FRESNO, Calif. – After giving up four runs over the first two innings, the Saint Mary's pitching staff shutdown the Bulldog hitters with seven straight scoreless innings. Head coach
Eric Valenzuela mixed up the lineup for their midweek matchup and was rewarded with a pair of standout performances from freshmen
Makoa Sniffen and
Justin Heffler. The duo combined for five runs batted in and four hits, including a bases clearing double from Sniffen in the third inning to help erase the four-run deficit.
An inning later, Heffler roped a double into the left field corner to score
Brady Petit from first and give Saint Mary's their first lead of the night. The Gaels would not look back as they tacked three more runs to win 8-4 and push their win streak to two games. In his first season as a Gael,
Finn Chapman would get credit for the win with two scoreless innings out of the bullpen. A season high eight pitchers would enter the game and help contribute to the team's win, setting the Gaels staff up nicely for their weekend series with San Diego starting on Friday.
HOW IT HAPPENED…
3RD INNING
Highlighting the Gaels offense Tuesday night were freshmen
Makoa Sniffen,
Justin Heffler and
Brett Williams. Sniffen made his third career start and jump started the offense in the third inning with a bases clearing double to the right center wall. Sniffen rifled a sinking line drive into center field and the Bulldogs center fielder attempted to make a sliding catch but the ball would get by him and to the wall to clear the bases and tie the game at four.
Sniffen would record just his second hit of the season and his first career double to get Saint Mary's right back into the game.
4TH INNING
Freshman outfielder
Justin Heffler would get in on the action in the fourth inning with a two-out double to plate Petit and give Saint Mary's their first lead of the night. The hit would go down as Heffler's second of the season and his first career double.
The Gaels would take advantage of a throwing error the next at-bat after
Cody Kashimoto put down a bunt down the third baseline. Kashimoto would get credit for the single and an errant throw from the Bulldogs pitcher would go into right field and allow Heffler to score from second.
7TH INNING
The Gaels took advantage of an error to start the seventh inning and
Ryan Pierce would eventually ground out to score Sniffen from third. Two batters later, Heffler would record his second RBI of the day with a bloop single to center, scoring
Rees Kent to provide some insurance heading into the final two innings.
Noah Waldeck and
Daniel Guevara Castro finished off the game, allowing just one hit over the final two innings. The Gaels staff pitched to contact and got some big plays from their defense to leave a total of 16 Bulldogs on base. Freshman catcher
Brett Williams also had a pair of hits on the day and scored a run for the Gaels.
LOOKING AHEAD
Saint Mary's improved to 15-16 overall with their second straight win over Fresno State to sweep the season series. The Gaels will make the bus drive back to Moraga and prepare for a conference series with 2024 WCC champs in San Diego starting on Friday, April 11th. Stream the games live on ESPN+ and get your tickets online at smcgaels.com/tickets.
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