MORAGA, Calif. — The ending to the 2023 Saint Mary's softball season sure was a special one. After nearly taking the series opener from BYU on Friday, the Gaels came back with two more masterpieces from their young pitching staff, blanking BYU 2-0 in both games to eliminate the Cougars from WCC title contention. Saint Mary's finishes the season 20-29 and 9-6 in WCC play, the most wins in a season since 2016 and the most conference wins they've ever accumulated in the WCC.
 
Game 1: Saint Mary's 2, BYU 0
 
SHUTOUT #1
Kailey O'Connor got the ball in the first game of the afternoon and capped off her sophomore season in style. She went the distance for the fifth time this season and recorded her first collegiate shutout, tossing a four-hitter against the potent BYU offense. She didn't walk anybody and struck out two while needing just 86 pitches to get through all seven innings. O'Connor hardly ran into any trouble either, allowing two singles in the third inning and a double in the top of the sixth with two outs, but never let a runner get to third base. It marked just the third shutout of the season against BYU, and arguably the best performance of the year from O'Connor.
 
BREAKING THROUGH
After not scoring in 12 innings against BYU on Friday, the Gaels ended a long scoreless drought in the third by scoring their first run of the series. Tori Cervantes opened the inning with a double to warning track in left field, and was moved to third on a sacrifice bunt. That brought up Taylor Keinath, and on her senior day, she delivered. She sent a slow roller to second base that she beat out for an infield single, scoring a run and making it 1-0 Gaels in the third. She was in the thick of it again in the sixth, with a one-out double to the gap in left center before coming around to score on a sacrifice fly from Alex Casas to make it 2-0.
 
Game 2: Saint Mary's 2, BYU 0
 
SHUTOUT #2
The performance in game two was equally as impressive from Avrey Wolverton, who also went the distance to hold the Cougars without a run on the entire day. She allowed just three Cougars hits, one walk, and seven strikeouts across seven dazzling innings, with just one of those hits being an extra-base hit. Like O'Connor, she failed to allow a runner to get past second base in the game, limiting any chances BYU had to score. Wolverton allowed a leadoff double down the left field line, but kept her tethered to second base to end the inning. For Wolverton, it was her third shutout in conference play this season, and the perfect way to end the year.
 
ANOTHER SENIOR LEADS THE WAY
Alex Casas played her final game on Saturday, and she was all over the action in both games. After the sacrifice fly in game one, she opened the second with a single, starting the first rally of the second game. She moved to second after a walk from Marissa Nishihara, and came around to score on an RBI single from Marissa Montelongo, making it 1-0 SMC. In the third, Taylor Lane reached on a fielding error with two outs, and moved to second on a wild pitch. Casas made sure that the Cougars paid for the mistake, lining a single into right field to score Lane and make it 2-0 Gaels.
 
NOTES ON THE DAY
With the series win over BYU, it marks the first time that the Gaels have won a series over BYU…the wins also eliminated BYU from WCC regular season championship contention, and they will have to earn an auto-bid to the NCAA Tournament should their season continue…SMC finishes with the best winning percentage they've had under coach Sonja Garnett, and their most wins as a program since 2016.