PROVO, Utah. – Saint Mary's Baseball got the series win at BYU and almost pulled off the sweep with a split of Saturday's double header.

SMC played their sixth double header of the season and split their fourth straight, after once again getting their win in the first game of the twin bill.
 
GAME ONE
The first game got off to an odd start when Gaels had a run taken off the board in top of the second. A perfect squeeze bunt was laid down by Seth Nager that looked like it scored Blake McDonald and had Nager safe at first on an errant through. But after the umpires conversed, they said Nager should be out on interference, though it seemed he stayed in the base path and was just hit by an offline throw.
 
It wouldn't take long for the Gaels to put up a run that couldn't be taken away when Coleman Schmidt hit his third home run of the season and moved into the team lead with six on a solo shot to straight-away center.
 
Dalont Mashore just missed snaring a ball that hit near the top of the wall in right in the bottom of the third for an RBI double that tied it 1-1, but starter Connor Linchey would end the threat there with a strikeout.
 
The Gaels stranded a pair of runners in the top of fourth, creating a little momentum for BYU in the bottom of the inning. A double to left center after a leadoff walk put the Cougars ahead 2-1. BYU executed a "butcher boy" play with no outs and runners at first and second, where the hitter showed bunt, pulled it back, and then chopped a ball through middle of SMC's bunt defense to score their second run of the inning to make it 3-1.
 
A solo home run in the bottom of the fifth put BYU ahead 4-1, but Blake McDonald tripled to start the sixth and Nager would rip a double into the corner in right to cut it to 4-2. Gavin Napier grounded to third for a fielder's choice that scored Nager after bluffing that he was going to stay on the bag to bring it to a 4-3 deficit.
 
Much like the rest of the series the Gaels would take advantage of the Cougar's eighth-inning issues. Jared Mettam doubled down the right-field line to start the inning, and Nager would reach on an error.
 
The Gaels then called their second squeeze play of the day, this one laid down by Mashore that was fielded by the pitcher. His toss home was too late to get Nager on a head-first slide, and SMC had tied the game at 4-4.
 
Saint Mary's would load the bases before a Christian Almanza sac fly put the Gaels ahead 5-4, and again before a Bill Ralston walk that extended their lead to 6-4.
 
Adam Enyart came into the seventh inning and would get within one out of finishing the game, before Riley Lamb shut the door with a runner on second to close out the series win with his first collegiate save.
 
Linchey had another good start for Saint Mary's, going six innings on 100 pitches while allowing four runs on seven hits with two walks and six strikeouts. Enyart would get the win after his 2.2 innings of shutout baseball to move to 2-0 on the season.
 
GAME TWO
Game three of the series got off to an even more inauspicious start than the first game of the double header, when a popped-up bunt with two runners on the move for Saint Mary's led to a triple play for BYU in the second inning, their first since 2011.
 
SMC would Load bases and score on a wild pitch in third that brought in Mashore and Saint Mary's again scored first to go up 1-0. Game two was a bullpen day for the Gaels and Ryan Spalliero came in to start the third. The freshman was removed however after walking the first two batters of the inning.
 
Owen Cuffe came in and struck out the first two batters he faced, but then threw a wild pitch followed by an error throwing to first after fielding a chopper in the infield near the first-base line just as the runner went passed him for a 3-1 BYU lead.
 
The Gaels turned a 5-4-3 double play to get out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the fourth when freshman Dave Thomas came into the game, and that seemed to put a little momentum into the SMC dugout.
 
They would get a run back in the top of the fifth after Mashore singled and stole second in front of Napier who singled up the gut to cut it to 3-2.
 
It would stay that way until the ninth inning, when the Gaels would again comeback against the Cougars bullpen. After a Nager lead off single smoked down the right-field line, a very strict interpretation of when Mashore was ready in the batter's box in relation to the pitch clock led to a strikeout of Mashore on a 1-2 count. The home plate umpire felt Mashore wasn't ready at the 10 second mark, though it appeared he had two feet in the box and facing the pitcher just as the clock flipped to nine.
 
However, the Gaels would not hang their heads and think all was lost, as Napier ripped a ball down the left field line passed the diving first baseman to tie the game at 3-3. SMC would strand Napier at second, but they had forced a bottom of the ninth.
 
Ryan Taurek went back out for the ninth after getting the final out of the eighth, and started the inning with a walk, a line out, an intentional pass, and a strikeout. With two on and two out, he got a fly ball to right that was dropped by Mashore, and gave BYU the 4-3 win on SMC's third error of the game. In fact, none of the four runs Saint Mary's allowed were earned in the second game on Saturday.
 
UP NEXT
Saint Mary's will host Portland from Friday, March 31 to Sunday, April 2 at Louis Guisto Field.