Tuesday, March 24
Moraga, CA
4:00 PM
Saint Mary's College of California
13-11
10
vs
4
UC Santa Barbara
15-7
1st innning1
2nd innning2
3rd innning3
4th innning4
5th innning5
6th innning6
7th innning7
8th innning8
9th innning9
RunsR
HitsH
ErrorsE
Santa Barbara
0
0
2
0
0
0
1
1
0
4
7
3
Saint Mary's
2
1
3
0
0
4
0
0
X
10
11
1
#38 Ian Armstrong: 3-5, 3 R, 4 RBI, 2 HR, first career multi-homer game
Photo by: Saint Mary's Athletics / Tod Fierner
BSB | Gaels Down Gauchos 10-4 with Complete Team Performance
3/24/2026 8:57:00 PM | Baseball
MORAGA, Calif. - The Saint Mary's baseball team put together one of its most complete team performances of the season Tuesday night, defeating UC Santa Barbara 10-4 with timely hitting and an all hands on deck pitching performance from the Gaels' staff.
Head coach Eric Valenzuela established a staff day for the Gaels (13-11), which featured nine pitchers in nine innings. Sophomore right hander Lukas Sarantos got the start and pitched a 1-2-3 inning to start the game, allowing the offense to strike first with a two-run home run from catcher Ian Armstrong in the bottom half of the inning.
Sarantos would get credit for his first win of the season as the Gaels went on to win 10-4. Armstrong smashed another home run in the sixth inning to get Saint Mary's to 10 runs and record his first career multi-homer game. Six Gael pitchers recorded clean frames to contribute to an efficient day on the mound including the likes of Diego Emerling and Finn Chapman. The Gaels ended their two-game skid with the win and also split the season series with an always talented UC Santa Barbara (15-7) program for the second consecutive season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Coaches throughout college baseball tend to use more arms in their midweek games but you don't see the full staff day all too often. For Valenzuela, he went with nine pitchers in nine innings and was able to get great performances from each and every one of them. The Gauchos plated two in the third inning but SMC pitching really did a great job firing strikes and keeping UCSB off balance all night long. They went on to hold the Gauchos to four runs off seven hits while striking out eight batters.
Offensively, the Gaels got the power ball back Tuesday night largely thanks to Armstrong who recorded his first career multi-homer game. Armstrong homered down the right field line in the first inning before sending a line drive shot over the left field fence in the sixth inning for another two RBI. Senior shortstop Jared Mettam slid down to the nine spot in the batting order while Cody Kashimoto took the leadoff spot with the absence of Jacob Johnson as Mettam tied his season high with three hits. Mettam had an RBI single in the second as well as a clutch two-out RBI single in the third that gave the Gaels a 6-2 lead.
A four-run sixth inning would seal the deal for Saint Mary's as they got runners to second and third after leadoff walks to start the frame. After a pitching change, Makoa Sniffen would line a ball into center and plate both runners to make it 8-2. Armstrong's homer would then cap off the six-run inning for the Gaels first double-digit scoring game since putting up eleven against Rice in Arizona four games ago.
Sophomore right hander Sam Kretsch would close the game in the ninth with a 1-2-3 inning and a strikeout on the final out in what was his team leading tenth appearance of the season. Sniffen, Armstrong and Mettam each had three hits in the ballgame with the other two coming from Brady Petit and Diego Castellanos.
GAME NOTES
LOOKING AHEAD
Saint Mary's will gear up and head to Portland to resume WCC action against the Pilots. Game one of the three-game series is set for Friday and you can catch all the action on ESPN+.
Be sure to follow your Gaels on Facebook, Instagram, and X to get all the latest Saint Mary's athletics updates and information.
#GaelsRise
Head coach Eric Valenzuela established a staff day for the Gaels (13-11), which featured nine pitchers in nine innings. Sophomore right hander Lukas Sarantos got the start and pitched a 1-2-3 inning to start the game, allowing the offense to strike first with a two-run home run from catcher Ian Armstrong in the bottom half of the inning.
Sarantos would get credit for his first win of the season as the Gaels went on to win 10-4. Armstrong smashed another home run in the sixth inning to get Saint Mary's to 10 runs and record his first career multi-homer game. Six Gael pitchers recorded clean frames to contribute to an efficient day on the mound including the likes of Diego Emerling and Finn Chapman. The Gaels ended their two-game skid with the win and also split the season series with an always talented UC Santa Barbara (15-7) program for the second consecutive season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Coaches throughout college baseball tend to use more arms in their midweek games but you don't see the full staff day all too often. For Valenzuela, he went with nine pitchers in nine innings and was able to get great performances from each and every one of them. The Gauchos plated two in the third inning but SMC pitching really did a great job firing strikes and keeping UCSB off balance all night long. They went on to hold the Gauchos to four runs off seven hits while striking out eight batters.
Offensively, the Gaels got the power ball back Tuesday night largely thanks to Armstrong who recorded his first career multi-homer game. Armstrong homered down the right field line in the first inning before sending a line drive shot over the left field fence in the sixth inning for another two RBI. Senior shortstop Jared Mettam slid down to the nine spot in the batting order while Cody Kashimoto took the leadoff spot with the absence of Jacob Johnson as Mettam tied his season high with three hits. Mettam had an RBI single in the second as well as a clutch two-out RBI single in the third that gave the Gaels a 6-2 lead.
A four-run sixth inning would seal the deal for Saint Mary's as they got runners to second and third after leadoff walks to start the frame. After a pitching change, Makoa Sniffen would line a ball into center and plate both runners to make it 8-2. Armstrong's homer would then cap off the six-run inning for the Gaels first double-digit scoring game since putting up eleven against Rice in Arizona four games ago.
Sophomore right hander Sam Kretsch would close the game in the ninth with a 1-2-3 inning and a strikeout on the final out in what was his team leading tenth appearance of the season. Sniffen, Armstrong and Mettam each had three hits in the ballgame with the other two coming from Brady Petit and Diego Castellanos.
GAME NOTES
- Saint Mary's tallied 11 hits for its 19th game this season with double-digit hits
- The Gaels also reached double-digit runs for the seventh time this season
- Saint Mary's used nine pitchers for all nine innings
- Sarantos got credit for his first win of the season and made his second start on the mound
- Freshman Brayden Gutierrez got his second start of the season and played left field
- Makoa Sniffen tied Jacob Johnson for the most 3-hit games this season with four
- Jared Mettam recorded his third three-hit game of the season
- Mettam also recorded a season high three RBI
- Clean frames on the mound came from Sarantos, Roberts, Emerling, Nobles, Chapman and Kretsch
- Saint Mary's still leads the WCC in batting average (.340), runs scored (173), hits (289) and home runs (29)
LOOKING AHEAD
Saint Mary's will gear up and head to Portland to resume WCC action against the Pilots. Game one of the three-game series is set for Friday and you can catch all the action on ESPN+.
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: Sarantos, Lukas (1-1)
L: Cole Tryba (0-2)
Batting:
HR: Noah Karliner 1
RBI: Nico Libed 1 ; Cole Kosciusko 2 ; Noah Karliner 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Rowan Kelly 1 ; Noah Karliner 1 ; Mitch Namie 1 ; Corey Nunez 1
SB: Rowan Kelly 1
CS: Cole Kosciusko 1
HBP: Jonathan Mendez 1
PO: Cole Kosciusko 1
Batting:
2B: Sniffen, Makoa 1
HR: Armstrong, Ian 2
RBI: Sniffen, Makoa 2 ; Armstrong, Ian 4 ; Castellanos, Diego 1 ; Mettam, Jared 3
SH: Kashimoto, Cody 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Griffith, Tanner 2 ; Sniffen, Makoa 2 ; Armstrong, Ian 3 ; Castellanos, Diego 1 ; Freschi, Dario 1 ; Mettam, Jared 1
SB: Mettam, Jared 1
CS: Sniffen, Makoa 1
HBP: Freschi, Dario 1
Game Leaders
AB
5
R
2
H
3
RBI
2
AB
5
R
3
H
3
RBI
4
AB
3
R
1
H
3
RBI
3
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
C
/ BaseballOF
/ BaseballRHP
/ BaseballRHP
/ BaseballC
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballRHP
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballRHP
/ BaseballINF
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