NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Saint Mary's entered Hawkins Field with no fear and proved that by putting two runs on the board in the second inning to take the early 2-0 lead. Vanderbilt would respond with a pair of two-out hits in the bottom of the second to snatch a 3-2 lead but back came the Gaels as freshman
Ian Armstrong shot a single through the right side to score
Aiden Taurek in the fourth and tie the game up at three.
The game would start to unravel for the Gaels after starter
Derik Eaquinto departed as the Commodores scored seven runs over the next three innings to take a commanding 10-3 lead. Two hit batters from Eaquinto and ten walks from the Saint Mary's pitching staff would extend innings and give the 15th ranked Commodores extra at-bats. Taurek and Armstrong finished with two hits each for Saint Mary's and Armstrong recorded two RBI's bringing his season total to six.
2ND INNING
After a clean first from both starters, designated hitter
Aiden Taurek would rip a single back up the box and eventually move to second on a wild pitch. Two batters later, freshman catcher
Ian Armstrong would perfectly execute a hit-and-run situation and poke a ground ball into right field. Taurek scored from second to score the first run of the game and give the Gaels a 1-0 lead.
The very next at-bat,
Diego Castellanos would hit a shallow fly ball to left field that was just enough to score
Jared Mettam from third and double their lead. Down to his final strike, Castellanos would get the job done and record the sacrifice fly for his seventh RBI of the season.
Gaels starter
Derik Eaquinto would strikeout the first two batters of the inning to start the second but Vanderbilt would do all their damage with two outs, recording a pair of RBI singles after two hit batters. They would leave the second with a 3-2 lead after Eaquinto got a fielder's choice putout at second to end the threat.
4TH INNING
After a scoreless third, Taurek would jump on the first pitch of the fourth inning and line a double to the left field wall. A sac bunt from Mettam would send Taurek to third and set the table once again for Armstrong with a runner on third and one out. With a 2-1 count, Armstrong would choke up and again rifle a ball past the first baseman into right field for the clutch RBI single. Armstrong has continued to impress with seven hits and six RBI's through his first five collegiate games as he tied the game up at three.
Once again the 15th ranked Commodores responded with a three-spot in the bottom half of the inning. Leadoff hitter RJ Austin has proven to be a problem for opposing teams to start the 2025 season and he led off the bottom of the fourth with a triple down the right field line. He would eventually come home on a sacrifice fly and then a two-out double three batters later would score two more to give Vanderbilt a 6-3 lead.
6TH INNING
Vandy would tack on one in the fifth and then cash in with a three-run homer in the sixth to break the game open. Walks plagued the Gaels pitching staff all day as they finished the sixth inning with three alone and trailed 10-3. Freshmen pitchers
Lukas Sarantos and
Jaden McNeely would help finish the sixth inning for Saint Mary's with McNeely getting a pair of fly outs to end the inning.
Eaquinto was solid again in his second start of the season but two hit batters and a two-out two-run double in the fourth would give him six earned runs on the day. Junior right hander
Adam Enyart would replace Eaquinto for his second appearance of the season. He struck out two batters and gave up one run in his inning and a third.
Head coach
Eric Valenzuela would go with three straight freshmen pitchers to get them some collegiate experience against one of the best baseball programs in the country.
Lukas Sarantos,
Jaden McNeely and
Sean Cannon would help complete the sixth and seventh inning while junior
Elliott Joslin made his second appearance of the season, completing the eighth with no hits and no runs scored.
At the plate, Armstrong led the way with two hits and two RBI's. Taurek was also 2-for-3 with two runs scored while freshmen
Colin Linteo and
Justin Heffler combined to score the team's fourth run in the ninth. Linteo doubled to the left center gap to start the inning and then Heffler would bloop a single into right field two batters later for the Gaels first run since the fourth inning. Linteo and Heffler would record their first collegiate hits in the inning.
LOOKING AHEAD
Saint Mary's dropped the series opener to 15th ranked Vanderbilt and are now 4-2 on the season. They will return to Hawkins Field tomorrow afternoon for game two of the series with first pitch scheduled for 1:00 PM central time. Live stats can be found atv smcgaels.com and the game will be streamed live on SEC Network+.
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