MORAGA, Calif. – Saint Mary's Baseball played a pair of barn burners against the University of Illinois at Chicago Flames on Friday afternoon, but lost game one 10-8 and game two 6-5.
 
GAME 1
SMC jumped out to a 3-0 lead in game one, after piecing together a rally in the bottom of the first. The Gaels loaded the bases before catcher Blake McDonald was hit by a pitch to plate Bill Ralston. Coleman Schmidt grounded out to short, but reached on a fielder's choice to score Christian Almanza. That was followed by Schmidt stealing second combined with a throwing error that scored Nick Mistone.
 
UIC would score four runs in the in the second to take a one-run lead, but the Gaels would score two in the third on a Seth Nager sac fly that scored Schmidt and Dalton Mashore scored on a passed ball to put SMC back up 5-4.
 
Mashore would homer on a line drive to left center in the fourth and extend the Gaels lead to 7-4. But the Flames would answer again in the fifth on a throwing error and a two-run homer to make it 7-7.
 
Freshman shortstop Jared Mettam put Saint Mary's up 8-7 in the sixth when he singled to left, to score Mistone, but McDonald was thrown out at the plate. UIC would answer again in similar fashion in the seventh, plating two runs on a single to right before the third runner was thrown out at the plate. But they were up 9-8 after that, and a double in the ninth put them up 10-8 to secure the game-one win.
 
GAME 2
The second game was the other way around, as Gaels fell behind early and kept staging comebacks. But the Flames would never allow the Gaels to tie or take the lead.
 
UIC hit a two-run homer in the first, but starter Ryan Wiltse would settle in from there. Ralston would triple in the third for his first extra base hit as a Gael to score Gavin Napier to make it a 2-1 game.
 
The score remained 2-1 until the fifth, when the Flames center fielder bunted and an error by Wiltse allow him to reach. Wiltse would retire the next two UIC batters via fly out, but the next batter would walk. That was followed by fly ball down the right field line that just stayed inside the foul pole for a three-run home run on Wiltse's 92nd pitch of the game to make it 5-1 UIC.
 
The Gaels would answer in the bottom of the fifth when Nager doubled off the right field wall to score Mettam, and Almanza drove in Nager to bring SMC within two at 5-3.
 
The Flames would get one more run in the eighth, and the Gaels would answer again on a solo homer to left center by Almanza.
 
In the ninth, the Gaels would come close to completing the comeback with a two-out rally. Nager singled through the right side, followed by Gavin Napier being hit by a pitch. The flames brought in a lefty to face Ralston, but he would draw a walk. Almanza was hit by a pitch, and SMC was suddenly down by just one run. UIC would escape with the win, however, getting Mistone to fly out to end the threat.
 
UP NEXT
Saint Mary's will host UIC for game three of the four-game set at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.