MORAGA, Calif. - The smell of spring was in the air at Br. Ronald Gallagher Stadium Tuesday afternoon as Saint Mary's returned home to a beautiful spring day in Moraga and the warmest day of the year thus far. The Gaels couldn't capitalize though and failed to complete the season sweep of UC Santa Barbara as the Gauchos got their revenge with a 7-2 road victory after falling 5-1 earlier in the season.
The Gauchos put up four runs in the third inning to take a commanding 5-0 lead but both teams would only allow four runs over the last five innings, crediting a nice day for the bullpens. Saint Mary's pieced together seven hits on the afternoon including a solo shot from freshman
Ian Armstrong, but left a game high eight runners on base. Gauchos reliever Donovann Jackson entered the game in the fifth and would go the distance, completing the next four innings to earn his third win of the season while
Elliott Joslin picked up the loss after getting bumped in the third.
Tanner Griffith and
Eddie Madrigal each had two hits on the day while Armstrong belted his second homer of the season to spark the team's offense in the fifth. Head coach
Eric Valenzuela went on to throw six more pitchers after the departure of Joslin as the group combined to allow just two runs off six hits over the final six innings.
3RD INNING
The Gauchos got on the board first in the third after a leadoff double came around to score to make it 1-0. An inning later, they would do some damage with four runs off four hits and ultimately force Joslin out of the game for Saint Mary's. UCSB was aggressive early in counts and also on the basepaths, swiping four bags on the day including three in the inning.
Daniel Guevara Castro would replace Joslin for his fourth appearance of the season. Castro did his best to limit the damage, striking out back-to-back batters to end the threat and send the Gaels into the bottom half of the inning with a chance to respond.
Castro would come on for the fourth inning and after giving up a leadoff walk, he would retire the next three batters to leave the runner stranded and keep the deficit to five runs.
5TH INNING
Fast forward to the fifth, the Gaels offense would finally gain some momentum with a pair of runs off four hits. In a 2-2 count to start the inning, Armstrong would send a high fly ball over the left field fence for his second home run of the season to get the Gaels on the board.
The inning would continue thanks to a two-out double from
Tanner Griffith to put himself in scoring position. UC Santa Barbara's head coach would make his first move to the pen but
Ryan Pierce made him pay with a two-out RBI single to score Griffith and make it a 6-2 ballgame.
Eddie Madrigal kept the rally going for Saint Mary's with another two-out hit but
Aiden Taurek would fly out deep to center field to end the inning.
The Gauchos reliever, Donovann Jackson, showcased his quite the arsenal as he went on to finish the game, allowing just three hits in 4.1 innings of work to earn his fourth win of the season. The Gaels put runners on in the seventh and eighth but failed to get them home as UC Santa Barbara picked up the win 7-2, ending their five-game losing streak.
Despite a tough start from Joslin, the Gaels bullpen was rather effective, allowing just two runs after Elliott left the game back in the third. Freshman right hander
Sean Cannon put together his best outing of the season in just his third appearance, completing the sixth inning and retiring the Gaucho hitters in order. Also putting up clean frames was
Daniel Guevara Castro,
Sam Kretsch and
Noah Waldeck.
LOOKING AHEAD
Saint Mary's fell to an even 12-12 after their 7-2 defeat to UC Santa Barbara. They will start conference play this Friday, March 28th at 2:00 PM against bay area rival San Francisco. The three-game series will continue into the weekend with first pitch at 1:00 PM on both Saturday and Sunday. You can catch all the action live on ESPN+ and get your tickets online at smcgaels.com.
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