MORAGA, Calif. - The Gaels midweek matchup with bay area rival Cal did not lack any excitement as the two teams combined for 20 runs on 30 hits in the three and a half hour contest. Cal led by as many as five runs but a pair of two-run innings in the sixth and seventh would bring Saint Mary's to within a run. Five runs in the final two innings though would extend the Bears lead once again as Cal hung on for the 13-7 victory for their tenth of the season.
Ten different players would make up the 13 hits for Saint Mary's as
Brett Williams,
Diego Castellanos and
Aiden Taurek each had two on the day.
Elliott Joslin,
Lukas Sarantos and
Jaden McNeely each recorded a scoreless inning during the team's comeback but the Cal hitters got to
Noah Waldeck to start the eighth inning and rattled off four runs on three hits to extend their lead for good. The Gaels fall to 11-9 overall and will gear up for a big road series with Big East member Creighton in Omaha starting on Friday.
2ND INNING
Sophomore right hander
Justin Santiago got his first start for the Gaels in his fifth game of the season. Santiago boasts one of the more impressive arms in the Gaels staff but the Cal hitters came ready to play as they jumped on balls up in the zone to record seven hits over the first two innings.
Santiago got out of a jam in the first but the Bears would get on the board with a grand slam out to right field in the second to take a 4-0 lead. Three straight singles to start the inning would load the bases before the shot out to right from Carl Schmidt. Santiago would come back out for the third inning and retire the Cal hitters in order to end his day.
6TH AND 7TH INNING
Slowly but surely the Gaels would piece together three runs over the first four innings to stay within striking distance. They would enter the sixth down 8-3 after RBI from
Brett Williams,
Aiden Taurek and
Micah Nicholson. After a clean sixth inning from Sarantos on the mound, Saint Mary's would start to make some noise at the plate with a pair of RBI hits from
Cody Kashimoto and
Micah Nicholson.
With runners on the corners Nicholson would shoot a ground ball the other way into left field to score
Tanner Griffith from third. The next at-bat, Kashimoto added to the lead with a ripped single into right field to score Williams and make it a three-run ballgame. Saint Mary's took advantage of a throwing error by the Cal second baseman earlier in the inning to plate two runs and force a pitching change.
Freshman left hander
Jaden McNeely would get his turn on the mound in the seventh and record his first collegiate strikeout on a 3-2 count to start the inning. McNeely had the breaking ball working as he retired the Bears hitters in order and struckout the final hitter of the inning on another full count.
The Gaels finally took some momentum back late in the game and used it to put two more runs on the board with a sac fly from
Aiden Taurek and an RBI single from Castellanos. After a leadoff single from
Ryan Pierce to start the inning,
Eddie Madrigal would double to the opposite field to put runners in scoring position.
In the next at-bat, Taurek was no more than a few feet away from tying the game as he sent a long fly ball to the left field warning track for out number one, but allowed Pierce to tag and score from third to make it 8-6. Castellanos would come to the plate next and shoot the first pitch he saw the other way, scoring Madrigal and making it a one-run game with two innings to play.
8TH INNING
Sophomore
Noah Waldeck would come in as the team's sixth pitcher of the game but only record one out as Cal would see their first three hitters reach base before loading the bases with one out.
Garret Plata would come in to limit the damage but not before a sac fly and a two-out double, extending their lead back to five runs.
Saint Mary's would get a pinch-hit single from freshman
Brady Petit in the ninth but an unassisted double play from second baseman Jareen Advincula would end the game as Cal hung on for the 13-7 victory.
Taurek finished 2-for-3 from the dish with a pair of RBI and a run scored, his sixth multi-hit game of the season. Freshman catcher
Brett Williams got the start again for the Gaels after his stellar debut against Sacramento State over the weekend. The Carlsbad native recorded another two hits on the day, giving himself six hits in his first nine at-bats to start his career.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Gaels fall to 11-9 overall and will hit the road for their final non-conference series to take on Creighton in Omaha, home of the College Baseball World Series. The three-game series will kickoff on Friday, March 21st and tickets can be bought online at smcgaels.com.
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