STOCKTON, Calif. - The offense picked up right where they left off from Friday night, scoring nine runs on 13 hits to take down Pacific 9-3 and clinch the series win. Despite six players recording multiple hits to account for all 13 on the night, the bullpen shined once again with 5+ scoreless innings from the likes of
Sam Kretsch,
Noah Waldeck and
Daniel Guevara Castro. The trio allowed just four hits in their 5.1 innings of work as the freshman right hander
Sam Kretsch earned his third win of the season.
Sophomore center fielder
Tanner Griffith was terrific out of the nine-spot, finishing 2-for-3 with a pair of RBI. This was Griffith's first multi-hit game since March 29th against San Francisco.
Ian Armstrong also had a pair of hits to record his fourth consecutive multi-hit game, bringing his series total to five.
Eddie Madrigal and
Cody Kashimoto also combined for four hits, two runs scored and an RBI out of the top two spots in the lineup.
The Gaels continue to roll as they have now won nine of their last ten games and secured their third straight WCC series win with the others coming against Pepperdine and LMU.
4TH INNING
The game was tied at one through the first three innings but Saint Mary's would change that with a five-run fourth inning.
Tanner Griffith would work a one-out walk and then find his way to third after a throwing error on a pickoff from the Tigers pitcher. The next at-bat,
Eddie Madrigal cashed in with his first hit and RBI of the series, fighting off an inside pitch into shallow center field.
The Gaels would take advantage of two crucial errors from the Tigers in the inning to aid their scoring.
Brian Duroff helped cap things off with his second double of the game, scoring
Aiden Taurek and giving Saint Mary's a 5-1 lead. Duroff matched his career high with three hits in the game as he now has a five-game hitting streak.
Gaels starter
Donovan Chriss would give up a pair of runs in the bottom half of the inning to end his outing, finishing with 3.2 innings of work and five strikeouts. Freshman
Sam Kretsch induced a fly out with runners on first and second to get out of the jam and maintain a three-run lead for Saint Mary's.
7TH INNING
Kretsch went into the seventh inning and was stellar in his 14th appearance of the season, completing three scoreless innings allowing just two hits. The Gaels tacked on two more runs over the final two innings to help cement their lead. In the seventh, Griffith tripled to the right field corner to score
Jared Mettam and give the Gaels an 8-3 lead. The hit would go down as his first career triple in his two years as a Gael and represent his second hit of the game.
Relieving Kretsch in the seventh inning was sophomore
Noah Waldeck who was absolutely dominant in his inning and a third. Waldeck showcased his dynamic arsenal of pitches, striking out three of the six batters he faced, stranding a pair of runners in the seventh and eighth inning. He blew a heater by Diego Davis to end the seventh inning and then flipped in a nasty breaking ball to get Jake Tandy looking to end the eighth and give the Gaels a 9-3 lead heading to the final frame.
Senior right hander
Daniel Guevara Castro came in for his 14th appearance of the season to finish the ninth inning. He retired the Pacific hitters in order on just eight pitches, including a strikeout for the second out of the inning. A ground out to
Ryan Pierce over at third would end the game as Saint Mary's clinched the series with a 9-3 victory.
LMU took down Gonzaga to remain in fourth place while Portland was upset by last place Santa Clara to fall to 11-7 in conference play. The Gaels have a real shot to finish as high as third place as they sit just a game and a half back of the Pilots.
LOOKING AHEAD
Saint Mary's improved to 25-20 overall and for the first time this season they are above .500 in conference play, now standing at 9-8 good for fifth place and just a half game back of the top four. The series finale will take place Sunday afternoon at 1:00 PM and you can catch all the action live on ESPN+.
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