MORAGA, Calif. - After a Tuesday night upset over 21st ranked UC Santa Barbara, Saint Mary's will ride the momentum into Nashville for a three-game series with SEC powerhouse Vanderbilt starting on Friday, February 21st. The Commodores enter Friday's contest with a 4-1 record and are currently ranked 15th in the country with wins over Grand Canyon, UC Irvine and Air Force.
The two teams will face off for the first time since 2017 where the Gaels took one game out of a three-game set at Hawkins Field. The Gaels enter the week in great shape after taking down the Gauchos Tuesday night 5-1 with some small ball offensively, clean defense and stellar relief pitching. Game one of the weekend series is slated for Friday, February 21st at 2:00 PM central and all three games will be streamed live on the SEC Network.
GAME COVERAGE
BSB | Saint Mary's vs. #15 Vanderbilt| Caesar Hawkins Field
Nashville, Tenn. | February 21-23 | 12:00 PM, 11:00 AM, 10:00 AM (pacific)
Live Stats |
SEC Network+ |
Tickets
GAELS OUTLOOK
Small Ball, Long Ball, Gaels can do it All…
Despite losing 65% of their offense in terms of runs batted in and four of their six players with double-digit home runs from the 2024 season, the Gaels offense belted a conference high six home runs in their opening series against Saint Louis.
Eddie Madrigal finished with a pair of home runs on the weekend including a solo shot in his very first at-bat after returning from a knee injury from last season. Senior
Hayden Driggs and sophomore
Diego Castellanos hit their first career home runs while
Jared Mettam and
Ryan Pierce connected on deep shots to left field to contribute to a 45-run opening weekend.
The script would look a little different though on Tuesday as the Gaels played some small ball, put the ball in play, and forced three errors from the Gauchos defense. Leadoff hitter
Cody Kashimoto got on base all three times and scored the game's first run while Castellanos had two RBI's including a stellar safety squeeze bunt in the second inning.
The Gaels also had three stolen bases compared to zero for UCSB. Head coach
Eric Valenzuela and his staff made it clear that the competition was going to improve and the Gaels were going to adapt how they attacked teams offensively. Clean defense and three perfect relief innings from right hander
Justin Santiago would seal the 5-1 win over the 15th ranked Gauchos, their first win over a ranked opponent since March of last season.
Bullpen Shuts Down Gauchos…
After two scoreless innings from the Gaels starter
Dylan Delvecchio, their bullpen would go on to allow just one run on three hits and strikeout a season high 12 batters. Freshman lefty
Talin Gardini made his second appearance of the season and struck out three batters in 2.2 innings of work. Head coach
Eric Valenzuela would follow up Gardini with another lefty in
Garret Plata who surrendered a solo shot in the sixth, but was able to strikeout two Gauchos and maintain a 5-1 lead into the seventh.
Second year Gael
Justin Santiago would come in and absolutely shove for Saint Mary's. The right hander out of Bonita High School threw three perfect innings, striking out a career high five batters and recorded his second career save. Over the team's first five games, the Saint Mary's pitching staff holds a 3.32 ERA, ranking second in the WCC.
Showdown with the Vandy Boys…
Saint Mary's will head to Nashville to take on Vanderbilt for the first time since 2017. The 15th ranked Commodores are 4-1 to start their 2025 campaign and are fresh off a pair of home wins over Air Force on Monday and Tuesday earlier this week. The Gaels took one of three in their last trip to Hawkins Field and will enter this weekend's series in good form after a 4-1 start. Vanderbilt will showcase a deep pitching staff with some high leverage arms and also boast one of the best center fielders in college baseball in RJ Austin who leads the team with nine hits, a home run and a .652 slugging percentage.
Since returning to Saint Mary's, head coach
Eric Valenzuela has continued to bring the Gaels back to the national landscape after making their first NCAA Regional appearance in 2016. This year's schedule features three teams from the NCAA Division I preseason rankings including UC Santa Barbara, Vanderbilt and Oregon. Valenzuela took the Gaels to Gainesville last season for a three-game set with the fourth ranked Florida Gators where they fell in extras in the opener before beating the Gators 9-7 in game two.
ABOUT THE COMMODORES (SEC)
Vanderbilt started the 2025 season ranked 16th in the country and brings an identical 4-1 record into this week's three-game series with Saint Mary's. The legendary Vandy Boys have one of the most decorated resumes in college baseball with ten regional titles, five College World Series Appearances and two National Championships in 2014 and 2019. Notable draft picks for the Commodores include David Price, Sonny Gray, Dansby Swanson and Walker Buehler.
Vanderbilt started the 2025 season in the MLB Desert Invitational and recorded wins over Grand Canyon and UC Irvine. They made their home debut earlier this week against Air Force and swept the Falcons in their two-game set to improve to 4-1. The Commodores haven't smashed the ball early on in the season, entering Friday with a .271 team batting average and just 25 runs scored. Outside of their 9-8 win over the Anteaters, Vanderbilt's offense has stayed under five runs each game and their batters have struckout 40 times to rank second most in the SEC.
Vanderbilt's 2025 roster features 22 returners and 21 newcomers. Among the 21 newcomers, seven transferred in during the offseason. Three Commodores were named to the SEC Preseason All-Conference Team, RJ Austin, Miller Green and JD Thompson. Austin led Vandy in batting average, runs, hits, RBI and stolen bases during his sophomore season in 2024 while pitchers Green and Thompson combined for over 80 innings pitched and a 3.65 ERA.
To start the season, switch hitting sophomore Rustan Rigdon leads the team with a .467 average and a .600 on-base percentage while third-year outfielder RJ Austin leads the team with nine hits a home run and a .652 slugging percentage. Austin has anchored the leadoff position for the Commodores and is regarded as one of the best outfield prospects in the country after being named to the Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List earlier this year.
The three-game series will kickoff on Friday, February 21st at 4:30 PM central time, 2:30 PM pacific time. All three games will be streamed live on the SEC Network and live stats and ticket links can be found at smcgaels.com.
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