LOS ANGELES — The Gaels will be heading down south this weekend to compete against Loyola Marymount, California Baptist, and UC Riverside. There will be a doubleheader on Saturday April 22 against Loyola Marymount and another doubleheader on Monday April 24 against California Baptist. After spending four days down in sunny Los Angeles, the Gaels will then return to the heart of Moraga to play against Cal and defend their home turf one final time in April. 

THE DETAILS
Saint Mary's Gaels vs Loyola Marymount University Lions
Saturday - Sunday, April 22-23 (Saturday DH 12:00 pm, Sunday 11:00 am)
Smith Field - Los Angeles

Saint Mary's Gaels vs California Baptist University Lancers
Monday - April 24 starting at 4:00 pm
John C. Funk - Riverside, Calif

Saint Mary's Gaels vs University of California Riverside Highlanders
Tuesday - April 25 starting at 12:00 pm
Amy S. Harrison - Riverside, Calif

Saint Mary's Gaels vs University of California Berkeley Golden Bears
Wednesday - April 26 starting at 3:00 pm
Cottrell Field - Moraga, Calif

LINKS FOR ALL GAMES

LAST TIME OUT
The Gaels are coming off of a weekend sweep against the Santa Clara Broncos. The Gaels won both ends of the doubleheader on Saturday April 15 and then won again the following day as well. The Gaels have now moved their WCC record to 5-1, resulting in them now being tied for first place in the conference with LMU. In the second game of the doubleheader on Saturday, the Gaels earned their largest comeback win of the season, erasing a five-run deficit to beat Santa Clara 8-7. The Gaels then hosted the Boise State Broncos the following Monday, losing 5-2.

FIRST YEAR FERGUSON
Saint Mary's softball picked up a West Coast Conference sweep of Santa Clara over the weekend, and it came with a few stellar performances. Perhaps none were bigger than that put up by freshman leadoff hitter Hannah Ferguson, who was named the WCC Player of the Week on April 17 for her efforts in the Gaels sweep of the Broncos.

Ferguson had the best week of her collegiate career as she helped the Gaels get their first conference sweep since 2016. She went 6-10 at the plate for a .600 average, and opened up the series with a leadoff home run, the first of her collegiate career. She added an RBI triple and the go-ahead, two-run single in game two of the doubleheader, before scoring two times in the series finale. All told, she scored five runs, had four RBIs, and one stolen base.

With her weekly award win from the conference, she is the first Gael to win one this season, and the first Gael since Sofia Earle on May 2, 2022 to be recognized by the conference. Ferguson is also just the second freshman to win the award this season, with Hailey Morrow of BYU winning last week.

ABOUT LOYOLA MARYMOUNT
LMU is tied for first place in the WCC with the Gaels this season. The Lions have played 36 games this season with an overall of 19-17. There are two players with a batting average of over .295 who have been two of the best players for the Lions. Freshman Izzy Jamgotchian has an average of .300 and senior Morgan DeBord is hitting .298. Their pitching doesn't disappoint either with junior Jenna Perex pulling an ERA of 2.06. The Lions have just wrapped a series against BYU, almost taking the sweep but losing their last game 5-2.

ABOUT CALIFORNIA BAPTIST 
The Lancers have played 43 games this season with an overall of 25-18. They are just returning from a series against Utah Valley where they almost swept them, but lost their last game 4-1. The Lancers have an impressive lineup with three players having batting averages well over .300. Sophomores Sydney Soto and Priscilla Estrada have averages of .358 and .356, respectively, while junior Alissa Montes De Oca isn't far behind with a .324 average. The pitching staff has also been strong this season, led by Jazmine Castaneda with an ERA of 2.09 to anchor the staff.

ABOUT UC RIVERSIDE
The Highlanders just returned from Honolulu for a series against Hawaii. The Highlanders lost two of the three games against Hawaii. There have been 40 games played this season for UCR with their overall being 16-24. Batting seems to be the strong point for the Highlanders with graduate student Nadia Witt with an average of .377. Witt has a total of 15 RBIs to her name with a .916 on base percentage, proving to be one of the best hitters in the Big West this year.

ABOUT CAL
The Golden Bears currently have a winning streak of five and are sitting with an overall of 29-12-1. The last game they participated in was against the Santa Clara Broncos where they won 9-8, in a game that dragged on for 13 innings. Hitting is no joke for the Golden Bears with three players having an OPS of over 1.000. Junior Kacey Zobac has secured an OPS of 1.197 and a batting average of .383. Senior Makena Smith is close behind with an OPS of 1.167 but is trailing Zobac with an average of .354. They can hit, and their lineup will present challenges to the SMC pitching staff.