SPOKANE, Wash. - Arguably the series of the season in the West Coast Conference as Saint Mary's held on for another thrilling victory, defeating Gonzaga 12-11 in the rubber match to take the series two games to one. With a Santa Clara loss earlier in the day the Gaels already clinched a spot in the conference tournament but made sure of it regardless with a one-run win over conference rival Gonzaga.
The Gaels jumped out to another early lead with seven runs in the first two innings including three straight home runs off the bats of
Eddie Madrigal,
Cody Kashimoto and
Aiden Taurek. Gonzaga posted eight runs in the third inning to tie the game but the Gaels got insurance runs in the seventh and the eighth to fend off another late surge from the Zags offense.
Freshman
Talin Gardini came in relief and went a career high 4.1 innings to earn his second win of the season. He retired 15 of his 17 batters faced for a near perfect outing.
Noah Waldeck went into the ninth but turned things over to southpaw
Garret Plata who got the last out of the game to record his second save of the season.
"What a series win. To overcome Friday's loss and everything that happened Saturday pregame, I'm so proud of this group to fight back and battle. It shows a lot about where the program is and the culture we have as a team", said head coach
Eric Valenzuela.
HOW IT HAPPENED…
2ND INNING
The Gaels matched their season high with five home runs. Freshman
Brady Petit swung a hot bat in his two games of the series and connected on his first homer of the season in the first inning. The long ball continued in the second as Saint Mary's hit three consecutive homers to jump out to a seven-run lead. The homers came from the top three spots in the lineup off the bats of Madrigal, Kashimoto and Taurek.
The game would change in a hurry though as Gonzaga stormed back with eight runs off seven hits in the bottom half of the third to bounce
John Damozonio and take a one-run lead. The weekend series had all the drama and the Zags eight-run inning setup for another exciting finish.
Ian Armstrong homered in the fifth inning to put the Gaels back in front 9-8. Armstrong put together a solid series finishing the day with a pair of hits and two RBI not to mention being a wall behind home plate.
8TH INNING
Aiden Taurek came up big in the eighth with a two-run triple to the right center wall to score Kashimoto and Madrigal. The two runs gave the Gaels a 12-8 lead with two innings to close out the ballgame.
9TH INNING
Once again, the game would come down to the final out. Waldeck would get the first two outs of the ninth but surrender two hits and a walk to give Gonzaga two runs in the inning. Valenzuela would go to the bullpen one last time and call upon
Garret Plata for his second appearance of the series.
Plata avenged himself from his Friday outing by getting the next batter to fly out to center field to end the game and seal the 12-11 victory. Plata picked up his second save of the season in another gritty win down the stretch of the season.
"Our guys have been through a lot and playing a really good team, in a tough environment on the road, just shows a lot about this group and the team we have. We've had a lot of ups and downs and I could not be more proud of our guys to pull out this series win. Gonzaga is always a tough matchup over the years and we know what this series means to us and our program, really porud of our team" (Valenzuela).
Kashimoto, Taurek and Petit all had three hits in the game with Taurek leading the team with three RBI. Petit was just a triple shy of the cycle and was a great spark plug for the Gaels offense after getting the starts in games two and three of the series. The bottom of the lineup was also effective as
Jared Mettam and
Ian Armstrong combined for four hits out of the seven and eight spots.
Gardini was exactly what the Gaels needed out of the pen as the true freshman went for a career high 4+ innings with five strikeouts. Saint Mary's is bound for Vegas as they earned a spot in the conference tournament with their win today. They still have a shot at a first round bye with one week of WCC action left to play.
LOOKING AHEAD
Saint Mary's improved to 28-23 overall and 12-9 in conference play, moving into a tie for third place with Portland with one week left in WCC play. The Gaels will finish the regular season at home against Santa Clara starting on Thursday, May 15th.
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