SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - Saint Mary's kicked off WCC play with a slugfest against San Francisco, but two crooked innings for the Dons would be the difference as they ran away with the 14-6 victory. USF hung a six spot in the first and then added seven runs in the fifth to hold their largest lead of the game. Saint Mary's got the offense going in the sixth with four runs thanks to a pair of home runs from
Ryan Pierce and
Brian Duroff but it was too little too late as San Francisco recorded three scoreless frames to seal the win.
Lukas Sarantos and
Sean Cannon were great out of the bullpen for the Gaels, combining for six innings of work allowing just two runs.
Ryan Pierce had a three-hit day including his 20th career home run in the sixth, also good for his fifth of the season.
Diego Castellanos and
Brian Duroff each had two hits as Duroff led the team with three RBI thanks to his second homer of the season. As a team, the Gaels barreled plenty of balls and still finished with eight hits, the 16th game this season with at least eight hits.
1ST INNING
Senior lefty
Dylan Delvecchio made his team leading seventh start of the season but his outing would be a quick one as he gave up six runs off four hits to start the game. Delvecchio would depart from the game after recording just one out and make way for freshman
Lukas Sarantos. After a Dons three-run homer to make it 6-0, Sarantos would retire the first two batters he saw to end the threat and get the Gaels back into the dugout.
5TH INNING
For the second straight inning, Saint Mary's would leadoff with a double looking to chip into the USF lead.
Brian Duroff roped the 1-1 pitch into the left field corner for his fifth of the season to put himself in scoring position. A pair of ground outs would eventually get Duroff to third and then home to make it a four-run ballgame. The Gaels had started to develop some momentum with clean innings from Sarantos and leadoff hits in the fourth and fifth.
Sarantos came back out for his fourth inning of work in the bottom half of the fifth but it appeared to be just one too many for the freshman out of San Clemente. A two-run homer from the third batter of the inning for the Dons would eventually boot Sarantos and give USF an 8-2 lead.
The lead would grow for San Francisco with three more RBI hits including an RBI triple from Kenny Decelle. A fielding error with runners on second and third would score two more runs to cap off a wild seven-run inning. Freshman right hander
Sam Kretsch and junior lefty
Garret Plata would finish out the inning for Saint Mary's.
6TH INNING
San Francisco would go to their bullpen for the first time to start the sixth inning and the Gaels offense made them pay, putting up four runs off three hits to cut into their lead. With the short porch in right field at Benedetti Diamond,
Ryan Pierce took his 3-1 pitch the other way and flew it over the home run line in the netting for his fifth of the season. The solo shot also went down as his 20th career home run after belting 15 the season prior.
A walk and a hit later,
Brian Duroff would come to the dish with runners on and a chance to do some real damage. Duroff would take his 2-1 pitch and crush an absolute no doubter to left field for his second of the season. The three-run blast completed a four-run inning for the Gaels and made it a 13-6 ballgame.
USF made one more pitching change in the eighth and allowed just two hits over the final three innings to seal the 14-6 victory. The Gaels barreled plenty of balls but two big innings on the mound would stand out in the box score as the loss puts them below .500 for the first time this season.
Lukas Sarantos and
Sean Cannon both recorded career highs in the game, combining for six innings of relief. Sarantos made the one mistake in the fifth inning but finished with four innings of work, giving up two runs on four hits. Cannon made his second consecutive appearance after pitching in Tuesday's game against UC Santa Barbara and was perfect over his two innings, retiring all six batters he faced and striking out one to keep the Dons off the scoreboard.
This was the team's largest margin of defeat to San Francisco since 2014 when the Dons took down the Gaels 12-3 in Moraga.
LOOKING AHEAD
Saint Mary's falls below .500 for the first time this season, sitting at 12-13 overall and 0-1 in WCC play. Due to expected rain on Sunday, the series will shift to a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 11:00 AM. Stream both games live on ESPN+ and get your tickets at smcgaels.com.
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