MORAGA, Calif. - For the sixth time in his Saint Mary's tenure, head coach
Eric Valenzuela has reached the 30-win mark after their 8-4 victory over Santa Clara. Valenzuela has now recorded back-to-back 30-win seasons dating back to 2024 and the Gaels have a chance at the two seed with a win over the Broncos and a win from the Portland Pilots tomorrow afternoon.
Senior lefty
Dylan Delvecchio was dominant again in his second consecutive start after getting the late call last Saturday against Gonzaga. Delvecchio completed six innings allowing just two runs while striking out a game high seven batters. The Gaels pitching staff finished with 12 on the afternoon, good for second most in a game this season.
Tanner Griffith got the scoring started with a two-RBI single to left field in the second inning. After the Broncos answered with a two-run homer in the sixth, Saint Mary's scored five unanswered runs to put the game away for good. A two-run bomb from
Eddie Madrigal in the seventh shut the door as
Talin Gardini and
John Damozonio finished off the final three innings.
Thanks to a 12-5 win from the Portland Pilots, the Gaels still have a shot at the two seed and a first round bye in the WCC tournament. Saint Mary's needs to complete the series sweep over Santa Clara and Portland will need to take down Gonzaga on Sunday to clinch the two seed for the Gaels. First pitch for all the conference games will be at 1:00 PM tomorrow and streamed live on ESPN+.
HOW IT HAPPENED..
2ND INNING
After a pair of clean frames from Delvecchio to start the game, the Gaels would put two runners on in the bottom half of the inning. Center fielder
Tanner Griffith would come to the dish with two outs and shoot an opposite field single to score
Diego Castellanos and
Brian Duroff to give them the early two-run lead. Griffith did a great job of sitting on the breaker and simply sending it the other way for his 18th and 19th RBI of the season.
Delvecchio has had himself quite a week after getting called upon to start game two of their series against Gonzaga just minutes before first pitch. After going seven innings in Spokane, he would earn the start in game two against the Broncos and go six full innings allowing just two runs off four hits. Delvecchio finished his outing with seven strikeouts, bringing his season total to 64 to lead the team.
An RBI single from
Eddie Madrigal in the sixth would extend the Gaels lead to 5-2 and put Delvecchio in line for his fifth win of the season.
7TH INNING
Fellow southpaw
Talin Gardini would make his 19th appearance of the season and looked untouchable in his first inning of work. Gardini retired the Santa Clara hitters in order on just 13 pitches including a strikeout to end the inning.
In the bottom half of the inning, the Gaels would once again add on with three runs off two hits. A one-out walk from
Jared Mettam followed by a single from IAn Armstrong would put runners on the corners. In the next at-bat, Mettam would trot home thanks to a wild pitch to push the Gaels lead to 6-2. Just for good measure,
Eddie Madrigal would put the nail in the coffin for the Broncos with a no doubter to right field to clear the bases for his conference leading 18th of the season.
Madrigal continues to add to his resume for WCC Player of the Year as he leads the conference in hits (74), home runs (18), RBI (62) and slugging percentage (.685). He finished 2-for-4 on the day with a run scored and three RBI, his 20th multi-RBI game of the season.
Gardini concluded the eighth inning to end his day and
John Damozonio came out of the bullpen for the final frame, working around a two-out double and striking out one Bronco. Damozonio had been the team's "Sunday" starter for the past four weeks but entered the game for a tune-up inning ahead of the conference tournament next week.
Diego Castellanos also returned to the lineup and got himself a couple of hits along with an RBI single back in the fifth inning.
Ian Armstrong and
Tanner Griffith combined for four hits, three runs scored and two RBI out of the bottom two spots in the batting order.
CONFERENCE STANDINGS
With today's win, Saint Mary's sits alone in third place at 14-9 in the conference standings. There still could be some shuffling tomorrow as Portland and LMU are tied for fourth at 13-10 and Gonzaga is currently in second place at 15-8. If Portland defeats Gonzaga tomorrow afternoon and Saint Mary's completes the sweep over Santa Clara, the Gaels would move into second place and earn a first round bye in the conference tournament.
On the flip side, Gonzaga needs a win over the Pilots or a Saint Mary's loss to hang on to the two-spot. The final four conference games will all start at 1:00 PM tomorrow afternoon and can be streamed live on ESPN+.
LOOKING AHEAD
Saint Mary's improved to 30-23 and 14-9 in conference play, their second consecutive 30-win season and sixth under head coach
Eric Valenzuela. Their final home game at Br. Ronald Gallagher Stadium will take place on Sunday, May 17th at 1:00 PM. Tickets can be bought online at smcgaels.com/tickets.
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