SAN MATEO, Calif. – Saint Mary's Baseball split a double header with Central Michigan on Sunday, and will wrap up the series this Wednesday back home in Moraga, Calif.
 
The Gaels were finally able to take the field again after raining conditions dampened their neutral-site series with the Chippewas who went 43-19 last season, won the Mid-American Conference, and made the NCAA Tournament before being knocked out by No. 13 Florida.
 
The series was originally scheduled to be played in Lathrop, Calif., but soggy field conditions at Islander Field forced the Gaels to relocate to San Mateo Junior College. A neutral site was needed since the majority of the SMC staff were working at the WCC Tournament in Las Vegas.
 
GAME ONE
It was another fantastic pitching performance for junior Derik Eaquinto, again making it obvious why the Gaels coaching staff made him the pick to be the new Friday starter for Saint Mary's.
 
The reining WCC pitcher of the week spun six scoreless innings on Sunday morning, allowing just three hits and one walk while striking out eight batters. And just like Eaquinto's last start, the the Gaels needed just one reliever to preserve the shutout victory.
 
This time it was Connor Linchey throwing three shutout innings to collect his first save as a Gael. The senior out of San Ramon High allowed just one hit and no walks while striking out three batters.
 
Eaquinto's last shutout win required him to blank their competition in a 1-0 win, this time the SMC bats gave him plenty of wiggle room if he were to need it.
 
A Coleman Schmidt sac fly to center got the Gaels on board when it scored Christian Almanza in the fourth, but that would not be the end of the rally. Dalton Mashore crushed a two-run homer (3) to score Nathan Chong who walked earlier in the inning and it was 3-0 Gaels.
 
Saint Mary's would plate two more in the fifth when Chong doubled down the left field line to score shortstop Jared Mettam. That was followed by a Bill Ralston single deep into the hole at second to score Chong and make it 5-0. Ralston would top off the scoring in the eighth with a home run (3) of his own for the 6-0 final.
 
GAME TWO
The second game also saw unfortunate pattern continue for an SMC pitcher, with Ryan Wiltse having another tough-luck outing.
 
Saint Mary's again got out to a 3-0 lead, this time in the first inning. Chong walked with the bases loaded and that was followed by another Schmidt sac fly to plate Gavin Napier. Mashore singled through the left side to score Almanza and the SMC offense was again off to a hot start.
 
But that lead would be short lived, as a double and homer started the second for Central Michigan. After recording the first out, Wiltse would hit two batters and walk two to score another run and tie the game at 3-3. A base hit would score two more runs and Wiltse's day was done after 1.1 innings pitched with the Gaels trailing 5-3.
 
A Seth Nager solo home run (1) to lead off the bottom of the second to cut the deficit to 5-4. But every time SMC got back within run, the Chippewas would extend their lead again. A base hit in the third off of Jack Snook – who got the Gaels out of their second-inning jam – would put the CMU lead back to two at 6-4.
 
Once again Saint Mary's answered with a solo homer to lead off the next inning, this time from Schmidt on his second long ball of the season to make it 6-5. But again, that's all the Gaels would muster even after Blake McDonald was hit by a pitch.
 
Central Michigan would get that run back again in the fourth to make it 7-5, before Ralston scored on an errant pickoff attempt in the bottom of the inning to bring it back to 7-6. But the SMC offense would be stuck there at six while CMU tacked on two more runs in the sixth and seventh, along with one more in the eighth.
 
UP NEXT
Saint Mary's will finish the series with Central Michigan at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday in Moraga, Calif.