BSB | Gaels Nearly Mount Comeback but Fall to Lopes 9-8

Saturday, March 14

Phoenix, AZ

1:00 PM

Saint Mary's College of California

10-8

Grand Canyon

7-12

Saint Mary's

Grand Canyon

#6 Brady Petit: 1-for-4, 1 2B. 1 R, 3 RBI (season high) vs. Grand Canyon

BSB | Gaels Nearly Mount Comeback but Fall to Lopes 9-8

3/14/2026 5:54:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Highlights

PHOENIX, Ariz. - The Saint Mary's baseball team racked up another 14 hits and nearly mounted a six-run comeback but came up just short as Grand Canyon hung on for the 9-8 victory on Saturday.

The Gaels scored first but the Lopes answered with a pair of four-run innings to take a 9-3 lead heading into the seventh. However, with the league's best offense, you can never count the Gaels out. They got some quality relief innings from Luis Martin Romero and David Roberts and on the flip side were able to hang five runs in the seventh and eighth inning combined to cut the deficit to one. They needed some life in the ninth but would go down in order as GCU held on for the one-run win for their first of the weekend.

Cody Kashimoto extended his hit streak to eleven games and continues to be a threat at the bottom of the lineup, finishing the game 3-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI. Extra base hits came from Ian Armstrong, Brady Petit and Jacob Johnson as Petit led the team with a season high three RBI.

Junior left hander Cam Staton got hung up for the loss as he fought through three innings allowing four earned on six hits.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Saint Mary's (10-8) got the scoring started once again with an RBI single from Cody Kashimoto, scoring Micah Nicholson in the second inning. Junior southpaw Cam Staton made his fifth start of the season but Grand Canyon (7-12) got to him early, scoring five runs off six hits through his three innings of work. The Lopes held a 5-1 lead after three innings.

In the fourth, Saint Mary's took advantage of some sloppy play from the Lopes to score two runs and cut the deficit to two. A pair of walks started the inning and then a throwing error on a sac bunt attempt plated Nicholson for his second run scored of the game. Two batters later, Brady Petit would line one to center field for the out but it would be deep enough to score Kashimoto from third for his 11th RBI of the season. The Gaels found themselves down 5-3 after the fourth inning.

The Lopes would regain control of the game though with a four-run sixth inning which featured a pair of RBI doubles to give them a 9-3 lead. Coaches preach the importance of answering in some way shape or form after a big inning and the Gaels did that to start the seventh thanks to an RBI single up the middle from Nicholson. Nicholson stepped into the DH spot on Saturday and finished with a solid game, going 2-for-4 including the RBI single in the seventh. Luis Martin Romero also gave the Gaels good life on the mound with a clean frame featuring a pair of strikeouts to get the Gaels offense back to the plate down five in the eighth.

Kashimoto saw his batting average dip below .120 in the early weeks of the season but since has been on an absolute heater, riding a team best 11-game hit streak. Kashimoto started the eighth inning with his third double of the season and after Tanner Griffith took a pitch off the forearm, Petit would rifle a double to the left center gap to plate both players and ignite the Gaels dugout.

Jacob Johnson would follow suit with an RBI double to score Petit and put the Gaels within two. Saint Mary's would go on to load the bases and score one more run off a ground ball double play from Castellanos but GCU found a way to leave the inning with the lead, 9-8, with one inning to go. The same Lope would return to the mound and complete the two-inning save as he retired the Gaels in order in the ninth to hang on for the wild 9-8 victory.

GAME NOTES

The Gaels offense recorded their 13th game of the season with 10+ hits
Cody Kashimoto recorded a season high three hits to lead the Gaels
Kashimoto extended his hit streak to eleven games for the team's longest hit streak of the season
Jacob Johnson had another multi-hit game for his team leading tenth of the season
Johnson leads the team with a .419 batting average and 31 total hits
Diego Castellanos has also eclipsed the .400 mark, now hitting .408 on the season after his two-hit performance vs. GCU
Armstrong, Castellanos and Kashimoto lead the Gaels with five hits apiece in their two games in Phoenix
Saint Mary's leads the WCC in batting average (.338), hits (217), runs (134), RBI (122), HR (25) and slugging (.531)
Luis Martin Romero matched his season high with three strikeouts in his two innings of relief
Southpaw David Roberts came one for two outs in a high leverage scenario and got both outs via the strikeout bringing his season total to 13
Saint Mary's pitching struck out a game high eight batters

LOOKING AHEAD

Saint Mary's will finish out its weekend in Phoenix with a doubleheader on Sunday taking on Rice in the morning game and then Grand Canyon in the finale at 2:30 p.m. The second game against the Lopes will be streamed live on the Mountain West Network.

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