat Gaels ace Sofia Earle twice in the series.
 
BRYANT BRINGS A SPARK
In the bottom of the fifth inning of game three, 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.
 
ABOUT SANTA CLARA
The Broncos did not play last weekend during the Easter holiday and have not taken the field since their West Coast Conference opening series Pacific, which they won two games to one. Despite owning 16 wins on the season, the Broncos have not won more than three-in-a-row at any point this year, and have not done so at home during the 2022 season. Their pitching staff has done a great job working around traffic this year, as they let opponents hit .306 but they have a staff ERA of just 3.82. No Broncos hitter has more than one home run this year (six total), and just three hitters with enough at bats are hitting above .240.