SB | Three Run Blasts from Brown and Cutonilli Charge Gaels to Fifth Straight Win

Friday, March 20

Greeley, CO

12:00 PM

Saint Mary's College of California

19-10

Northern Colorado

14-16

Saint Mary's

Northern Colorado

Braxton Brown: 3-for-3 HR, 4 RBI

Photo by: Saint Mary's Athletics / Tod Fierner

SB | Three Run Blasts from Brown and Cutonilli Charge Gaels to Fifth Straight Win

3/20/2026 4:18:00 PM | Softball

Box Score Highlights

GREELEY, Colo. — The Saint Mary's softball team rattled off its season-best fifth consecutive win on Friday afternoon, defeating the Northern Colorado Bears 8-5 at Gloria Rodriguez Field.

Saint Mary's (19-10) had to take and recapture the lead in this one on four separate occasions, but a three run blast from Alex Cutonilli in the top of the seventh would be the decisive blow in the SMC victory.

Braxton Brown had a perfect day at the plate, going 3-3 with a home run, two runs scored and four RBI. Camille Lara was the only other Gael with multiple hits, going 2-3 and scoring twice. Ella Thurman earned the start and worked the first five innings, exiting the game tied at five apiece. Madeline Haun tossed two scoreless frames out of the pen, allowing her offense to rally en route to her third collegiate win.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Braxton Brown opened the contest with a bang, mashing a 2-2 pitch to deep center for a three run blast, scoring Hannah Ferguson and Camille Lara following infield hits. The Bears would level things off in the bottom half, and through the next two innings, the contest became a pitcher's duel, with the score remaining 3-3 through three.

Both teams traded runs in the fourth and fifth innings, bringing the score to 5-5 through five. After a pair of 1-2-3 innings in the top and bottom of the sixth, the Gaels put two of their first three runners on in the top of the seventh, chasing the Bears starter, Grace Algrim, from the game. On the first pitch thrown by reliever Ellyse Hydock, Alex Cutonilli mashed a line drive over the left field fence to push Saint Mary's ahead 8-5. Madeline Haun would load the bases with two outs in the bottom of the seventh before recording a foul out to Averie Prescott out of the squad to end the game.

GAME NOTES

Saint Mary's is now on a season-best five game winning streak. Their last 5+ game winning streak came a year ago, when they won seven in a row against Oregon State, San Diego and LMU when closing in on the 2025 WCC Title.
The Gaels have now matched their best start in program history, at 19-10, matching their 19-10 start in 2024 as part of their 30-24 campaign.
Braxton Brown logged her 13th career multi-hit game, and her 15th career multi-RBI game today, going 3-3 with 4 RBI. She leads the Gaels this season with six home runs, 30 RBI and a .750 slug.
Hannah Ferguson extended her hitting streak to seven straight games, tying her with Camille Lara for longest hitting streak for the Gaels this season.
Freshman Madeline Haun worked her longest career scoreless outing, going two full scoreless out of the bullpen en route to the victory.
Tori Cervantes logged her ninth career triple, moving her into a tie for fourth most in program history. Inside the top-10 for triples in program history and active on the Gaels roster are Hannah Ferguson (12, T-most), Tori Cervantes (9, T-4th) and Sam Buckley (8, T-6th)

Saint Mary's will wrap up its three-game set with the Northern Colorado Bears on Saturday with a doubleheader, starting at 10 a.m. PT. Game two will begin about 30 minutes after the culmination of game one.

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