MORAGA, Calif. - After a three-game series with 15th ranked Vanderbilt, the Saint Mary's baseball team returns to Louis Guisto Field for a five-game homestand that kicks off with a single game against Fresno State Tuesday afternoon. The Gaels led in games one and two against the Commodores but struggled to keep their bats quiet in the late innings, resulting in the three-game sweep.
Saint Mary's will take on Fresno State for the first time in two years and find themselves winless against the Bulldogs dating back to 2001. The two teams have only faced off in Moraga once during that 24-year stretch and will face off again later this season down in Fresno.
GAME COVERAGE
BSB | Saint Mary's vs. Fresno State | Louis Guisto Field
Moraga, Calif. | February 25th | 2:05 PM
Live Stats |
ESPN+ |
Tickets
GAELS OUTLOOK
First Year Gael Donovan Chriss Continues to Show Out on the Mound…
UC San Diego transfer
Donovan Chriss has jumped right into the Gaels pitching rotation and has been solid through two starts. Chriss was stellar in his SMC debut against Saint Louis, completing five innings allowing just one run on two hits. In that outing he also struck out a career high seven batters enroute to the Gaels 16-1 blowout win over the Billikens.
On Saturday, Chriss got his name called again against the 15th ranked Vandy Boys at Hawkins Field. Vanderbilt would put up four runs on six hits but Chriss pitched to contact and got some solid defensive play behind him to battle through five innings. Saint Mary's jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the third but then the Dores posted a four-spot of their own to tie the game up. The Gaels would push one across in the fifth and a 1-2-3 bottom half of the fifth for Chriss would allow him to leave with the lead and another quality outing.
Chriss leads the Gaels with ten innings pitched, a 4.50 ERA and a .216 opposing batting average through two starts.
Mettam Takes Vandy Deep in Game Two…
Junior shortstop
Jared Mettam provided a big spark for the Gaels offense in game two of their series with 15th ranked Vanderbilt after belting his second home run of the season. The Gaels showed no fear and took early leads in games one and two against the Dores.
An RBI double from
Eddie Madrigal followed by a sac fly from
Aiden Taurek gave Saint Mary's a 2-0 lead in the third. With two outs, Mettam would come to the dish and battle to a full count before sending a 93 mile per hour fastball over the left field wall to ignite the Gaels dugout and complete the four-run inning. Mettam is off to a solid start as the team's everyday shortstop, hitting .333 with two doubles, a pair of homers and no errors in the field.
Gaels Competitive Start to 2025 Season…
Head coach
Eric Valenzuela has committed to scheduling competitive games since his return to help raise the level of the Gaels baseball program. As a result, Saint Mary's took on fourth ranked Florida last year and now 15th ranked Vanderbilt to start the 2025 season.
Prior to their three-game set with the Dores, the Gaels took a single game against 21st ranked UC Santa Barbara to contribute to a 4-1 start. They opened the 2025 season with a four-game series against Saint Louis who won the A-10 regular season championship in 2024. They outscored the Billikens 45-15 to win the series three games to one to contribute to a successful start to the season.
ABOUT THE BULLDOGS (Mountain West)
Fresno State will hit the road for the first time this season to take on Saint Mary's Tuesday afternoon. The Bulldogs were picked to finish first in the Mountain West preseason poll and had four players selected to the preseason all-conference team. Fresno State won the 2024 Mountain West Championship with a record of 33-29, defeating three seed San Jose State in back-to-back games to claim the title. They saw their postseason run come to an end though in the NCAA Regional, falling to UC Santa Barbara and WCC Tournament Champion San Diego.
To start the 2025 season, the Bulldogs have five players with at least a .300 batting average and are hitting .298 collectively as a team. Jack Anker has led the way on the hill for Fresno State, coming into this week with a 2-0 record and a team high 18 strikeouts. The Bulldogs kicked the season off with a series split against BYU and then took two of three against Big West member Cal State Fullerton. A pair of 13-run games have helped boost the offensive numbers, but the Bulldogs are averaging just six runs per game and have only three homers on the short season.
First pitch for Tuesday's game is slated for 2:05 PM at Louis Guisto Field. Tickets can be bought online at smcgaels.com/tickets and you can catch all the action live on ESPN+.
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