LAS VEGAS, Nev. - A historic season featuring the first year back for head coach
Eric Valenzuela came to an end in Las Vegas as the Gaels made their second straight WCC Tournament appearance but fell to Gonzaga 5-11. A senior heavy roster made their impact felt this season as Saint Mary's rattled off 34 wins and a third place finish in league play. The Gaels got out to a 4-0 lead but Gonzaga would put up ten unanswered runs over the span of four innings to seal the six run victory.
QUICK START
Senior right hander
Connor Linchey made his 12th start on the season and got off to a great start with three strikeouts and back-to-back clean frames. In the bottom half of the first leadoff hitter
Dalton Mashore kicked things off with a line drive shot off the concrete wall in left center for his 13th of the year. After a single from
Coleman Schmidt and
Christian Almanza taking one off the back, the Gaels had first and third with two outs. Valenzuela and his squad would execute a perfect first and third play as Almanza took off for second and got into a rundown, allowing Schmidt to score from third and give the Gaels an early 2-0 lead.
In the second, Saint Mary's got back after it courtesy of a leadoff double from Bear Harrison. Two batters later, shortstop
Jared Mettam would yank a single through the left side and put runners on the corners for the second straight inning. After Mettam stole second, Mashore would come back to the plate and hit a ground ball to third. The Zags infielder would attempt to tag Mettam heading to third but he would evade the tag and reach third safely, allowing Harrison to score and extend the Gaels lead to 3-0. With two outs, the Gonzaga infielder may have ended the inning by getting the putout at third but Mettam;s aggressive base running would allow the inning to continue. Schmidt would make them pay with a line drive single to left to score Mettam and double the Gaels lead after two.
ZAGS RESPOND
With their backs against the wall early, Gonzaga would breakup Linchey's rhythm and belt a two run homer to the bullpens in right field to cut the lead in half. After a one out single, Linchey would bare down and induce the 4-6-3 double play to end the inning and maintain the two run advantage.
Linchey would get the ball and come back out again for the fourth and worked around a two out double to record another clean frame. After retiring three out of four batters in the bottom half of the inning, the Zags would get back to the plate and belt a clutch two out three run bomb to right field to catapult themselves into a 5-4 lead.
The Zags starter would remain in the game for eight total innings and hold the Gaels scoreless for six straight innings after giving up four runs in the first two. Gonzaga would continue to pile on with another five runs the following inning, breaking the game open with a 10-4 lead.
Saint Mary's left two runners on in the seventh and then threatened in the ninth with a pair of hits including an RBI double from Mashore. A ground out to short from
Ryan Pierce would officially end the game and solidify the six run victory for Gonzaga who advanced on to another elimination game later this evening.
FINAL STATS
Mashore anchored the leadoff spot with a team high three hits and three RBI's. Schmidt and Harrison added two hits each and after a single in the sixth, Harrison had reached base nine straight times dating back to last night's tournament game against Portland. Junior right hander
Dylan Delvecchio finished the game with three innings of work, allowing just one run off two hits.
LOOKING AHEAD
Congratulations to the Saint Mary's baseball team and all of the 2024 seniors on a terrific season. Valenzuela and his group finished the season with a 34-22 overall record and a third place finish in league play at 16-8. Full season stats can be found HERE and the rest of the tournament bracket can be found at wccsports.com.
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