Tuesday, February 24
Bakersfield, CA
6:30 PM
Saint Mary's College of California
4-3
10
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8
Bakersfield
4-5
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5
6
7
8
9
10
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12
R
H
E
Saint Mary's
0
1
0
2
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0
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2
10
17
1
CSU Bakersfield
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1
1
0
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3
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8
10
1
#8 Dario Freschi: 1-1, 1 R, 1 RBI, pinch-hit go-ahead double in the 12th inning vs. Bakersfield
BSB | Saint Mary’s Starts Week with 12-Inning Thriller, Defeat Bakersfield 10-8
2/25/2026 12:33:00 AM | Baseball
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - The Saint Mary's baseball team went deep into the night on Tuesday to pull out a 10-8 12-inning victory over Bakersfield, improving to 4-3 on the season.
Tuesday night's game at Hardt Field had all the drama as the Roadrunners scored four runs over the final two innings to tie the game at six and force extras. Saint Mary's went on to take the lead twice before striking out the final batter of the game, stranding the tying run on second in the 12th inning.
Dario Freschi got a pinch-hit double to plate Diego Castellanos, giving the Gaels a 9-8 lead in the 12th. Freschi would come around to score the very next at-bat thanks to an RBI single from Jared Mettam to give the Gaels a two-run cushion. Sophomore right hander Sam Kretsch would come on as the seventh pitcher for Saint Mary's and despite a pair of two-out walks, Kretsch struck out the final batter to strand the tying run on second and seal the wild 10-8 road victory.
Saint Mary's recorded a season high 17 hits in the ballgame including three-hit performances from Tanner Griffith, Diego Castellanos and Jared Mettam. Kretsch would get credit for his first career save while Diego Emerling got the win after completing the 11th with the game tied at eight.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Getting the start for the midweek matchup with Bakersfield was true freshman Jake Nobles. The North Tustin native was solid in his collegiate debut, completing four innings allowing just two runs off three hits. Nobles would depart after the fourth with a 3-2 lead after the Gaels scored a pair of runs thanks to an RBI triple from Tanner Griffith and a ground out from Nick Allred to plate Griffith later in the inning.
Saint Mary's appeared to grab control of the game with a three-run seventh inning which featured an RBI double from Griffith and two-run blast from Jacob Johnson for his team leading sixth of the season. The Gaels led 6-2 needing six outs to seal the road win but surrendered two runs in the eighth and an infield single in the ninth to tie the game at six and force extras.
The Gaels offense continued to be productive though, recording a combined six hits in the eleventh and twelfth inning. They would take the lead in the eleventh off an RBI triple to the opposite field from Griffith, scoring Cody Kashimoto. Griffith would come home the very next at-bat with a single up the middle from Micah Nicholson to give them a 8-6 lead. Once again though, Bakersfield took advantage of some free passes and managed to get runners on second and third before cashing in with a two-RBI single to knot the game at eight.
The grind continued but the Gaels were up for the challenge as they would retake the lead again in the top half of the twelfth. Castellanos singled to left field to start the inning and then off a hit-and-run play with pinch-hitter Dario Freschi, Freschi would slap a ball through the shortstop and see it roll all the way to the warning track. Castellanos never stopped running and scored from first to give the Gaels a 9-8 lead. After a pitching change, the lead would double with another RBI hit from Mettam. The next three hitters would go down in order but the Gaels gave themselves another chance to win it heading to the home half of the 12th inning.
On to pitch for the Gaels was sophomore Sam Kretsch, making his third appearance of the season. Kretsch induced a 4-6-3 double play after a leadoff single to clear the bases and put Saint Mary's within one out of the win. The situation got more stressful though as Kretsch walked the next two batters and had a wild pitch to put runners on second and third. The Roadrunners were another single away from a tie ballgame but Kretsch hung in there and struck out the next batter to end the game.
A wild Tuesday night college baseball game came to an end after a combined 18 runs, 27 hits and two errors over five hours and fifteen minutes.
GAME NOTES
LOOKING AHEAD
Saint Mary's will make the trip back to Moraga and host San Jose State for two games starting on Thursday with first pitch slated for 2 p.m. They'll then return the favor and head to Excite Ballpark to take on the Spartans for two more games on Saturday and Sunday to complete the five-game week. Tickets can be bought online at smcgaels.com/tickets.
Be sure to follow your Gaels on Facebook, Instagram, and X to get all the latest Saint Mary's athletics updates and information.
#GaelsRise
Tuesday night's game at Hardt Field had all the drama as the Roadrunners scored four runs over the final two innings to tie the game at six and force extras. Saint Mary's went on to take the lead twice before striking out the final batter of the game, stranding the tying run on second in the 12th inning.
Dario Freschi got a pinch-hit double to plate Diego Castellanos, giving the Gaels a 9-8 lead in the 12th. Freschi would come around to score the very next at-bat thanks to an RBI single from Jared Mettam to give the Gaels a two-run cushion. Sophomore right hander Sam Kretsch would come on as the seventh pitcher for Saint Mary's and despite a pair of two-out walks, Kretsch struck out the final batter to strand the tying run on second and seal the wild 10-8 road victory.
Saint Mary's recorded a season high 17 hits in the ballgame including three-hit performances from Tanner Griffith, Diego Castellanos and Jared Mettam. Kretsch would get credit for his first career save while Diego Emerling got the win after completing the 11th with the game tied at eight.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Getting the start for the midweek matchup with Bakersfield was true freshman Jake Nobles. The North Tustin native was solid in his collegiate debut, completing four innings allowing just two runs off three hits. Nobles would depart after the fourth with a 3-2 lead after the Gaels scored a pair of runs thanks to an RBI triple from Tanner Griffith and a ground out from Nick Allred to plate Griffith later in the inning.
Saint Mary's appeared to grab control of the game with a three-run seventh inning which featured an RBI double from Griffith and two-run blast from Jacob Johnson for his team leading sixth of the season. The Gaels led 6-2 needing six outs to seal the road win but surrendered two runs in the eighth and an infield single in the ninth to tie the game at six and force extras.
The Gaels offense continued to be productive though, recording a combined six hits in the eleventh and twelfth inning. They would take the lead in the eleventh off an RBI triple to the opposite field from Griffith, scoring Cody Kashimoto. Griffith would come home the very next at-bat with a single up the middle from Micah Nicholson to give them a 8-6 lead. Once again though, Bakersfield took advantage of some free passes and managed to get runners on second and third before cashing in with a two-RBI single to knot the game at eight.
The grind continued but the Gaels were up for the challenge as they would retake the lead again in the top half of the twelfth. Castellanos singled to left field to start the inning and then off a hit-and-run play with pinch-hitter Dario Freschi, Freschi would slap a ball through the shortstop and see it roll all the way to the warning track. Castellanos never stopped running and scored from first to give the Gaels a 9-8 lead. After a pitching change, the lead would double with another RBI hit from Mettam. The next three hitters would go down in order but the Gaels gave themselves another chance to win it heading to the home half of the 12th inning.
On to pitch for the Gaels was sophomore Sam Kretsch, making his third appearance of the season. Kretsch induced a 4-6-3 double play after a leadoff single to clear the bases and put Saint Mary's within one out of the win. The situation got more stressful though as Kretsch walked the next two batters and had a wild pitch to put runners on second and third. The Roadrunners were another single away from a tie ballgame but Kretsch hung in there and struck out the next batter to end the game.
A wild Tuesday night college baseball game came to an end after a combined 18 runs, 27 hits and two errors over five hours and fifteen minutes.
GAME NOTES
- Tanner Griffith, Diego Castellanos and Jared Mettam each had three hits on the night
- Griffith was a home run shy of the cycle, recording a single, double and a triple in the game
- Jacob Johnson had two hits in the game including a two-run homer in the seventh inning for his team leading sixth home run of the season
- The Gaels' four-game streak of 3+ home runs came to an end with just one tonight against Bakersfield
- 17 hits went down as a new season high for Saint Mary's
- Jake Nobles and Diego Emerling made their season debuts Tuesday night; Emerling would get credit for just his second career win and first of 2026
- Sam Kretsch recorded his first career save after completing the 12th to seal the 10-8 victory
- Saint Mary's used a season high seven pitchers in the win
LOOKING AHEAD
Saint Mary's will make the trip back to Moraga and host San Jose State for two games starting on Thursday with first pitch slated for 2 p.m. They'll then return the favor and head to Excite Ballpark to take on the Spartans for two more games on Saturday and Sunday to complete the five-game week. Tickets can be bought online at smcgaels.com/tickets.
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: Emerling, Diego (1-0)
L: Tootle, Joe (0-1)
S: Kretsch, Sam (1)
Batting:
2B: Griffith, Tanner 1 ; Castellanos, Diego 1 ; Freschi, Dario 1 ; Mettam, Jared 1 ; Kashimoto, Cody 1
3B: Griffith, Tanner 1 ; Sniffen, Makoa 1 ; Castellanos, Diego 1
HR: Johnson, Jacob 1
RBI: Griffith, Tanner 2 ; Nicholson, Micah 1 ; Johnson, Jacob 2 ; Castellanos, Diego 1 ; Allred, Nick 1 ; Freschi, Dario 1 ; Mettam, Jared 2
SH: Griffith, Tanner 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Griffith, Tanner 1 ; Armstrong, Ian 1 ; Johnson, Jacob 1 ; Sniffen, Makoa 1 ; Castellanos, Diego 3 ; Freschi, Dario 1 ; Kashimoto, Cody 2
CS: Sniffen, Makoa 1
HBP: Johnson, Jacob 1 ; Sniffen, Makoa 1 ; Kashimoto, Cody 1
PO: Griffith, Tanner 1 ; Sniffen, Makoa 1
Batting:
2B: May, Jacob 1 ; Cloyd, Evan 1 ; Bennett, Elgin 1 ; Thompson, Brendan 1
RBI: May, Jacob 1 ; Cloyd, Evan 2 ; Wilkes, Devon 1 ; Mascaro, Nick 1 ; Acevedo, Yahir 2
SH: Vela, Dusty 1
SF: Wilkes, Devon 1
Base Running:
RUNS: May, Jacob 1 ; Cloyd, Evan 1 ; Bennett, Elgin 1 ; Thompson, Brendan 1 ; Salazar, Adam 1 ; Nsah, Al 1 ; Goodwin, D 1 ; Acevedo, Yahir 1
SB: Teunissen, Garrett 1
CS: Pelayo, Elijah 1
HBP: Bennett, Elgin 1 ; Mascaro, Nick 1
PO: Pelayo, Elijah 1
Game Leaders
AB
5
R
1
H
3
RBI
2
AB
6
R
3
H
3
RBI
1
AB
6
R
0
H
3
RBI
2
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
OF
/ BaseballOF
/ BaseballRHP
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballOF
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballRHP
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballRHP/UTL
/ BaseballBSB | Saint Mary's at Bakersfield Highlights, 2-24-26
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Sunday, February 22
BSB | Saint Mary's vs. CSUN Game 2 Highlights, 2-21-26
Saturday, February 21
BSB | Saint Mary's vs. CSUN Game 1 Highlights, 2-20-26
Friday, February 20
