MORAGA, Calif. — As it was a year ago, the Saint Mary's Gaels (26-22, 9-3 WCC) remain firmly deadlocked in the hunt for a conference title, tied for first with Santa Clara. While the Gaels will not be squaring off with the Broncos this week, Saint Mary's will still have a tough matchup with third place LMU (21-29, 6-6 WCC), the same team they defeated to clinch the 2024 conference title in Moraga a season ago. Santa Clara will be on the road as well, as they head to Corvallis to take on a red-hot Oregon State team (23-21, 6-6 WCC) that has won four in a row. This backdrop should set the scene for an intense weekend of softball action that will keep Gaels, Lions, Broncos and Beavers fans on the edge of their seats.

THE DETAILS
Saint Mary's Gaels at LMU Lions
Friday, May 9 at 2 PM
Smith Field – Los Angeles
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Saint Mary's Gaels at LMU Lions (DH)
Saturday, May 10 at 11 AM and 1:30 PM
Smith Field – Los Angeles
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THE PATH TO REGIONALS
Saint Mary's is currently tied with Santa Clara at 9-3 in WCC play, with the Broncos holding the tie breaker thanks to a 2-1 record against the Gaels this season. As is customary in the WCC, any tie for first place at the end of the season will result in each tied team being recognized as "Co-Champions", however, the team with the tie breaker would earn the conference's automatic bid to an NCAA Regional. Sitting at 6-6, both Oregon State and LMU are also in the hunt for a share of the WCC Title. Oregon State has been eliminated from receiving the conference's auto-bid, however, if both Oregon State and LMU sweep Santa Clara and Saint Mary's respectively, there would be a four way tie for first in the WCC, and LMU would earn the auto-bid. A single Saint Mary's win this weekend would eliminate LMU from conference title contention, and a single Santa Clara win would eliminate Oregon State from conference title contention. If both the Broncos and Gaels get at least one win this weekend, it will come down to who has the better series record this weekend. If both team's tie, the Gaels and Broncos would be declared co-champions, with the Broncos receiving the auto-bid, however, the Gaels sit at 67th in the latest RPI. A solid weekend could move them up even further, and could put them in the "on the bubble" discussion, even if they do not get the conference auto-bid. The NCAA Regionals consist of 64 teams, 31 automatic conference champion bids, and 33 at-large bids. 

ONE YEAR AGO…
…Saint Mary's found themselves in a very similar spot heading into the final weekend of the season. A year ago, the Gaels sat at 8-4 in conference play, holding a narrow one game lead on both LMU and Santa Clara with four games left to play (prior to the addition of Oregon State, the WCC played four game series). Friday opened up with the Gaels defeating LMU 5-3 and Santa Clara defeating San Diego 2-1 in extras. With three games left, Santa Clara remained a game behind the Gaels, and LMU fell to two games back. The Lions responded by sweeping doubleheader Saturday against the Gaels to move into a tie for first, while San Diego shocked Santa Clara twice to eliminate them from postseason contention and make the series finale between LMU and Saint Mary's prove to be a winner take all championship game. The Gaels did not falter in their first chance to win a WCC Title, dominating the Lions in an 8-0 run rule victory. Avrey Wolverton tossed the complete game shutout, and Marissa Montelongo blasted a three run home run on her senior day to make May 11, 2024 a day to remember for all Gael softball faithful. 

ABOUT THE LIONS
It has not quite been the bounce back season that the Lions had hoped for after dropping the regular season finale to Saint Mary's a year ago, earning the Gaels their first WCC Title in program history. Instead, LMU has gone just 6-6 in conference play, and will need to sweep Saint Mary's and hope that Oregon State sweeps Santa Clara to win a share of the conference, and earn the automatic bid to an NCAA Regional. Head Coach Tairia Flowers is the active winningest coach in the WCC with 136 victories to her name, but only has one conference title to show for it, finishing as runner ups in 2021, 2022, and 2024. Known for their power hitting, the Lions are tied for the lead for home runs in the conference (with Saint Mary's) and rank second in slug (trailing only Saint Mary's). Leading the way on both of those fronts is junior Izzy Jamgotchian, who's jumped the yard 14 times this year (tied with Sam Buckley for best in the conference). Pitching has been more of a struggle for LMU, who lost their top pitcher from a year ago, Jenna Perez (2024 WCC Co-Pitcher of the Year, graduated) and Savannah Hooks (on roster, missed entire season). As such, the team has seen their team ERA jump from 3.69 to 4.90 from 2024 to 2025 and their team opponent's batting average jump from 0.263 to 0.315. LMU leads the all-time series 74-37, but the Gaels took two of four last year against the Lions to secure their first conference title in program history.

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