Friday, March 20
Moraga, CA
6:00 PM
Saint Mary's College of California
12-9, 1-0
9
vs
8
Pepperdine
4-17, 0-1
1st innning1
2nd innning2
3rd innning3
4th innning4
5th innning5
6th innning6
7th innning7
8th innning8
9th innning9
RunsR
HitsH
ErrorsE
Pepperdine
0
0
0
0
0
3
2
0
3
8
12
1
Saint Mary's
0
3
0
0
3
3
0
0
X
9
14
2
#38 Ian Armstrong: 2-for-5, 2 R, 2 RBI in 9-8 win vs. Pepperdine
Photo by: Varun Aravind (@vflicks04)
BSB | Gaels Win Conference Opener Under the Lights 9-8 Over Waves
3/21/2026 12:16:00 AM | Baseball
MORAGA, Calif. - The Saint Mary's baseball team embarked on a new chapter Friday night with its first ever game under the lights at Luis Guisto Field at Br. Ronald Gallagher Stadium. The Gaels were able to fend off a late rally from Pepperdine to down the Waves 9-8 for their 12th win of the season and first West Coast Conference win of 2026.
Senior right hander John Damozonio made his sixth start of the season and earned his third win with six innings pitched allowing just three runs off five hits. The Gaels offense tallied 14 hits and posted three runs in three different innings en route to the one-run victory. Tanner Griffith and Brady Petit combined for four RBI on the night out of the top two spots in the batting order while Cody Kashimoto extended his hit streak to 14 games with a 2-for-4 performance and a pair of RBI.
The Gaels have now won eight consecutive games over the Waves dating back to the 2024 season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Damozonio has made all six starts this season out of the Friday role and has been putting up career numbers. The San Jose native has now gone six innings in four of his six starts this season including six innings in each of his last three starts. He finished Friday night with six innings, allowing just three runs off five hits. All three runs would come in his final inning of work as he was incredibly efficient going into the sixth inning, holding Pepperdine scoreless with four strikeouts and fewer than 60 pitches over his first five innings.
The run support would come with a pair of three-run innings in the second and fifth as Saint Mary's jumped out to a 6-0 lead. In the second, the Gaels did all their damage with two outs as they strung together four consecutive hits. Nick Allred and Cody Kashimoto would each single to keep the inning alive allowing Tanner Griffith to double down the first base line and score both to give the Gaels a 2-0 lead. Griffith would come around to score the next at-bat off a Brady Petit punch single down the right field line for his 14th RBI of the season, capping off the three-run inning.
In the fifth, Allred would record his second hit of the game and RBI number six on the season as he singled to right field to score Ian Armstrong from second. A pair of doubles from Kashimoto and Petit later in the inning would double the Gaels lead to six through five innings.
Pepperdine would finally get to Damozonio with three runs in the sixth but Saint Mary's answered with another three-spot to take a 9-3 lead into the seventh. A two-RBI single from Armstrong and a sacrifice fly from Kashimoto would complete the damage in the sixth.
The Waves made things interesting though with two runs in the seventh and a three-run homer in the ninth to cut the deficit to one. Sam Kretsch replaced Lukas Sarantos in the ninth after Pepperdine started the inning with back-to-back singles and then a home run off Kretsch on the very first pitch he threw. Kretsch bounced back though to retire three of the next four hitters including a strikeout to seal the 9-8 victory for the Gaels and record his team leading third save of the season.
GAME NOTES
LOOKING AHEAD
Saint Mary's will take on Pepperdine in game two of the three-game series on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. Catch all the action live on ESPN+ and get your tickets 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
Senior right hander John Damozonio made his sixth start of the season and earned his third win with six innings pitched allowing just three runs off five hits. The Gaels offense tallied 14 hits and posted three runs in three different innings en route to the one-run victory. Tanner Griffith and Brady Petit combined for four RBI on the night out of the top two spots in the batting order while Cody Kashimoto extended his hit streak to 14 games with a 2-for-4 performance and a pair of RBI.
The Gaels have now won eight consecutive games over the Waves dating back to the 2024 season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Damozonio has made all six starts this season out of the Friday role and has been putting up career numbers. The San Jose native has now gone six innings in four of his six starts this season including six innings in each of his last three starts. He finished Friday night with six innings, allowing just three runs off five hits. All three runs would come in his final inning of work as he was incredibly efficient going into the sixth inning, holding Pepperdine scoreless with four strikeouts and fewer than 60 pitches over his first five innings.
The run support would come with a pair of three-run innings in the second and fifth as Saint Mary's jumped out to a 6-0 lead. In the second, the Gaels did all their damage with two outs as they strung together four consecutive hits. Nick Allred and Cody Kashimoto would each single to keep the inning alive allowing Tanner Griffith to double down the first base line and score both to give the Gaels a 2-0 lead. Griffith would come around to score the next at-bat off a Brady Petit punch single down the right field line for his 14th RBI of the season, capping off the three-run inning.
In the fifth, Allred would record his second hit of the game and RBI number six on the season as he singled to right field to score Ian Armstrong from second. A pair of doubles from Kashimoto and Petit later in the inning would double the Gaels lead to six through five innings.
Pepperdine would finally get to Damozonio with three runs in the sixth but Saint Mary's answered with another three-spot to take a 9-3 lead into the seventh. A two-RBI single from Armstrong and a sacrifice fly from Kashimoto would complete the damage in the sixth.
The Waves made things interesting though with two runs in the seventh and a three-run homer in the ninth to cut the deficit to one. Sam Kretsch replaced Lukas Sarantos in the ninth after Pepperdine started the inning with back-to-back singles and then a home run off Kretsch on the very first pitch he threw. Kretsch bounced back though to retire three of the next four hitters including a strikeout to seal the 9-8 victory for the Gaels and record his team leading third save of the season.
GAME NOTES
- Saint Mary's recorded 14 hits in the game, its 17th game this season with double-digit hits
- Six different players recorded two hits for the Gaels
- Kashimoto extended his hit streak to a season high 14 games and is now hitting .357 from the plate this season
- Jacob Johnson went 1-for-4 and pushed his hit streak to 13 games and his on base streak to a season high 20 games
- Damozonio has pitched six innings in four of his six starts this season
- Damozonio tied teammate Jake Hilton for the team lead in wins with three, improving to 3-1 on the season
- Nick Allred played in his first game since March 6 and matched his season high with two hits and two runs scored out of the DH spot Friday night
- Sam Kretsch ranks second in the WCC with three saves
- The Gaels stole five bases Friday night for their second highest total of the season
- Makoa Sniffen drew a season high three walks
LOOKING AHEAD
Saint Mary's will take on Pepperdine in game two of the three-game series on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. Catch all the action live on ESPN+ and get your tickets 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: Damozonio, John (3-1)
L: Euper, Casey (1-2)
S: Kretsch, Sam (3)
Batting:
3B: Dell'Amico, James 1
HR: Patterson, Daniel 1
RBI: Nunez, Julian 1 ; Patterson, Daniel 4 ; Dell'Amico, James 2 ; Aude, Max 1
SF: Patterson, Daniel 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Laxa, Kai 1 ; Bianchina, AJ 1 ; Nunez, Julian 3 ; Patterson, Daniel 1 ; Dell'Amico, James 1 ; Cook, Danny 1
HBP: Nunez, Julian 2 ; Aude, Max 1 ; Dunn, Trey 1 ; Cook, Danny 1
PO: Cook, Danny 1
Batting:
2B: Griffith, Tanner 2 ; Petit, Brady 1 ; Mettam, Jared 1 ; Kashimoto, Cody 1
RBI: Griffith, Tanner 2 ; Petit, Brady 2 ; Armstrong, Ian 2 ; Allred, Nick 1 ; Kashimoto, Cody 2
SF: Kashimoto, Cody 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Griffith, Tanner 1 ; Sniffen, Makoa 1 ; Castellanos, Diego 1 ; Armstrong, Ian 2 ; Allred, Nick 2 ; Kashimoto, Cody 2
SB: Sniffen, Makoa 2 ; Castellanos, Diego 1 ; Mettam, Jared 1 ; Allred, Nick 1
CS: Mettam, Jared 1 ; Linteo, Colin 1
HBP: Petit, Brady 1 ; Sniffen, Makoa 1 ; Mettam, Jared 1
Game Leaders
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
2
AB
5
R
2
H
2
RBI
2
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF
/ BaseballC
/ BaseballRHP
/ BaseballOF
/ BaseballLHP
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballRHP
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballRHP
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballBSB | Saint Mary's vs Pepperdine Highlights, 3-20-26
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