LOS ANGELES — Saint Mary's softball made the trek down to Los Angeles for a huge three-game series against the LMU Lions, with first place in the West Coast Conference on the line. With both teams sitting at 5-1 through two weekends, it was shaping up to be a great day for softball as the Gaels faced their best competition of the season. In the end, the Lions were able to get the best of SMC with scores of 7-0 and 5-1. After Saturday's results, Saint Mary's falls to 14-20 (5-3) while LMU improves to 21-17 (7-1).
 
Game 1: LMU 7, Saint Mary's 0
 
OFFENSE SHUT DOWN
The Saint Mary's offense has been finding their rhythm as conference play rolls along, but that offense was shut down by Jenna Perez in the first game of the doubleheader. One of the best pitchers in the conference, Perez limited the Gaels to just two hits and two walks across six innings, while striking out seven. The only Gael to get to her was Jenavee Amador, who had a pair of hits including a double against Perez. In the seventh, the Gaels offense was able to get two hits against the LMU relief pitcher, with Taylor Keinath and Lindsay Cabral singling, but that was the only inning in the game where they had multiple hits. It led to just the second shutout of the Gaels since late February.
 
TOO MANY RALLIES
On the flip side, the LMU Lions offense was able to get too many rallies against the Gaels pitching staff, enough to sink SMC in the first game. Avrey Wolverton got the start for Saint Mary's, and she allowed a run in the first before she was chased from the game in the second inning. The Lions got to her with back-to-back home runs from Sofowora and Villa, and the day was quickly done for Wolverton. Kailey O'Connor came into the game and settled it down for a few innings, getting out of that inning without any more damage and tossing three shutout innings before the Lions offense found more life. Five consecutive hitters reached base against O'Connor, including a two-run double followed by a two-run single made it a 7-0 game in the blink of an eye.
 
Game 2: LMU 5, Saint Mary's 1
 
BREAKING THROUGH
For the second game in a row, the Gaels struggled to produce runs, but they were able to put more pressure on LMU than they did in game one. Despite that, it took until the top of the sixth before they scored a run in the series. Marissa Montelongo opened up the inning with a walk on a full count, and after a sacrifice bunt, Marissa Nishihara singled her to third base. A fielding error loading the bases with just one out, and Taylor Keinath (former LMU Lion) came through with an RBI single through the left side, making it 3-1. The Gaels could not take advantage further, however, with a strikeout and foul out ending the inning and keeping it a two-run game. That would be as close as the Gaels got, with their offense putting up seven hits in the loss.
 
KEPT ADDING ON
LMU was steady again on offense, and added on when the Gaels started to make the game close. Against SMC starter Odhi Vasquez, the Lions got a run in the first inning after a Saint Mary's fielding error with two outs produced a run. They added single runs in the third and fifth innings to build up a 3-0 lead, but the nail in the coffin came in the bottom of the sixth, when a two-out RBI single scored two runs and made it 5-1. Vasquez gave Saint Mary's a chance to win, though, with eight strikeouts in six innings while allowing five runs (three earned) and throwing 111 pitches.
 
UP NEXT
Saint Mary's has one more shot at LMU, with a single game against the Lions taking place tomorrow morning at 11:00 am. The Gaels this will conclude three-fifths of the WCC schedule for the Gaels, who have just three weeks left in the 2023 regular season.