STANFORD, Calif. - What a night of postseason softball as Saint Mary's went toe-to-toe with 8th ranked Stanford in their second ever NCAA tournament appearance. The Gaels gave up seven early runs in the first two innings but showed no quit as they responded with six unanswered and had chances to take the lead late in the game.
Redshirt sophomore
Avrey Wolverton would get the start after peaking in the regular season finale with a shutout complete game over LMU to secure the WCC title the week prior. Wolverton pitched to contact and got early outs but surrendered a two run homer in the first to give the Cardinal an early lead. After retiring the first batter to start the second, Wolverton would run into some trouble giving up a pair of singles and then hitting the next batter to load the bases. In would come WCC Co-Pitcher of the Year
Odhi Vasquez but she would give up four walks in the inning and an RBI single would extend Stainford's lead to 7-0 after two innings.
Head coach
Sonja Garnett and her group are no strangers to adversity and they proved that here tonight, bouncing back with two runs in the third and then a four spot in the fourth to flip the game on it's head and cut the deficit to just a single run. With runners in scoring position leadoff hitter
Hannah Ferguson would ground out to short to score
Marissa Nishihara and get the Gaels on the board. Then with two outs,
Marissa Montelongo would deliver a clutch RBI single to build some momentum heading into the fourth.
Vasquez would come back out for the bottom half of the third and get a pair of punchouts to help retire the Cardinal in order and maintain the momentum. The Gaels would make their move in the fourth inning recording four runs off four hits to all of a sudden make it a one run ballgame. After a hit batter with two outs to put runners on first and second,
Camille Lara would slap a ground ball just inside the third base line and score pinch runner
Gracie Carpenter from second.
Ferguson would come back up to the plate and beat out a high chopper to third base to load the bases and keep the inning going. Known for their speed and elite baserunning, Saint Mary's would take advantage of a wild pitch the very next at bat and pinch runner
Jocelyn Bryant would dart home without hesitation to plate another run for the Gaels.
One of the wackiest plays you'll see,
Marissa Montelongo would come to bat next and hit a hard ground ball to the Stanford shortstop but after fielding the ball she went for the force out at second but did not realize that the runners had moved up a base on the wild pitch prior. Therefore, nobody was on first when Montelongo came to the plate and her hesitation allowed Montelongo to beat out the throw to first. As the throw went to first, Lara would score from third and Ferguson would never stop running from second and catch everyone off guard and score the fourth run of the inning for Saint Mary's. In the blink of an eye, it was a one run ballgame.
Stanford wouldn't waste much time the next half inning as they cashed in on a two out walk and recorded back-to-back singles to get a run back and give them a two run cushion with three innings to play. The Cardinal had one of the nation's best pitchers start the game, but she would depart after the second inning with a seven run lead. After Saint Mary's comeback in the fourth, she would re-enter to start the fifth and retired all nine hitters she faced to secure the wild 8-6 victory.
Montelongo had two hits and two RBI's on the night and Vasquez settled down nicely to throw 4+ innings in relief allowing three runs and striking out four.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Gaels put their hearts out on the field with a terrific showing, going toe-to-toe with one of the top teams in the nation in front of a great crowd. They will take the night to rest up and will face off in an elimination game with BigWest member Cal State Fullerton tomorrow afternoon at 4:35 PM. You can watch the game live on ESPN+ and tickets can be bought at smcgaels.com.
Be sure to follow your Gaels on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to get all the latest Saint Mary's athletics updates and information.
#GaelsRise
