SAN DIEGO — Saint Mary's (25-20, 5-4 WCC) opened up their series in San Diego with a bang, with their pitching, defense and offense all firing on all cylinders in a 7-0 victory over the Toreros (16-33, 4-5 WCC). The game represented an excellent bounce back after a difficult series at Santa Clara last weekend that saw the Broncos take three of four against the Gaels. 

Odhi Vasquez was given the Friday night start, and answered the call to the tune of a complete game shutout, her fourth of the season, tying her with Mia Nishikawa for the team lead. Vasquez spread out four hits and a walk over the seven frames, stranding six Toreros runners on the basepaths. The outing brought her ERA down to an incredible 1.94, good for second in the WCC. She also fanned five batters, extending her team lead with 76 on the campaign in her ninth victory of the year. 

The run support came slowly but surely at first for Vasquez. It started in the third, when Marissa Nishihara, Hannah Ferguson and Marissa Montelongo loaded the bases with three straight single for Jenavee Amador. Amador promptly beat the first pitch of her second AB hard into the ground. The high hop resulted in everybody being safe on what was scored an RBI single for the Gaels catcher. 

That lead would be doubled in the fifth. Nishihara reached on a dropped third strike followed by a Ferguson knock. Montelongo would bunt the duo over to third and second respectively before Amador layed down a perfect bunt down the first base line, once again plating Nishihara. 

The flood gates really opened in the sixth. The birthday girl, Alex Cutonilli led off the frame with her team best 10th double of the season. Braxton Brown then worked a walk and Victoria Castillo was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Brown was pinch run for by Gracie Carpenter, and Castillo was pinch run for by Jocelyn Bryant. The third run of the game would come across when Cutonilli scored on a wild pitch. That was followed by a Claudia Kirchner walk to once again load the bases. With two outs, Ferguson slapped a single to left, her third of the game, plating Carpenter and Bryant to bring the scoreline to 5-0. 

The scoring was capped with an exclamation point in the seventh, when Taylor Lane smashed her team leading fifth home run of the season over the left field fence with Sam Buckley one, to make it 7-0. The run support was more than enough for Odhi Vasquez who put together another brilliant outing to add to her sophomore resume, with the Gaels taking the victory by a 7-0 tally. 

Offensively, Hannah Ferguson and Jenavee Amador were the Gaels two biggest standouts. Ferguson logged her seventh three hit ballgame of the Spring, bringing her to 57 total hits on the year. Amador drove in the Gaels first two runs of the game, tallying a pair of knocks as well. 

The Gaels will play a twin bill with the Toreros tomorrow, starting at 1 PM. 

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