Sunday, February 22
Moraga, CA
1:00 PM
Saint Mary's College of California
3-3
12
vs
0
CSUN
4-3
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
CSUN
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
1
Saint Mary's
2
2
0
0
7
1
X
12
16
0
#21 Jake Hilton: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, WIN (1-0) vs. CSUN
BSB | Gaels Mash in 12-0 Route over Matadors to Take Weekend Series
2/22/2026 4:38:00 PM | Baseball
MORAGA, Calif. - The Saint Mary's baseball team broke out its Sunday Reds at Louis Guisto Field at Br. Ronald Gallagher Stadium and mashed their way to another shutout victory, 12-0, over CSUN to clinch the non-conference series two games to one.
The Gaels blasted another four home runs to finish the three-game series with a whopping ten homers as Jacob Johnson continued his tear with a two-run shot in the first. Saint Mary's (3-3) also got a two-run homer from Makoa Sniffen in the second, a three-run bomb from Sniffen again in the fifth and a solo-shot from first-year Gael Brayden Gutierrez for the finishing touches in the sixth.
Saint Mary's outhit CSUN 16-3 along with zero errors in the field to win its first series of the season. On the hill, senior transfer Jake Hilton was solid with five shutout innings to earn his first win as a Gael. Luis Martin Romero threw two hitless innings in relief for SMC to end the ballgame in run-rule fashion over CSUN (4-3).
HOW IT HAPPENED
Hilton, a senior transfer and Berkeley native, got the nod for Sunday's series finale and was terrific for the Gaels, completing five scoreless innings allowing just three hits. Hilton retired the first six batters of the game before allowing a leadoff single in the third. He worked around a balk and a wild pitch later that inning to get the next two batters and keep CSUN off the scoreboard.
Offensively, the Gaels had another hot start at the dish as they recorded two-run home runs in the first and second inning. Johnson has been sensational to start his SMC career as he belted a two-run homer in the first inning for his conference leading fifth of the season. Sniffen then got in on the action with a 420-foot bomb to left-center to plate two more in the bottom half of the second to give the Gaels a 4-0 lead.
Saint Mary's also got off to a fast start at the plate in game two of the series but this time complimented the offense with solid pitching. Hilton finished his five innings allowing just three hits, one walk and recording five strikeouts on just 66 pitches en route to his first win as a Gael. Hilton was incredibly efficient and got ahead early while mixing off-speed pitches late in counts to induce weak outs. South Mountain Community College transfer Luis Martin Romero then came in and threw two perfect innings to seal the 12-0 run-rule victory for the Gaels.
Finishing touches were added with a second home run from Sniffen in the fifth and then a pinch-hit solo-shot from freshman Brayden Gutierrez for his first collegiate hit and long ball. Sniffen's three hits and five RBI would go down as new career highs for the sophomore first baseman. Diego Castellanos matched Sniffen with a team high three hits while Ian Armstrong and Jared Mettam had two hits each, contributing to a season high 16 hits.
GAME NOTES
LOOKING AHEAD
Saint Mary's will head to Bakersfield for its first road game of the 2026 season and take on the Roadrunners on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. Additional game information, live stream links and tickets can be found at smcgaels.com.
Be sure to follow your Gaels on Facebook, Instagram, and X to get all the latest Saint Mary's athletics updates and information.
#GaelsRise
The Gaels blasted another four home runs to finish the three-game series with a whopping ten homers as Jacob Johnson continued his tear with a two-run shot in the first. Saint Mary's (3-3) also got a two-run homer from Makoa Sniffen in the second, a three-run bomb from Sniffen again in the fifth and a solo-shot from first-year Gael Brayden Gutierrez for the finishing touches in the sixth.
Saint Mary's outhit CSUN 16-3 along with zero errors in the field to win its first series of the season. On the hill, senior transfer Jake Hilton was solid with five shutout innings to earn his first win as a Gael. Luis Martin Romero threw two hitless innings in relief for SMC to end the ballgame in run-rule fashion over CSUN (4-3).
HOW IT HAPPENED
Hilton, a senior transfer and Berkeley native, got the nod for Sunday's series finale and was terrific for the Gaels, completing five scoreless innings allowing just three hits. Hilton retired the first six batters of the game before allowing a leadoff single in the third. He worked around a balk and a wild pitch later that inning to get the next two batters and keep CSUN off the scoreboard.
Offensively, the Gaels had another hot start at the dish as they recorded two-run home runs in the first and second inning. Johnson has been sensational to start his SMC career as he belted a two-run homer in the first inning for his conference leading fifth of the season. Sniffen then got in on the action with a 420-foot bomb to left-center to plate two more in the bottom half of the second to give the Gaels a 4-0 lead.
Saint Mary's also got off to a fast start at the plate in game two of the series but this time complimented the offense with solid pitching. Hilton finished his five innings allowing just three hits, one walk and recording five strikeouts on just 66 pitches en route to his first win as a Gael. Hilton was incredibly efficient and got ahead early while mixing off-speed pitches late in counts to induce weak outs. South Mountain Community College transfer Luis Martin Romero then came in and threw two perfect innings to seal the 12-0 run-rule victory for the Gaels.
Finishing touches were added with a second home run from Sniffen in the fifth and then a pinch-hit solo-shot from freshman Brayden Gutierrez for his first collegiate hit and long ball. Sniffen's three hits and five RBI would go down as new career highs for the sophomore first baseman. Diego Castellanos matched Sniffen with a team high three hits while Ian Armstrong and Jared Mettam had two hits each, contributing to a season high 16 hits.
GAME NOTES
- Jacob Johnson belted his WCC-leading fifth home run of the season and also leads the conference with 10 RBI.
- Five players had multi-hit games for the Gaels including a game-high three hits from Diego Castellanos and Makoa Sniffen.
- Sniffen hit two home runs for his first multi-homer game of his career and also recorded a career high three hits and five RBI.
- Saint Mary's belted four home runs in a single game for the first time since April 29 last season, hitting four in a 13-8 win over Nevada.
- Jake Hilton threw five scoreless including five strikeouts for his first win as a Gael.
- Luis Martin Romero made his second appearance of the season as the junior transfer lowered his ERA to 1.93 over a combined 4.2 innings pitched this season.
- Hilton and Romero combined for just one walk over the seven innings pitched and allowed just three hits.
- Saint Mary's had just one shutout in all of 2025 and the Gaels now have two over their last three games.
LOOKING AHEAD
Saint Mary's will head to Bakersfield for its first road game of the 2026 season and take on the Roadrunners on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. Additional game information, live stream links and tickets can be found at smcgaels.com.
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: Hilton, Jake (1-0)
L: Hernandez, Gabriel (1-1)
Batting:
2B: Thomas, Matthew 1
Base Running:
CS: Panganiban, Kyle 1
Batting:
2B: Armstrong, Ian 1 ; Petit, Brady 1 ; Castellanos, Diego 1 ; Sniffen, Makoa 1
HR: Johnson, Jacob 1 ; Gutierrez, Brayden 1 ; Sniffen, Makoa 2
RBI: Johnson, Jacob 2 ; Petit, Brady 2 ; Gutierrez, Brayden 1 ; Sniffen, Makoa 5
SH: Griffith, Tanner 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Armstrong, Ian 2 ; Johnson, Jacob 2 ; Petit, Brady 1 ; Gutierrez, Brayden 1 ; Castellanos, Diego 2 ; Sniffen, Makoa 2 ; Allred, Nick 1 ; Mettam, Jared 1
SB: Mettam, Jared 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
2
H
3
RBI
0
AB
4
R
2
H
3
RBI
5
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
C
/ BaseballOF
/ BaseballC
/ BaseballLHP
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballRHP
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballINF
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