MALIBU, Calif. – Saint Mary's has been getting some great performances recently from their freshmen class and they got another one Thursday afternoon against Pepperdine as
Lukas Sarantos made his first collegiate start and came away with the win after 6.2 innings of work. Sarantos allowed just three runs and struck out a season high five batters in route to his first collegiate victory on the mound.
After making eight appearances out of the Gaels bullpen, Sarantos got the ball for game one and helped his team to a victory, ending a three-game skid in conference play.
Eddie Madrigal mashed his tenth home run of the season in the second inning and then an RBI single from
Ian Armstrong gave the Gaels a 6-0 lead in the fifth. The Gaels pitching staff fended off a late surge from the Pepperdine offense but
Daniel Guevara Castro would complete the final two innings and strikeout three batters to seal the 7-6 victory.
HOW IT HAPPENED…
2ND INNING
Things got going for Saint Mary's in the top half of the second inning as they strung together three straight singles to load the bases with one out.
Tanner Griffith would come to the plate and chop a slow roller to second base, allowing
Diego Castellanos to score from third and give the Gaels a 1-0 lead.
The very next at-bat,
Eddie Madrigal would crush a hanging breaking ball that caught too much of the zone and see it fly over the right field wall for his team leading tenth home run of the season. Madrigal's three-run blast would give the Gaels a 4-0 lead as Sarantos continued to deal on the mound.
5TH INNING
Sarantos would come back out for the bottom half of the second and go on to retire 12 of the next 13 batters into the fifth inning for his best outing of the season.
A pair of walks followed by a pair of stolen bases would put runners on second and third with one out.
Ian Armstrong would then sky the 2-2 pitch to center field, allowing Castellanos to trot home from third and give the Gaels a 6-0 lead.
Sarantos gave up two runs in the sixth as he started to run out of steam but got the ball again to start the seventh inning, becoming the first starter for the Gaels to reach the seventh inning this season. He would get a ground out from the leadoff hitter but walk the next two batters to end his day, making way for lefty
Dylan Delvecchio.
8TH INNING
Both teams would trade a run in the seventh to make it a four-run ballgame but Pepperdine would develop some serious momentum in the eighth with a three-run homer to make it a one-run game in the blink of an eye.
Daniel Guevara Castro took over to start the eighth for his tenth appearance of the season but gave up the two-out homer to bring the game to one with an inning left to play.
9TH INNING
Castro came back out to finish the game and had a short-term memory, as he was able to work around aa two-out single and fielding error to get the last batter to ground out to third base to end the game. The Saint Mary's bats went a tad cold over the final four innings, scoring just one run off three hits but the bullpen was able to hang on with crucial outs when they needed them most.
BY THE NUMBERS
Sarantos got credit for his first collegiate win with his 6.1 innings of work and a season high five strikeouts. Madrigal brought his RBI total to 38 with his three-run shot back in the second inning.
Freshman
Makoa Sniffen got his seventh start of the season and continued to impress as he went 2-for-5 from the plate while
Diego Castellanos went 3-for-4 with three runs scored and a walk, reaching base a game high four times. Castellanos broke out of an 0-for-6 slump and also recorded his first extra-base hit since March 29th against San Francisco. Armstrong also had two hits and two RBI for his eighth multi-RBI game of the season as a true freshman.
The Gaels were also ultra aggressive on the base paths tying their season high with six stolen bases. Leading the charge in that category was
Diego Castellanos who stole a career high three bags, bringing his season total to eight.
Tanner Griffith also swiped a bag and now leads the team with a career high 13 stolen bases.
LOOKING AHEAD
Saint Mary's improved to 17-19 overall and 3-7 in conference play with their series opening win over Pepperdine.
Donovan Chriss will get the ball for game two tomorrow with first pitch slated for 3:00 PM. Catch all the action live on ESPN+ and get your tickets at smcgaels.com.
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