Friday, February 20
Moraga, CA
2:00 PM
Saint Mary's College of California
2-2
8
vs
0
CSUN
3-2
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
CSUN
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
7
2
Saint Mary's
0
0
0
1
1
3
3
0
X
8
11
0
#25 John Damozonio: 6.0 IP (career high), 5 H, 0 R, 5 K vs. CSUN
Photo by: Saint Mary's Athletics / Tod Fierner
BSB | Johnson Blasts Two Homers as Gaels Shut Out Matadors, 8-0
2/20/2026 6:15:00 PM | Baseball
MORAGA, Calif. - The Saint Mary's baseball team blasted three home runs including two from first-year Gael Jacob Johnson en route to a dominant 8-0 shutout victory over CSUN on Friday afternoon at Louis Guisto Field.
Senior right hander John Damozonio got the ball again for the series opener and threw six shutout innings for his first win of the season for Saint Mary's (2-2). Sophomore southpaw Talin Gardini finished off the final three innings to earn his first career save for the Gaels to take game one of their three-game series with CSUN (3-2)
The Gaels recorded 11 hits for their fourth consecutive game with double-digit hits but the offensive star of the day was Jacob Johnson. Johnson belted two home runs and was just a few feet short of a third in his final at-bat, finishing the day 2-for-4 with three runs scored and two RBI. He currently leads the West Coast Conference with four home runs and eight RBI through his first four games of the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Believe it or not, Saint Mary's was actually held hitless through the first three innings thanks to CSUN starter Adam Christopher. Jacob Johnson would quickly change that though in the fourth inning thanks to a 423-foot solo bomb off the batter's eye in center field for his third of the season.
On the other side, the Matadors recorded five hits over their first four trips to the plate but Damozonio continued to pound the zone and get out of jams to keep them off the scoreboard. The San Jose native recorded a pair of strikeouts in the second and then stranded a runner on second with another strikeout to end the fourth inning. Damozonio retired the next six batters he faced to complete six strong innings for a new career high, surpassing the 5.1 innings pitched in a pair of outings last season.
The Gaels took a 2-0 lead in the fifth thanks to an RBI single from Micah Nicholson and then broke the game open with back-to-back three-run innings in the sixth and seventh. Johnson got into another one to lead off the sixth for his first career multi-homer game to make it 3-0. An RBI single from Nick Allred followed by a fielder's choice from shortstop Jared Mettam later in the inning would give Saint Mary's a commanding 5-0 lead.
Sophomore first baseman Makoa Sniffen hit the ball hard all day long and got credit for a sac fly on a lineout to right field to start the scoring in the seventh, his first RBI of 2026. Allred then cashed in with his first homer as a Gael the very next at-bat with a two-run shot to left to give the Gaels an 8-run lead. Gardini worked around a pair of hits and a walk to maintain the shutout over the final three innings and record his first career save.
The 8-0 victory would go down as the Gaels' first shutout of the season and first since an identical 8-0 win over Utah Tech last season, which was their lone shutout of the 2025 campaign.
GAME NOTES
- Jacob Johnson homered twice in the win to bump his season total to four; Johnson leads the WCC with four homers and eight RBI
- Damozonio pitched a career-high six innings for his first win of the 2026 season and the sixth of his career
- Nick Allred had a game high three RBI including his first home run as a Gael, blasting a two-run shot in the seventh inning
- SMC pitching struck out six batters and allowed just three walks
- As a team, Saint Mary's leads the WCC in batting average (.358), slugging (.584), on-base percentage (.437) and home runs (8)
LOOKING AHEAD
Game two of the three-game series will take place on Saturday afternoon with a 1 p.m. first pitch. Live stats can be found at smcgaels.com and you can catch all the action live on ESPN+.
Be sure to follow your Gaels on Facebook, Instagram, and X to get all the latest Saint Mary's athletics updates and information.
#GaelsRise
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Damozonio, John (1-0)
L: Christopher, Adam (0-1)
S: Gardini, Talin (1)
Batting:
2B: Saito, Evan 1
Batting:
HR: Johnson, Jacob 2 ; Allred, Nick 1
RBI: Nicholson, Micah 1 ; Johnson, Jacob 2 ; Sniffen, Makoa 1 ; Allred, Nick 3 ; Mettam, Jared 1
SH: Castellanos, Diego 1
SF: Sniffen, Makoa 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Johnson, Jacob 3 ; Petit, Brady 1 ; Josephson, Ian 1 ; Sniffen, Makoa 1 ; Allred, Nick 2
CS: Mettam, Jared 1
HBP: Kashimoto, Cody 2 ; Johnson, Jacob 1 ; Mettam, Jared 2
PO: Mettam, Jared 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
3
H
2
RBI
2
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
3
Players Mentioned
OF
/ BaseballRHP
/ BaseballLHP
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballINF
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