MORAGA, Calif. - Saint Mary's baseball continues their five-game homestand with a three-game series against Mountain West member San Diego State. This is the first meeting between the two programs since 2015 when the Gaels took two of three down in San Diego. Saint Mary's shook off their tough weekend in Nashville with the 15th ranked Vandy Boys and bounced back for an 11-run performance against Fresno State.
Senior lefty
Dylan Delvecchio was solid once again in his second start of the season, completing three innings and allowing just one unearned run. Freshman right hander
Diego Emerling recorded his first collegiate win with three scoreless relief innings. The Gaels offense put up double-digit runs for the third time this season. Solo homers from
Ryan Pierce and
Eddie Madrigal would cap an 11-3 win, their first over Fresno State since 1995. Game one of the weekend series with San Diego State kickoff Friday, February 28th at 2:00 PM.
GAME COVERAGE
BSB | Saint Mary's vs. San Diego State | Br. Ronald Gallagher Stadium
Moraga, Calif. | February 28th | 2:05 PM
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BSB | Saint Mary's vs. San Diego State | Br. Ronald Gallagher Stadium
Moraga, Calif. | March 1st | 1:05 PM
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BSB | Saint Mary's vs. San Diego State | Br. Ronald Gallagher Stadium
Moraga, Calif. | March 2nd | 1:05 PM
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GAELS OUTLOOK
Home Sweet Home…
Going from nearly taking two games against the 15th ranked Commodores to surrendering 34 runs and getting swept in Nashville, the Gaels were due for some good home cooking back at Br. Ronald Gallagher Stadium. As a result, Saint Mary's got back in the win column with a dominant 11-3 victory over Fresno State to improve to 4-1 at home.
The Gaels put up three runs in the second with some small ball and quality baserunning. They added three more in the third thanks to a two-out two-RBI single from freshman catcher
Ian Armstrong to push their lead to 7-1.
Eddie Madrigal put the finishing touches on the win with a solo shot to right for his third of the season. Since coming back from injury last season, Madrigal has belted three home runs and leads the team in slugging at .724.
First Win over the Bulldogs Since 1995…
Saint Mary's and Fresno State met frequently during the 80's and 90's as a part of the Northern California Baseball Association (NCBA). After 2001 though, they would not face off again until
Eric Valenzuela scheduled them as an opponent in 2016. The Gaels were a combined 0-12 against the Bulldogs dating back to 1995 but that would change Tuesday afternoon with a dominant 11-3 victory in Moraga.
The Bulldogs won the 2024 Mountain West Championship and were picked to win the 2025 Mountain West regular season title in this year's preseason poll, boasting several MLB prospects including infielders Murf Gray and Jett Ruby. The two teams will meet again down in Fresno on Tuesday, April 8th.
Pitching Staff Bounces Back…
During the team's four-game winning streak the Gaels pitching staff averaged just under two runs per game including a pair of one-run performances against Saint Louis and no. 21 UC Santa Barbara. Things would change though when they took a trip to Music City, giving up an average of eleven runs and eleven hits per game for their worst series of the season.
After a gut check against the 15th ranked team in the country, the Gaels staff bounced back for a complete team effort in their 11-3 win over Fresno State. Senior
Dylan Delvecchio was solid again in his second start of the season, completing three innings and allowing just one run on one hit. Freshman
Diego Emerling would take his place and put himself in line for the win with three scoreless innings of work giving up just two hits.
Adam Enyart and
Noah Waldeck would finish the game, giving up two runs on four hits over the final three innings.
A big plus for the Gaels staff in their eight-run victory was allowing just three walks and one hit batter compared to 31 free passes in their series with Vanderbilt. Valenzuela challenged his staff after that series to throw strikes and execute and they did just that in Tuesday's win over the Bulldogs.
Series History…
Saint Mary's and San Diego State are meeting for the first time since 2015 and the Aztecs will be visiting Moraga for the first time since 2014. Both teams exchanged series victories in their last two meetings with the Gaels taking two of three down in San Diego in 2015 and the Aztecs returning the favor in 2014.
San Diego State pitcher Omar Serrano and infielder Finley Bates earned preseason All-Mountain West honors, while the Aztecs were picked to finish in a tie for fourth place in the league's preseason poll. They enter the weekend series with a 4-5 record after a home win over reigning 2024 WCC Champs San Diego earlier this week.
ABOUT THE AZTECS (Mountain West)
San Diego State returns 18 letterwinners and five starters from last year's squad, including outfielder Jake Jackson (San Diego, Calif.) and infielder Tino Bethancourt (El Dorado Hills, Calif.). Pitcher Omar Serrano (Downey, Calif.) and infielder Finley Bates (Castle Rock, Colo.) earned preseason all-Mountain West honors, while the Aztecs were picked to finish in a tie for fourth place in the league's preseason poll released by the conference office.
Individually, Serrano returns as the ace of the SDSU pitching staff after receiving first-team all-Mountain West recognition as a junior in 2024. The Aztec right-hander posted a 5-5 record with a league-leading 3.06 ERA against conference opponents last season. Meanwhile, Bates will be looking to build on an impressive debut in 2024 when he garnered MW Freshman of the Year accolades. Against league foes last season, Bates paced the Aztecs in batting average (.375), hits (48), total bases (67) and on-base percentage (.438) while ranking second in runs scored (23), slugging percentage (.523) and walks (13).
San Diego State is 4-5 this season with wins over Seton Hall, UCSD, Seattle and most recently San Diego. They started the season in the annual MLB Desert Invitational where they went 1-2 with defeats to Grand Canyon and 24th ranked Nebraska. As a team the Aztecs are hitting .275 with four homers and 55 runs scored compared to the Gaels nine homers and 72 runs scored.
Game one of the three-game series will take place on Friday, February 28th at 2:00 PM. Stream the game live on ESPN+ and tickets can be bought online at smcgaels.com/tickets.
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