MORAGA, Calif. - Saint Mary's went toe-to-toe with Big East member Creighton over the weekend but dropped the three-game series after surrendering a four-run lead in the finale to fall 6-5. They did take game one by a score of 11-6 behind home runs from Brian Duroff and Cody Kashimoto but lost two of three after being held to just two hits and two runs in game two.

The Gaels continue to boast a deep and dynamic offense as they lead the West Coast Conference with a .291 team batting average and 166 runs scored, but their depth on the mound has cost them some games in late innings. Donovan Chriss and Dylan Delvecchio continue to shine as the team's one-two punch in the rotation while Cody Kashimoto, Eddie Madrigal and Diego Castellanos all boast a batting average above .340 with a combined 12 home runs. 

The Gaels took down 21st ranked UC Santa Barbara 5-1 in the second week of the season and will faceoff again Tuesday afternoon before starting conference play on Friday against San Francisco. The Gauchos were one of the top programs on the west coast but fell out of the national poll this week after seeing their losing streak extend to five games with defeats to Hawaii and UC Irvine, starting 4-5 in conference play.   

GAME COVERAGE 

BSB | Saint Mary's vs. UC Santa Barbara | Br. Ronald Gallagher Stadium
Moraga, Calif. | March 24th | 3:00 PM
Live Stats | ESPN+ | Tickets

GAELS OUTLOOK

First Program Win in Omaha…

Saint Mary's traveled to the home of the College Baseball World Series for the first time in program history to take on Creighton. The two programs had met just once prior to their three-game series this past weekend back in 1997 at the Rawlings Spring Training tournament in Arizona. The Gaels made quite the debut at Charles Schwab Field, taking down the Bluejays in game one by a score of 11-6, with home runs from Brian Duroff and Cody Kashimoto. 

They dropped the next two games of the series despite holding a four-run lead in the finale, falling to 12-11 overall. Diego Castellanos and Ryan Pierce led the team with four hits and a .364 average in the three-game series, while Dylan Delvecchio got the win on Friday with six innings of work and six strikeouts to improve to 2-1 on the year.  

Freshmen Standouts…

Saint Mary's graduated the bulk of their offense including 19 players from the 2024 roster and as a result, head coach Eric Valenzuela brought in 16 true freshmen for this year's squad. With room for competition and a handful of injuries, several first year players have stepped up in big spots during the early portion of the 2025 season. 

Behind the dish, Ian Armstrong and Brett Williams have seen time at the catcher position and have had early success in the bottom half of the lineup for the Gaels. Armstrong has made 13 starts and has been the team's primary catcher this season, going 1-for-4 with two RBI in his debut against Saint Louis on opening weekend. Williams has stepped into the lineup more recently but had a historic debut against Sacramento State, going 4-for-4 in his first collegiate start with two runs scored and a pair of RBI. Williams is currently riding a three-game hitting streak and has a .615 batting average over his five games played this season. 

On the mound, Sam Kretsch has been effective in his first collegiate season with six appearances and three starts. Kretsch ranks second on the team with two wins and has proven to be a versatile arm either as a backend starter or lengthy reliever out of the pen. In a similar position is lefty Talin Gardini who has made six appearances with one start, holding a 1-1 record. Gardini has a great mindset and attitude on the mound and has a 3.77 ERA in 14.1 innings pitched. 

As the Gaels continue to get healthy and solidify their rotation, they will boast a deep and talented squad at the plate and on the mound for the remainder of the 2025 season.    

Offensive Numbers…

In terms of runs batted in, Saint Mary's lost 65% of their offense from the 2024 season and had some work to do to develop a new offensive identity. This season, they have adopted a gritty and tough mindset at the plate, proving to be one of the deeper and tougher lineups 1-through-9 in the WCC. They lead the conference with a .291 batting average and have five players with a .300+ average. 

They also rank third in the WCC with 24 home runs as Eddie Madrigal has returned from injury in 2024 to lead the team with seven homers and 28 RBI. The Gaels have flexed the long ball more than anticipated but have also committed to putting the ball in play, sacrificing and putting runners in motion with a conference high 166 runs scored and 17 sacrifice flies. 

Cody Kashimoto ranks second in the WCC with a .390 average and stands as one of the best leadoff hitters in the conference, ranking first in on-base percentage (.530), fourth in runs scored (23), sixth in hits (30) and first in walks (20). Eddie Madrigal ranks second in home runs with seven and leads all WCC hitters with an impressive 1.181 OPS.  

Series History…

Saint Mary's ended a four-game losing streak with UC Santa Barbara earlier this season with an impressive 5-1 road win over the 21st ranked Gauchos. The Gaels last home win over UCSB came in 2019 and they will look to sweep the season series over the Gauchos for the first time since 2017. 

ABOUT THE GAUCHOS (Big West)

UC Santa Barbara got off to a stellar start in 2025, winning nine of their first ten games to start the season and ranked as high as 20th in the NCAA D1 Baseball rankings. After falling to Fresno State in the finale of their three-game series, they continued to win and improved to 15-2 after key wins over 2024 WCC Champions San Diego and Big10 member USC. Their ranking climbed to 15th in the country but things would change quickly with a five-game losing streak in the weeks to follow. 

The Gauchos dropped the final two games of their series with Hawaii before getting swept by UC Irvine to start conference play 4-5 and drop out of the national poll. The offense has sputtered for UCSB but their pitching continues to be among the best in the Big West. They are hitting just .265 as a team but have a staff ERA of 3.90 to rank second in the Big West. Donovan Jackson leads the team with a 1.59 ERA and a 3-0 record out of the pen for UCSB, while Clavin Proskey has a 2.81 ERA in his six starts.     

First pitch for Tuesday's home game against UC Santa Barbara is scheduled for 3:00 PM and can be streamed live on ESPN+. Tickets for all home Saint Mary's baseball games can be bought online at smcgaels.com/tickets. 

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