EUGENE, Ore. - Saint Mary's battled with the fifth ranked Ducks again Wednesday night, holding them to just two runs over the first five innings of play. One big inning broke the game open for Oregon as they came away with the 8-1 victory to sweep the two-game set. The Gaels were held to one run for just the third time this season. They made it a one-run game in the fourth with back-to-back doubles from
Aiden Taurek and
Ryan Pierce. They were able to put a runner on in the seventh inning but were kept in check for the majority of the night.
Head coach
Eric Valenzuela used eight arms on the night as Saint Mary's also has a conference series against WCC foe Gonzaga starting on Friday.
Sam Kretsch,
Noah Waldeck and
Justin Santiago recorded scoreless frames in the middle innings but a six-run sixth inning would give Oregon a seven-run lead.
Aiden Taurek led the team with two hits for his 16th multi-hit game of the season.
Ryan Pierce also recorded his sixth double and 39th RBI on the season as he creeps closer to the .300 mark.Â
HOW IT HAPPENED…
3RD INNING
Junior southpaw
Garret Plata made his 20th appearance and his first start of the 2025 season for the Gaels. Plata has been a staple out of the bullpen this season but played more of an opener role for the midweek matchup with the fifth ranked Ducks. Plata worked around two hits in the first inning and recorded a pair of strikeouts to keep the fifth ranked Ducks off the scoreboard in the first.Â
Redshirt freshman
Finn Chapman would make his sixth appearance of the season and enter the game to start the second. Chapman was previously an Oregon Duck himself during the 2024 season but flexed on his old squad early with a 1-2-3 second inning. Chapman touched mid-90's on the gun and paired that with a sharp breaking ball to retire the Ducks hitters in order.Â
Chapman earned himself one more inning but ran into trouble in the third, loading the bases with a pair of walks and a single. Chapman would depart for freshman right hander
Sam Kretsch. Similar to yesterday's game, Kretsch and the Gaels would take their medicine and trade two outs for two runs. He would then strikeout the final batter on three pitches to end the threat with just two runs given up, keeping the Gaels well within striking distance.Â
4TH INNING
As a result of pitching to contact and limiting the damage in the third, Saint Mary's would leadoff the fourth with a pair of doubles off the bats of
Aiden Taurek and
Ryan Pierce. Taurek impressively leads the WCC with 16 doubles on the year. Pierce would record his sixth double of the season to trade places with Taurek and score the first run of the game for Saint Mary's.Â
Noah Waldeck and
Justin Santiago would keep the Ducks off the scoreboard with clean frames in the fourth and the fifth as the Gaels found themselves down just a run in another tightly contested ballgame.Â
6TH INNING
Elliott Joslin would come in to start the sixth but fail to get out of the inning as he was charged with five runs off three hits. Back-to-back one-out singles and a walk would load the bases again and then Chase Meggers would bounce a high chopper to first but beat out the toss over to Joslin who was covering on the play.Â
Daniel Guevara Castro would come in to finish the inning but Oregon got two more hits to conclude their six-run sixth inning. Outside of this inning, the Gaels pitching staff had been great in both games, allowing runs in just five of the eighteen innings of baseball combined.Â
Oregon's relievers did a good job of keeping the WCC's best offense quiet, retiring eight of the final nine batters over the last three innings. Freshman lefty
Jaden McNeely finished the game for Saint Mary's and pushed his scoreless innings streak to four and third on the season. He retired seven of the eight batters he faced and allowed just one hit in his two innings of work. Â
LOOKING AHEAD
Saint Mary's fell to 26-22 overall but will resume conference action against Gonzaga on Friday, seeking their fourth straight conference series victory dating back mid April when the Gaels swept Pepperdine. Game one is scheduled for Friday, May 9th at 6:00 PM. Tickets can be bought online at smcgaels.com and you can stream the game live on ESPN+.Â
Be sure to follow your Gaels on Facebook, Instagram, and X to get all the latest Saint Mary's athletics updates and information.Â
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