MORAGA, Calif. - A thrilling three-game series between the Gaels and Pilots came to an end Sunday evening as Saint Mary's put up twelve runs to bounce back for the series finale win. It took a complete team effort as seven different pitchers made appearances with junior transfer
Elliott Joslin picking up his first win as a Gael, completing the fifth allowing one run off one hit.
Offensively,
Aiden Taurek capped off a solid weekend with a career day going 4-for-5 with three RBI. The Gaels put up five runs in the second inning to take control thanks to RBI hits from
Brady Petit and Taurek. The Gaels tacked on four more in the fourth for another big inning, getting an RBI double from
Brian Duroff and an RBI single from
Diego Castellanos to take a commanding 9-4 lead. Portland hung around scoring three runs over the final two innings but
John Damozonio finished the game with 1.2 innings to give Saint Mary's their second conference victory.
HOW IT HAPPENED…
2ND INNING
Senior lefty
Derik Eaquinto got his sixth start of the season and worked his way through four innings, allowing four runs while striking out three Pilots. Eaquinto got some nice run support in the second as the Gaels put up five runs with four straight singles to start the inning. After singles from
Ryan Pierce and
Brian Duroff,
Diego Castellanos would lay down a bunt and leg out the throw to reach first. The throw attempt from Portland's pitcher would get away from the first baseman though and into right field, allowing Duroff to score from second.
Five batters later, Taurek would rifle a single into center to score Petit and then
Eddie Madrigal would hit a sac fly to left to plate catcher
Hayden Driggs, completing the five-run inning for the Gaels. Saint Mary's took a 5-2 lead into the third and made the Pilots pay for the costly throwing error early in the inning.
4TH INNING
After giving up two in the top of the fourth, the Gaels offense would strike again with four runs to extend their lead to 9-4. Saint Mary's did their damage with two outs in the inning and took advantage of another costly error from Portland shortstop to keep the inning alive.
Duroff crushed a double to the left field wall to score Pierce and Madrigal, his eighth of the season. Castellanos capped off the four-run inning with a single to center field to score Duroff and give the Gaels a 9-4 lead. The Gaels were much better with their two-out hitting in the finale and as a result put up twelve runs and secured the series finale win.
5TH & 6TH INNING
Taurek would add to his stellar day with a two-RBI double in the fifth. He would set new career highs with four hits and three RBI in the game.
Ryan Pierce would also score in the sixth thanks to a throwing error by the Pilots catcher. Portland would return the favor on Sunday with four errors of their own resulting in seven unearned runs.
BY THE NUMBERS
Daniel Guevara Castro,
Talin Gardini and
John Damozonio would finish out the game and give Joslin his first win as a Gael. Taurek and Castellanos combined for seven hits on the day while Taurek and Duroff combined for five RBI.
Head coach
Eric Valenzuela made several changes in the series finale as
Micah Nicholson got the start at second,
Brady Petit started at third and
Eddie Madrigal moved to center. Petit went 1-for-4 with two runs scored and had several hard hit balls in the afternoon. Despint going 0-for-2,
Hayden Driggs got the start behind the dish and scored two runs while Pierce led the team with three runs scored and a stolen base.
LOOKING AHEAD
Saint Mary's improved to 14-16 overall and 2-4 in conference play after ending their three-game skid with a 12-9 win over Portland. The Gaels will head south to Fresno to take on the Bulldogs on Tuesday before returning to Moraga for a three-game series with San Diego starting on Friday, April 11th. Tickets can be bought online at smcgaels.com/tickets and you can catch all the action live on ESPN+.
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