MORAGA, Calif. - Saint Mary's concluded their five-game week with a 2-3 record including a walk-off win over San Jose State and the team's first shutout of the season in an 8-0 win over Utah Tech. The Gaels improved to ten wins on the season and will return to Northern California to take on Sacramento State in a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 1:00 PM. Their three-game series was scheduled to start on Friday with a home game at Br. Ronald Gallagher Stadium but due to weather, the two teams will play in a doubleheader at Sacramento State on Saturday.  

Dylan Delvecchio earned his second win of the season in the series finale with Utah Tech, pitching five scoreless innings and matching his career high with nine strikeouts. The Gaels won 8-0 to end their three-game skid and freshman catcher Ian Armstrong put the finishing touches on the team victory with his first collegiate home run, sending a two-run shot over the right field wall in the eighth to make it 8-0. 

Saint Mary's has won three of their last four games against Sacramento State dating back to 2019 and will face off for the first time since 2022.  

GAME COVERAGE

BSB | Saint Mary's at Sacramento State | John Smith Field
Sacramento, Calif. | March 15th | 1/4:00 PM (doubleheader)
Live Stats | ESPN+ | Tickets

GAELS OUTLOOK

Kashimoto and Armstrong win WCC Weekly Awards…

Cody Kashimoto and Ian Armstrong took home WCC Player and Freshman of the Week honors for the second consecutive week after Ryan Pierce and Sam Kretsch took home the same awards the week prior. Armstrong helped secure the team's series finale win over Utah Tech with his first collegiate home run while Kashimoto was an on-base machine, leading the team with eight hits and five walks on the week. 

Kashimoto was 4-for-10 in their three-game series with Utah Tech with an RBI and all five of his walks from the week. He leads all starters with a .400 average, 22 hits, 18 walks and a .566 on-base percentage. 

Armstrong batted .273 in the team's five-game week with three hits, a double, a triple and his first collegiate home run. He also connected on a two-run shot to right field to put the Gaels up 8-0 in their series finale with Utah Tech. Armstrong is currently hitting .324 with 14 RBI as the team's starting catcher through the first month of the season. 

Back-to-Back Shamrock Winners…

Dylan Delvecchio pitched his way through five scoreless innings in the team's series finale win over Utah Tech to help record their first shutout of the season. Delvecchio picked up his second win of the year and also matched his career high with nine strikeouts to be named this week's Shamrock Office Solutions Student-Athlete of the Week. This is the first time since February 27th of last season the Saint Mary's baseball program has won the weekly award in back-to-back weeks and the first for Delvecchio in his second season as a Gael. 

Delvecchio made two starts last week, one against San Jose State in a Tuesday matchup and the other on Sunday in the series finale against Utah Tech. He would get bumped from Tuesday's game in the third inning but get a no decision thanks to a walk-off homer from teammate Diego Castellanos. 

He would bounce back Sunday with a stellar five-inning performance, allowing just three hits and no runs to earn his second win of the season. John Damozonio and Noah Waldeck would complete the final four innings giving up just five hits to record the team's first shutout of the 2025 season. Delvecchio has proven to be one of the team's most talented arms, showcasing a low 90's fastball and a sweeping breaking ball to lead the team with 22 strikeouts. He matched his career high Sunday afternoon with nine K's and has recorded 5+ strikeouts in three of his four starts. 

Gaels End Three-Game Skid…

Saint Mary's started the 2025 season 4-1 before dropping three straight to 15th ranked Vanderbilt. They then responded with a five-game win streak including a series sweep over San Diego State but dropped another three games last week to UNLV and Utah Tech. The Gaels would avoid the series sweep with the Trailblazers on Sunday though, grabbing the 8-0 victory to end their three-game skid and earn their tenth win of the season. 

Starting pitching was a common issue in their three-game losing streak, giving up an average of eight runs per game. Delvecchio was stellar though in the series finale, allowing just three hits and striking out a season high nine batters. Offense late in the game would help put things out of reach, including an RBI triple from Eddie Madrigal and a two-run shot from Ian Armstrong for his first of the season. 

Madrigal was 3-for-3 from the plate with three extra-base hits as Saint Mary's combined for five extra-base hits in the game. The Gaels will have one more road series against another nationally known program in Creighton starting on March 21st before kicking off conference play with San Francisco on March 28th.    

ABOUT THE HORNETS (WAC)

Sacramento State was picked by the league's head coaches to finish fifth in this year's WAC standings, receiving 36 points overall to stand just three points behind fourth-place Tarleton State and two points ahead of sixth-place Utah Valley. Grand Canyon received eight of the nine first-place votes and 64 points overall to stand atop the poll, followed by Abilene Christian (one first-place vote) with 54 points and California Baptist with 46 points.

Entering his 15th season at the helm of the Hornet program, Head Coach Reggie Christiansen returns 18 letter winners overall, three returning redshirts, and adds 18 newcomers — including eight transfers — to his roster for the 2025 campaign. Sacramento State is coming off a 26-win campaign in 2024, advancing to the WAC Tournament for the 14th time.

The Hornets enter Saturday's doubleheader with a 9-8 record and featured wins over San Francisco, South Dakota and Pacific. The Gaels will be the third WCC opponent for Sacramento State during their non-conference slate. The Hornets split a four-game series with the Dons to open up the season and then took two of three against the Tigers last week. 

In his first season with the Hornets Jakob Poturnak leads the team with a .375 average and has started in all 17 games this season. Poturnak leads the team with seven homers and 20 RBI but no other starter for the Sacramento State offense has a .300 average to start the season. JP Smith was named to the WAC Preseason Team and is currently hitting .277 from the plate with 18 hits and three doubles while Evan Gibbons leads their rotation with two wins and a 4.09 ERA in his four starts.   

First pitch for Saturday's doubleheader is scheduled for 1:00 PM. Stream the game live on ESPN+ and tickets can be bought online at smcgaels.com. 

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