LAS VEGAS, Nev. - For the third consecutive season Saint Mary's earned a spot in the annual WCC Baseball Tournament and will face off against bay area rival San Francisco on Wednesday, May 21st at Las Vegas Ballpark. Since the tournament was moved from Stockton to Las Vegas, the Gaels have been in the postseason event all three years and will look for their first conference tournament championship since 2016. 

The Gaels enter the tournament on quite a hot streak, winning 16 of their last 20 games including five straight conference series victories dating back to April 17th. They climbed to 30+ wins for the second consecutive season to finish in third place behind Gonzaga and the reigning WCC Tournament champs in San Diego. With timely pitching the Gaels are poised for a deep postseason run, standing as the league's best offense with a .296 batting average, averaging nearly ten hits and eight runs per game. 

"Postseason baseball is always a blast!", said SMC head coach Eric Valenzuela. "We are excited and feel like we are playing our best baseball when it matters most. All six teams are capable of winning the whole thing so it's going to be a challenge. Our men are ready to play our brand of Gael baseball!". 

GAME COVERAGE

WCC Tournament | #3 Saint Mary's vs. #6 San Francisco | Las Vegas Ballpark
Las Vegas, Nev. | May 21 | 2:05 PM
Live Stats | ESPN+ | Tickets | Tournament Central

GAELS OUTLOOK

2025 All-WCC Teams Announced; Eddie Madrigal Named First Team…

Saint Mary's had six players named to the 2025 All-WCC teams with the league's home run leader, Eddie Madrigal, as the team's lone First Team selection. Madrigal has had a sensational year, leading the WCC with 19 home runs, 76 hits, 66 RBI and a .689 slugging percentage. 

Aiden Taurek and Ian Armstrong were named to the All-WCC Second Team for their first career all-conference selections. Taurek also put up career numbers, leading the league with 19 doubles while batting .342 from the plate. Armstrong has been the team's primary starting catcher in his first collegiate season, hitting .357 with nine doubles, three triples, 38 RBI and five homers. 

Diego Castellanos and Ryan Pierce were named Honorable Mention while Armstrong joined pitcher Lukas Sarantos on the All-Freshman Team. Castellanos got off to a blazing start and finished the regular season with five hits and a home run over his last two games. Pierce reached double-digit homers for the second straight season, hitting 13 long balls for second most on the team. He also has hits in ten of his last twelve games to end conference play. 

Lukas Sarantos emerged as the team's "Friday" starter in their series against Pepperdine where he went 6.1 innings while recording five strikeouts to earn his first collegiate win. He holds a 3-0 record over his five starts with a 5.13 ERA. 

Eddie Madrigal Enters Career Ranks with MVP Caliber Season…

Redshirt junior Eddie Madrigal has had quite the journey over his collegiate career but has persevered to put together a career season in 2025. After suffering a season ending knee injury in 2024, Madrigal has led the Gaels offense with a .364 batting average and 19 home runs. Madrigal has seen time as the team's primary first baseman and also in the DH spot but put himself firmly in the WCC Player of the Year conversation. 

Madrigal leads the conference in home runs (19), RBI (66), hits (76) and slugging percentage (.689). His stellar season has also put him into the top-three single-season program ranks in home runs and RBI and he sits just outside the top-ten in runs scored with 51 on the season.

Madrigal recorded his first career multi-homer game earlier this season in an 8-3 win over LMU. He has 26 multi-hit and 21 multi-RBI games this season to lead the team.

Road Warriors; Best Road Record in Modern Stat Era (2000)...

In the words of head coach Eric Valenzuela, "we feel like we lived on the road this season". The Gaels have learned to be comfortable on the road and have been exposed to several different environments over the course of the season. As a result, they have posted their best road record in the modern era, dating back to 2000, at 17-13. 

When things don't go their way or they have a quick turnaround with their schedule, they simply say "it's just how we like it". Valenzuela and his staff have instilled a togetherness with their group and it has allowed them to be resilient all season long at home and on the road. 

The team's versatility and depth allows them to play in different ways and makes it a challenge for opposing teams to scout and prepare for. Their road winning percentage is the best since 2017 when they won 14 games and were three games above .500. They are the only team in the WCC with a road record above .500.

Series History…

Saint Mary's has won four of their last six games against San Francisco dating back to the 2024 season. The Dons got the best of the Gaels though to open up conference play this season, taking two games and holding Saint Mary's to just five runs per game. 

This will go down as the first ever meeting between the two programs in the WCC Tournament as San Francisco will be making their first postseason appearance since 2022. The Gaels are 2-0 in elimination games in the conference tournament dating back 2023.  

ABOUT THE DON (WCC)

San Francisco enters the conference tournament with a 26-29 overall record and finished in sixth place with a 9-15 WCC record to earn the final spot in the postseason event. The Dons will see postseason action for the first time since 2022 as they survived the final week conference bye to remain in the sixth spot. Pacific and Santa Clara suffered series sweeps in the final week to help clinch the tournament berth for USF. 

San Francisco got the best of the Gaels to open up the conference season, winning a pair of home games and getting out to a 4-2 start in conference play. They then lost six straight WCC games in series sweeps to Gonzaga and LMU that gave them an uphill battle for the second half of the conference season. With their season on the line, San Francisco upset Portland with a pair of wins to put them at nine in WCC play and eventually seal the sixth and final spot in the conference tournament. 

The Dons rank fifth in the WCC with a .268 batting average and sit inside the top four with a staff ERA of 6.03. They will enter the conference tournament on a five-game win streak with their two wins over Portland and a series sweep of Utah Valley in the final week of the regular season. 

Wednesday's game will be streamed live on ESPN+ and additional tournament information, media links, tickets, live stats and more can be found at wccsports.com. First pitch is slated for 2:05 PM at Las Vegas Ballpark. 

Be sure to follow your Gaels on Facebook, Instagram, and X to get all the latest Saint Mary's athletics updates and information. 

#GaelsRise