MORAGA, Calif. — Entering the 2025 season, the Saint Mary's Gaels were riding momentum coming off of one of their most successful campaigns in program history in 2024. With only one starter departing from that squad, there was much excitement for the 2025 squad, and they lived up to that excitement, winning back-to-back WCC Titles for the first time in program history. Entering this year, Saint Mary's Softball had never had back-to-back winning seasons, let alone back-to-back conference titles, which they secured this year.

While the success of Coach Sonja Garnett's squad is reflected in their conference title, it was not an easy road to start. The Gaels dropped six of their first eight, picking up their only two wins each by just one run, a 3-2 come from behind win against Idaho State and a 2-1 extra innings walk off thriller against Southern Utah. Things began to turn around at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic. Widely regarded as the premiere in-season NCAA Softball tournament on the west coast, the Gaels went 4-1 at the event in Cathedral City, with signature wins against Cal State Fullerton (the team who knocked them out of the 2024 postseason) and Northwestern (a team receiving votes in the National Polls entering that week). Their lone loss came at the hands of San Diego State by just one run, as the Gaels ran their record to 6-7 through the first three weeks of the year. 

Non-conference play wore on, with the Gaels going 2-2 at the UCSB Tournament, dropping their home opener vs Sacramento State, and going 2-3 at the Bulldog Classic, hosted by Fresno State. In this stretch, junior ace Odhi Vasquez broke her own record for consecutive scoreless innings, tossing 23.2 scoreless over a five game stretch. Her previous record was 17.1 straight scoreless frames. Saint Mary's really found their stride, however, in the final three weeks leading into conference play. Hosting their annual pre-conference play tournament, the Gaels took three of four against Harvard and Weber State, followed by a trip to Idaho State and Utah State, where the Gaels would win three of four in the Southern Rockies. Prior to that eight game stretch, the Gaels had hit six home runs in their first 22 contests. In those eight games alone against Harvard, Weber State, Idaho State and Utah State, the Gaels blasted 17, including eight from Sam Buckley. Buckley was named the National Player of the Week after hitting six in one weekend against Idaho State and Utah State, including the first three home run game in program history. Prior to the start of conference play, the Gaels would play a pair of midweeks on the road at UC Davis and Stanford. The Gaels shutout the Aggies 2-0, avenging their 2-1 loss to the Aggies on opening weekend, and fell to 17th ranked Stanford in another extra innings thriller, 5-4 in 10. 

Conference play began with the Gaels on the road in Stockton, taking on Pacific. The Gaels took two of three against their foes from the East, outscoring them 26-10 in the first two games. The Tigers would rebound to take game three of the series 6-3, but the Gaels would notch conference series win number one of the year. Santa Clara would open their conference slate with a sweep of San Diego, while LMU would take the first two at Oregon State before rain would force a reschedule of game three, leaving the Gaels in third place at the end of week one. Week two of the WCC season would be the Gaels bye week, but they would put up a herculean effort against ninth ranked Florida State that week, falling 3-0. The Gaels would drop both ends of a doubleheader vs Cal in their final non-conference games of the year. 

Santa Clara would go 2-1 against Pacific in that time, while LMU would drop two of three to USD, leapfrogging the Gaels into second place, on a collision course with first place Santa Clara. The first two games of that series were too close to call. Game one was scoreless through eight innings before the Broncos broke through in the ninth, ultimately taking a 3-0 victory. Game two saw Sam Buckley lead off the bottom of the first with a home run, and the Gaels would protect that lead all the way to a 1-0 win. That home run from Buckley was her 12th of the season, tying the program single season record. The offenses both came to life in game three, but the Broncos would outslug the Gaels 11-5 to win the series. The Gaels would fall back into third in the conference at 3-3, with Santa Clara (7-2) remaining in first, and LMU (5-3) jumping back into second. 

From this point on, the Gaels would catch fire to close out the season. Things got started with a three game sweep in Corvallis. The Gaels came from behind in games one and two of the series, before jumping out to a 5-0 lead they would protect in game three. In that third game, Sam Buckley crushed a ball to the opposite field, becoming the program's single season home run record holder. With LMU and Santa Clara both off, the Gaels would once again hurdle over the Lions, and move within one game of first behind the Broncos. Senior weekend in Moraga would net another sweep for the Gaels, this time over the Toreros of USD. The Gaels were once again asked to come from behind in two of the three games, with Jenavee Amador providing a pinch hit go-ahead two RBI single in the sixth inning of game one, while Sam Buckley hit a walk-off two run blast on senior day to secure the Gaels sixth straight win, extending their longest winning streak of the season. The two run home run from Buckley would give her the program single season RBI record to go along with her home run record. Going into the final weekend of the season, Santa Clara sat at 9-3 in WCC Play heading to Corvallis, while the Gaels sat at 9-3 heading to LMU. 

The Gaels would open their Los Angeles road trip with a decisive 8-3 victory over the Lions, scoring seven unanswered runs after falling behind 3-1. Sam Buckley set her third single season record of the year, scoring twice to set the single season runs scored record. In the same day, a doubleheader between the Broncos and Beavers was split, meaning a doubleheader split between the Gaels would guarantee a share of the conference title, and a sweep would guarantee the Gaels the conference title outright. The Gaels built a 3-1 lead through five innings in game two, but a big sixth inning from LMU would net them a 9-6 victory. Meanwhile, Santa Clara locked up at least a share of WCC with a 15-4 victory in their finale in Corvallis, meaning the Gaels needed a win over LMU to secure a co-championship with the Broncos. Despite a late push by the Lions, the Gaels held on for a 6-5 victory and enjoyed the celebration on the field postgame, hoisting their second WCC Title Trophy in as many years. 

The offense was a thing of beauty this season, guided by first year hitting coach Frankie Hammoude. The Gaels set new team single season records for runs scored (253) and home runs (43), while tying their single season team triples record (17), and leading the WCC with a team slug of 0.437. As good as their bats were, one of the most underrated qualities of this team was their fielding ability, setting a new program single season fielding percentage record of 0.969. 

Individually, Sam Buckley not only broke three single season records (Home Runs, RBI, Runs Scored), but she also led the conference in on-base percentage and slugging percentage, while putting up the best fielding percentage of any Gael non-first baseman infielder in program history, earning her both first team All-WCC recognition and third team All-West Region honors. She was a three time WCC Player of the Week, after winning that award twice last year, and was both the DI Softball and NFCA National Player of the Week after her six home run weekend in Idaho and Utah.  

Fellow first team All-WCC selection Odhi Vasquez led the conference with 13 wins, four complete game shutouts, a 0.204 opponents batting average and a 1.19 WHIP. Vasquez set the program consecutive scoreless inning streak this year, tossing 23.2 consecutive blank frames over a five game span, including three complete game shutouts against Cal State Fullerton, Northwestern and UC Santa Barbara, the latter two being NCAA Regional Qualifiers. A four time WCC Pitcher of the Week honoree this year, Vasquez moved her impressive total of Pitcher of the Week honors to eight for her career. 

Victoria Castillo, Tori Cervantes, Camille Lara and Mia Nishikawa all earned second team All-WCC nods. Castillo led the conference with 19 hits in conference play, and rode out the end of her season on a team best 11 game consecutive hit streak. Tori Cervantes scored 15 times in conference play, the best in the WCC, and earned her second career WCC Player of the Week nod after driving in the winning runs in all three wins at Oregon State. Camille Lara led the Gaels with 56 hits despite being just a sophomore, and was a human highlight reel in left field, with seven outfield assists and countless web gem catches. Last, but certainly not least, Mia Nishikawa went undefeated in conference play, leading the WCC in total wins and win percentage against conference foes, and adding two more WCC Pitcher of the Week nods to her career tally, which now sits at four. 

Rounding out the group of all-conference honorees, Jenavee Amador was named honorable mention All-WCC, driving in 34 runs, and Mia Zabat was named to the All-Freshman team after starting every game at shortstop, and committing just one error while leading the conference in assists in WCC play. 

It was another season for the history books for Saint Mary's Softball, and year, excitement looms for the 2026 season. Just one of the Gaels all-conference honorees will be graduating this year, as with all of the records and accolades set this year, this team's youth might be its most impressive asset. 

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