PITTSBURG, Calif. – Saint Mary's Baseball split a double header in rainy conditions against Xavier University on Saturday, with their win coming in another dominant performance by Derik Eaquinto.
 
Damp-field double headers sandwiched between atmospheric rivers are all the Gaels have been able to squeeze in of their schedule lately. The conditions forced the Gaels to use the baseball field of Pittsburg High School in order to find an available facility with an artificial turf playing surface on Saturday.
 
GAME ONE
The first game of the twin bill even had a 25-minute rain delay in the middle of the third inning. But that downpour did nothing to Eaquinto's rhythm, looking unfazed by the delay en route to an eight-inning masterpiece.  
 
The Orem, Utah native didn't allow multiple hits in an inning during his outing. He reached back for a little extra with runners on the corners in the top of the seventh for an inning-ending strikeout on his highest readings on the radar gun.
 
The transfer from Salt Lake Community College got through 7.2 innings before allowing a solo home run to the short porch in right, where it is just 304 feet down the right field line in Joseph P. Arrenivar Field on the campus of Pittsburg High. He got a fly out to shallow right from the next batter to complete his day after 108 pitches, allowing just four hits with no walks and six strikeouts.
 
He was backed by a steady drip of Gaels offense that started with Christian Almanza's solo home run (3) to left center in the bottom of the first. Back-to-back doubles from Bill Ralston and Coleman Schmidt started the second inning to keep the flow going and gave SMC another run to make it 2-0
 
Saint Mary's would put their first crooked number on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third. Gavin Napier singled through the middle with one out before Almanza doubled to right center to scored Napier all the way from first.
 
With two outs Ralston grounded a ball deep into the hole between second and first into shallow right field. Almanza was off on contact and the ball was briefly bobbled by the second baseman, allowing Ralston to reach with a single and Almanza to score for a 4-0 SMC lead.
 
Ryan Sanders made his first appearance of the season in the ninth and Preston Howey collected his first save of the season.
 
The win moved Eaquinto to 3-0 on the season with a 2.10 ERA after a no-decision in the season opener.
 
GAME TWO
The second game was a mirror image of the first, with the script flipped as the Musketeers applied a steady drizzle of offense. Xavier scored on a solo home run in the second inning and a two-run shot in the third off Ryan Wiltse.  
 
A triple down the right-field line in the seventh off Adam Enyart allowed two runners to score that reached on walks issued by Owen Cuffe to make it 5-0 Musketeers.
 
Saint Mary's would answer in the bottom of the inning though when Seth Nager went the opposite way and doubled off the base of the left-field wall to score Schmidt and Ralston to make it a 5-2 game. That would be as close as the Gaels would get though for their second split double header of the season.
 
UP NEXT
Saint Mary's will play at San Jose State on Tues, March 14 in a game that's start time has been moved up to 2:00 p.m. due to ongoing repairs to the lights at Excite Ballpark.