MORAGA, Calif. – Saint Mary's Baseball (21-13, 6-3 WCC) won a rubber match at LMU (14-23, 2-10 WCC) to pick up another series win in conference play. The Gaels offense was the driving force behind the victory as they won 13-7 on Sunday afternoon. Saint Mary's now sits in third place in the WCC through three conference series.

The Gaels got going early with a Brian Duroff  bases-loaded two-RBI single that scored the first runs of the game and gave Saint Mary's a 2-0 lead in the top half of the first. LMU responded in the bottom half with a first and third play and stole home, cutting the lead to 2-1.

The Saint Mary's offense would respond with an explosive 6-run second inning that consisted of Dalton Mashore driving in two runs with a single into left field, Ryan Pierce delivering an RBI single down the right field line, and finally a Coleman Schmidt three-run home run beyond the left center field wall that capped the Gaels rally. LMU put one more across the plate in the bottom of the second thanks to a sacrifice fly, but Saint Mary's established an 8-2 lead at the end of two innings. Ryan Wiltse got the start and pitched 2 innings allowing two earned runs on two hits with three walks and one strikeout. 

The Gaels continued the barrage in the fourth inning after Mashore walked with the bases-loaded to add an RBI to his stats on the day. Then, Christian Almanza hit a grand slam to extend Saint Mary's lead and make it a 13-2 game. Saint Mary's did not add anymore runs to their total for the rest of the day, but the bullpen kept the lead safe. Adam Enyart picked up the win after his 1.1 innings pitched allowing three unearned runs on two hits with a walk and a strikeout. Justin Santiago gave the team 4 innings of relief allowing one earned run on four hits with two walks and two strikeouts. Ryan Sanders took care of the ninth inning giving up no runs on no hits with a strikeout. 

Saint Mary's picked up the series win and moved to 6-3 in conference play. The Gaels have played three conference series so far, and won each series two games to one. Helping the Gaels get the series-clinching win on Sunday included Mashore with two hits, three RBI, and two runs scored. Almanza added two hits including his grand slam in the fourth. Duroff delivered three hits on the day, while Nathan Chong, Jared Mettam, and Tanner Griffith had multi-hit days as well with two each. Gavin Napier scored twice today, moving him into the top-10 in program history in runs scored with 116. 

The Gaels will next square off with San Francisoc for a three game series, set to start Friday, April 18 at 3 PM. 

Saint Mary's full schedule can be viewed here and season tickets can be purchased by clicking here. 

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