MORAGA, Calif. — Saint Mary's (24-13, 9-3 WCC) entered Sunday's contest in search of their first WCC series sweep of the season against the San Francisco Dons (17-23, 1-11 WCC). Through the first third of the game, it looked like they would have to wait another week for the sweep, as they fell into an early 4-0 deficit and were no-hit through the first four. The Gaels continued to battle, however, eventually plating nine unanswered runs to indeed finish off the sweep of the Dons, and move into second place in the WCC standings with their fourth straight series victory.
The Dons came out swinging, plating four runs in the first three frames, bouncing both the Gaels starter Jason Reitz and first reliever Preston Howey through just 2.1 innings combined. Justin Santiago came on to stop the bleeding in the third and worked a scoreless fourth before giving way to Ryan Wiltse. The best pitcher on the Gaels staff statistically speaking, Wiltse surrendered a leadoff hit in the fifth, followed by a string of 14 straight retired batters. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Wiltse would finally allow his second baserunner of the outing, but ended the game with a strikeout. The bullpen performed exactly how Coach Valenzuela needed them to as the Gaels battled back from their early deficit.
After being held hitless through four, Jared Mettam led off the fifth inning with a line shot down the right field line, and showed off his speed with a standup triple. Tanner Griffith lifted the very next pitch to right field, deep enough to score Mettam on the sacrifice fly and put the Gaels on the board, now trailing 4-1.
The home run party then began for the Gaels in the sixth, as with two outs, Brian Duroff and Nathan Chong went back to back, with Duroff leaving the yard over the left field fence and Chong rocketing a ball opposite field over the right field fence.
With the scoreline at 4-3, Wiltse continued to tick momentum in the Gaels favor, striking out the side in order as part of a six consecutive strikeout stretch. After the seventh inning stretch, the Gaels turned this game on its head. Dalton Mashore led off the inning with a single, followed by a no-doubt blast from Christian Almanza, his 17th of the season, to give the Gaels a 5-4 lead. Unsatisfied with just a one run lead, the Gaels then began to pile it on. Ryan Pierce was the fourth Gael to jump the yard with a solo shot immediately after Almanza's blast. Then after back to back walks and a sacrifice bunt, Jared Mettam would double Coleman Schmidt and Brian Duroff home, and then would score himself on a Tanner Griffith double. In the blink of an eye, the Gaels had gone from down 4-3 to up 9-4.
Wiltse continued to dominate on the hill, closing out the game with five scoreless innings on just two hits and seven strikeouts for his fourth win of the season. Jared Mettam logged his second career three-hit ballgame, finishing a home run shy of the cycle, while driving in two and scoring two. Christian Almanza's home run was his 40th career blast. He is the second ever Gael to hit 40 home runs in their career. It was Saint Mary's first WCC series sweep of the season. They had just one last season, against Pacific.
The Gaels will be back in action on Tuesday, hosting UC Davis in a midweek affair. First pitch is set for 3 PM.
Saint Mary's full schedule can be viewed here and season tickets can be purchased by clicking here.
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