MORAGA, Calif. – The Saint Mary's Baseball Team honored their nine graduating seniors before Friday's double header versus CSUN to cap off the 2022 season.
 
Though the Matadors took both games, the Gaels played much better on season's final day than in game one on Thursday.
 
Senior Nathan Schneider started game one of the double header and threw a career-high four innings allowing three runs on just one walk with six strikeouts. Fellow senior Jackson Hulett closed out his Gaels career with two shutout innings to keep SMC within striking distance.
 
Chris Santiago kept his hot streak going with a single through the left side to drive in Javy Espinoza in the sixth inning, but CSUN starter Lucas Braun went the distance in the seven-inning game for the Matadors 5-1 win.
 
In game two, the Gaels trailed just 2-1 after Blake McDonald's first home run of the season out to left field in the seventh inning. The Matadors would get one run back in the eighth to reclaim their two-run lead, and extend it with their first crooked number of the day after scoring four runs in the ninth to go up 7-1.
 
But the Gaels would not go down without a fight. Blake Mann beat out a ground ball to reach first and extend the game and his Gaels career. Dalton Mashore would drive in Santiago with a double down the left field line to cut it to 7-2. That was followed by senior Kyle Velazquez' sac fly to center field that scored Mann to cut it to 7-3, before the Matadors retired the next two Gaels to end the game.
 
Though Saint Mary's said farewell to nine seniors, they retain a young core of talented players for the coming seasons. The Gaels greatly improved their offense and added more pitching with their most-recent recruiting class. With one more group of recruits like that for this Gaels staff, it's easy to be excited about the future of the program.
 
#GaelsRise