SAN JOSE, Calif. — The third week of the year features the third tournament for Saint Mary's softball, with the Gaels heading down to the South Bay for the annual Silicon Valley Classic. The first four games of the event will be played at San Jose State before the final day will see the Gaels head to Santa Clara University for a single game. SMC will see Northern Colorado, San Jose State, and Sacramento State this weekend.
 
THE DETAILS
Saint Mary's Gaels (4-5) vs. Northern Colorado/San Jose State/Sacramento State
Friday-Sunday, February 24-26
Friday-Saturday at San Jose State, Sunday at Santa Clara University
 
Friday: 1:00 pm vs. Northern Colorado and 3:30 pm vs. San Jose State
Saturday: 11:00 am vs. Sacramento State and 1:30 pm vs. San Jose State
Sunday: 9:00 am vs. Northern Colorado
 
Info on times, locations, and stats
 
LAST TIME OUT
Saint Mary's hosted a tournament of their own last weekend, and the Gaels went 2-2 over the weekend. They snagged wins against Utah State and UC San. Diego, with the UC San Diego game being quite the thriller. SMC was down 5-1 midway through the game before coming back to win the game 9-6. Alex Casas was a driving force all weekend long for SMC, driving in four runs during the tournament, while Rylee Gomez provided the go-ahead base hit in the win over the Tritons. While the offense was hot in that game, the Gaels managed to score just four runs in the other three games combined.


OUTSTANDING ODHI
One of the breakout players of the tournament was Odhi Vasquez, who dazzled in the circle all weekend long. Vasquez turned in the best outing of her young collegiate career this week, blanking Utah State in seven shutout innings (technically in relief) in a 2-0 Gaels win. She entered in the first inning after two hitters reached base and was lights out the rest of the way, allowing just three hits with two walks while striking out 10 for her first collegiate win. She also added three shutout innings of relief work on Sunday against San Jose State, with a 1.31 ERA across 10.2 innings and 12 Ks this week.
 
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS
Northern Colorado makes its second trip to California after opening in the La Jolla Invitational in San Diego. Four of their six losses already this year have been by six runs or more, but their pitching has still been solid, with a team ERA under 4.00. They went 10-8 in the Big Sky Conference last year, and they might go as far as their pitching takes them. Erin Caviness (2.85 ERA) and Isabelle DiNapoli (3.46 ERA) have thrown all but six innings so far this season.
 
The Gaels already saw San Jose State once, and will see them twice this weekend. Alyssa Graham continues to rake, with all three home runs for the Spartans, including a grand slam against UC San Diego in Moraga on Friday morning. Jenessa Ullegue spun a one-hitter against SMC, and she figures to see the Gaels at least once. SJSU has just two wins on the year after being swept out of the Mark Campbell Invitational in Irvine to open the year.
 
A recent trip to the Puerto Vallarta Challenge did not go so well for the Hornets, who got outscored 25-7 over four games while going just 1-3. The offense has been a weak spot for the team so far, with just a .205 team batting average and an OPS of .567. Milan Machado-Buckley is the lone hitter on the team with an average above .300, but Marissa Bertuccio has made up for some of the that in the circle. Despite a 1-3 record, she holds a 2.10 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 26.2 innings.