MORAGA, Calif. — Three series into WCC play, and the Gaels (21-13, 6-3 WCC) find themselves in the top three in the conference. With series wins against San Diego, Gonzaga, and LMU, Saint Mary's looks to keep on rolling this week against San Francisco. With the two teams in front of the Gaels in the WCC standings, Gonzaga and Portland, squaring off this weekend, it weighs this series against San Francisco a bit more, as SMC looks to make a surge into the top spot in the conference.
THE DETAILS
Saint Mary's Gaels vs San Francisco Dons
April 19-21, Brother Ronald Gallagher Stadium – Moraga, Calif.
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THE LAST TIME OUT
The Gaels had a busy five game week last week, taking on Cal for a two game, midweek series, before heading to LA to take on LMU for their typical three game conference weekend set.
The Cal series ended up split at one-apiece, with each team taking a victory on the other's home diamond. In Berkeley on Tuesday night, the Gaels cruised to a 6-1 victory. Connor "Bear" Harrison had himself a day in "Bear Territory", going 3-5 with a pair of RBI and a no doubt blast to deep center field. Redshirt freshman Aiden Taurek earned the start at DH, and also left the yard and drove in two. Ryan Sanders picked up his fourth win, tossing the first three innings scoreless in a scheduled bullpen game. The Gaels used five pitchers who surrendered just one run on three hits, and were the beneficiaries of stellar defense, with the Gaels going errorless in game one of the week.
The lone game of the week played in Moraga was much more eventful than the week opener in Berkeley. The two teams combined for 25 runs on 28 hits, as the Bear got the best of the Gaels 14-11. The Gaels fell behind 2-0 in the first, but battled back to take their first lead at 7-4 on a Nathan Chong home run to left in the bottom of the third. That was the first of four lead changes in the game, with Cal dealing the final blow in the eighth, building up a 14-11 lead that they would not relinquish. Nathan Chong drove in five of the Gaels 11 runs, while Dalton Mashore and Bear Harrison each drove in two more. Mashore had a pair of doubles, his fourth multi-extra base hit game of the season.
WCC play for the week opened with a heartbreaking loss to LMU in 10. The Gaels built a 4-0 lead in the fourth, three of which came in on a Dalton Mashore three run jack. Derik Eaquinto got the start and tossed five scoreless, and pitched into the seventh, allowing one run on three hits through 6.1. LMU continued to chip away at the deficit, drawing level on a two run home run in the ninth off of closer Preston Howey. Ryan Sanders came on to relieve Howey in the ninth and got the game to the tenth. In the tenth inning, Sanders recorded the first two outs, but allowed the next three to reach, including the walk off single for his first loss of the season.
Again, the Gaels took an early lead against LMU in game two of the series, going ahead 2-0 in the first, but that lead quickly evaporated in the bottom half, as a two run home run for the Lions brought the score to 3-2. Saint Mary's would recapture the lead in the third on RBI from Ryan Pierce and Brian Duroff. Ahead 5-4 in the sixth, Christian Almanza rocketed a pitch over the right centerfield fence with two runners on, opening the lead up to 8-4. Again, the Lions would mount a furious comeback effort, scoring three runs in the final four innings, but with one out in the ninth and the tying run on third, Dylan Delvecchio came out of the bullpen to and induced a foul out to third and a ground out to third to end the game and pick up his first save. The win was Coach Valenzuela's 200th as a Gael and 300th overall. Dalton Mashore logged three hits in the contest, scoring twice, while Christian Almanza drove in three.
In the series finale, the Gaels offense exploded for 13 runs in the first four innings, riding that wave to a 13-7 victory. Brian Duroff drove in two runs in the first frame and Saint Mary's never looked back. Christian Almanza's second home run of the series was a grand slam, as he is now at 15 for the season (5 shy of the program single season record) and 38 for his career (7 shy of the program record). Coleman Schmidt also left the yard with a three run jack, while Gavin Napier scored twice, moving him into the top-10 in program history for runs scored, now with 116. Adam Enyart earned the win out of the bullpen, his first of the season.
ABOUT THE DONS
San Francisco has recently slipped below 0.500, currently on a four game losing streak as part of their 17-20 record. Sitting at 1-8 in the cellar of the WCC, the Dons have shown potential this season as one of the top pitching and defense teams in the conference, but they need to find a way to bring their bats to life. In his second season at the helm, Head Coach Rob DiToma is just one win shy of matching his win total from a season ago, as he has seen his team steadily progress in year two. Offensively, the Dons have had two key standouts this season, Kody Watanabe and TJ Rogers. A transfer from Southwestern Oregon CC, Watanabe serves as the leadoff hitter and starting first baseman for the Dons, and leads the team with a 0.319 batting average, 14 extra base hits and 25 RBI. Shortstop TJ Rogers is in his second season in San Francisco and is currently riding a five game hitting streak that has his batting average up to 0.316. He ranks second on the team with 21 RBI. Adam Shew, Lance Santerre and Joe Soberon have made up the typical weekend rotation for the Dons. The trio have combined for 24 starts, all holding sub 4.00 ERAs. Santerre has been the standout so far, leading the rotations with a 3.24 ERA, a 1.13 WHIP and a 0.207 opponents batting average. As good as the starters have been, the Dons also boast a hefty arsenal of stellar bullpen arms. A trio of sophomore relievers, Kolby Calia, Hunter Helzemer, and Gabriel Barrett all have been lights out with sub 2.50 ERAs. The Dons took two of three against the Gaels last season, but haven't taken a series in Moraga since 2018.
Saint Mary's full schedule can be viewed here and season tickets can be purchased by clicking here.
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