LAS VEGAS, Nev. - What an afternoon it was at Las Vegas Ballpark as Saint Mary's and Pepperdine kicked off the WCC Tournament with a heavyweight bout, combining for 24 runs and 29 hits. The Gaels would continue to score at an alarming rate though and record runs in six of their eight innings which also included a game high six home runs to outlast the Waves, winning the elimination game 14-10. Head coach
Eric Valenzuela and his squad will advance to the double elimination portion of the tournament and have a rematch with two seed Portland tomorrow evening at 7:05 PM.
EARLY FIREWORKS
Senior ace
Derik Eaquinto would make his 14th start of the season and take the hill for the Gaels. Eaquinto had some solid defense behind him to start with a 4-6-3 double play to clear the bases but Pepperdine's next hitter would jump on the first pitch he saw and homer out to the right center gap to give the Waves an early 1-0 lead.
Saint Mary's showcased why they are one of the best power hitting teams in the nation as they turned around and put up a three spot in the bottom half of the first which included a historic home run from senior Christain Almanza. Almanza had been stuck on 45 career homers for the last couple of weeks and connected on a towering shot to right field for his 46th of his career, breaking the program record held by Troy Channing in 2012.
The moment got even sweeter for Almanza and the Gaels as third baseman
Ryan Pierce came up next and sent a no-doubter to left field to give Saint Mary's a 3-1 lead. Pierce would record his 14th long ball of the season as the Gaels were off and running. Eaquinto would have a clean frame in the second and then the Gaels got back to work with another three runs featuring a two run shot from
Coleman Schmidt, his 12th of the year. Saint Mary's powered their way to a 6-1 lead after two innings.
TRADING BLOWS
After retiring the first two batters, Pepperdine would find some life and record back-to-back homers of their own to cut the Gaels lead in half. The locals refer to Las Vegas Ballpark as a launch pad and both teams had proven that in the early going, combining for four home runs and nine total runs through three innings.
After going to the pen to start the third, the Wave would get a clean inning and then bounce back and score on a costly error in the top of the fourth to make it 6-4.
Nathan Chong would continue to stay hot for the Gaels and get the run back with a leadoff shot to deep right center field, flexing his opposite field power. Chong has now homered three times in his last four games for Saint Mary's.
Things got hairy in the fifth as Pepperdine would storm back with three runs and knot the game up at seven a piece. Two leadoff hits and a hit batter would load the bases. Another hit batter and an RBI single would make it a one run game and then the Waves would get a sac fly to tie the game at seven. With runners on the corners and after a pitching change for Saint Mary's,
Jason Reitz and Connor Harrison would execute a perfect first and third play with the runner in motion on first. Harrison would fake the throw down to second and fire it back to Reitz who would calmly catch the ball and catch the runner on third in a rundown to end the threat.
Pierce would then respond with his second homer of the game on another deep shot to right center field to put the Gales back in front 8-7. That went down as Pierce's 15th of the season and his second multi-home run game.
In the 6th, walks and hit batters would hurt the Gaels once again as Pepperdine would get a run back with a walk and then an RBI groundout to take a 9-7 lead, their second lead of the game. The conference's leader in home runs would answer yet again though and this time it would be
Coleman Schmidt with an absolute blast over the batter's eye to leapfrog the Waves and take a 10-9 lead. Shortstop
Jared Mettam would set the tone with a leadoff double before Schmidt sent him home with his second of the game and 13th of the season.
GAELS PULL AWAY LATE
Ryan Wiltse replaced Reitz in that sixth inning and would shut down Pepperdine in the seventh by striking out the side and helping shift the momentum back to Saint Mary's. The Gaels would finally put the game out of reach in the next half inning with an RBI double from
Brian Duroff and then a two RBI triple off the center field wall from
Dalton Mashore for his fourth hit of the day.
Pepperdine recorded their fourth home run of the game in the top of the eighth inning to cut the lead to 14-10 but all four long balls were solo shots as the Gaels pitching staff did a good job of taking outs when they could get them and limiting high damage swings.
Preston Howey entered the game in the middle of the eighth for his 21st appearance of the season and with two runners on for the Waves, he would win an eight pitch battle and strikeout the final batter of the game to seal the hectic 14-10 victory. Howey jumped off the mound fired up as his teammates swarmed him after recording the massive punchout to advance them in the tournament.
Five different Saint Mary's players had multiple hits in the game with Mashore leading the charge in the leadoff spot with four hits and a homer shy of the cycle. The Gaels recorded a season high six home runs in the contest and now have 101 on the season for the most in program history after breaking the single-season record last year with 76.
LOOKING AHEAD
Saint Mary's just got swept by Portland but the offense is red hot and they will get another crack at them in the second round of the tournament tomorrow evening. The full tournament schedule can be found
HERE.
First pitch for Thursday's game with the Pilots is slated for 7:05 PM and you can stream the game live on ESPN+. Tickets can be purchased
HERE or at smcgaels.com. Be sure to follow your Gaels on Facebook, Instagram, and X/Twitter to get all the latest Saint Mary's athletics updates and information.
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