Friday, March 27
Portland, OR
6:00 PM
Saint Mary's College of California
14-11, 2-2
3
at
0
Portland
15-8, 3-1
1st innning1
2nd innning2
3rd innning3
4th innning4
5th innning5
6th innning6
7th innning7
8th innning8
9th innning9
RunsR
HitsH
ErrorsE
Saint Mary's
0
0
0
2
0
0
0
1
0
3
7
0
Portland
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
5
3
BSB | Career High 9 K’s for Damozonio as Gaels Blank Pilots to Take Game One
3/27/2026 10:23:00 PM | Baseball
PORTLAND, Ore. – The Saint Mary's baseball team fought through an intense and gritty Friday night affair in Portland as they took down the Pilots 3-0 in game one of the three-game weekend series.
Senior pitcher John Damozonio made his seventh start of the season and was absolutely stellar, recording a career-high nine strikeouts and working his way out of numerous jams to record his team leading fourth win of the season. The Gaels recorded seven hits on the night and got timely offensive production with two runs in the fourth and an RBI single from Brady Petit in the eighth to act as insurance and allow junior transfer Cam Staton to close the game for his first career save as a Gael.
Saint Mary's (14-11, 2-2 West Coast Conference) played clean defense and was sensational on the mound, recording a game-high 12 strikeouts between Damozonio and Staton as the duo held Portland (15-8, 3-1 WCC) to five hits and put an end to the Pilots' seven-game win streak.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Saint Mary's traveled to the Pacific Northwest Friday night and was in search of its first win at Joe Etzel Field since 2018. The Gaels had senior right hander John Damozonio on the mound for his seventh start of the season and got a dominant performance from the San Jose native. Damozonio threw a season-high 112 pitches and recorded a career high nine strikeouts en route to his fourth win of the season. Damozonio got out of numerous jams throughout the night, recording strikeouts to end the first, third, fourth, fifth and sixth inning to contribute to his career high nine K's.
Saint Mary's got on the board first in the top of the fourth thanks to an RBI ground out from sophomore infielder Brady Petit. Fellow sophomore Diego Castellanos would leg out an infield single the very next at bat to score a second run and give the Gaels a 2-0 lead to end the fourth.
Damozonio cruised into the sixth inning for the fifth time this season out of his now seven starts and after loading the bases, he recorded strikeout number nine on the night to leave them loaded and preserve the Gaels' 2-0 lead going into the seventh. Southpaw Cam Staton took over in the bottom half of the seventh and also struck out a Pilot hitter to end the frame and send the Gaels into the eighth needing six outs for the crucial conference win.
Insurance would come from none other than Brady Petit as he recorded his second RBI of the night with a well-executed hit-and-run play to score Makoa Sniffen from second in the top of the eighth. The Gaels have shown aggressiveness on the base paths all season long as Petit helped cash in the third run of the night with a perfectly timed hit-and-run play, shooting a single through the right side for his 17th RBI of the season.
Staton induced an inning ending 6-4-3 double play in the bottom of the eighth to strand more runners on for the Pilots and then got a foul fly ball to Sniffen down the right field line to end the game in the ninth and seal an impressive shutout win for Saint Mary's.
GAME NOTES
• Saint Mary's got its first win in Portland since 2018
• The Gaels also recorded their third shutout of the season
• Three shutouts are the most in a single season since recording four shutouts during the 2024 season
• Damozonio recorded a career-high nine strikeouts
• Damozonio completed six innings for the fifth time this season out of his seven starts
• Damozonio leads the Gaels with a 4-1 record and tied his career single season win total from last season
• Petit recorded his fourth multi-RBI game of the season
• Saint Mary's is now 7-2 this season when not committing an error
• The Gaels are also 7-1 this season when recording double-digit strikeouts
• Cam Staton recorded his first career save as a Gael, completing the final three innings allowing just one hit and recording three strikeouts
LOOKING AHEAD
Saint Mary's and Portland will square off in game two of their three-game series on Saturday at 3 p.m. Catch all the action live 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
Senior pitcher John Damozonio made his seventh start of the season and was absolutely stellar, recording a career-high nine strikeouts and working his way out of numerous jams to record his team leading fourth win of the season. The Gaels recorded seven hits on the night and got timely offensive production with two runs in the fourth and an RBI single from Brady Petit in the eighth to act as insurance and allow junior transfer Cam Staton to close the game for his first career save as a Gael.
Saint Mary's (14-11, 2-2 West Coast Conference) played clean defense and was sensational on the mound, recording a game-high 12 strikeouts between Damozonio and Staton as the duo held Portland (15-8, 3-1 WCC) to five hits and put an end to the Pilots' seven-game win streak.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Saint Mary's traveled to the Pacific Northwest Friday night and was in search of its first win at Joe Etzel Field since 2018. The Gaels had senior right hander John Damozonio on the mound for his seventh start of the season and got a dominant performance from the San Jose native. Damozonio threw a season-high 112 pitches and recorded a career high nine strikeouts en route to his fourth win of the season. Damozonio got out of numerous jams throughout the night, recording strikeouts to end the first, third, fourth, fifth and sixth inning to contribute to his career high nine K's.
Saint Mary's got on the board first in the top of the fourth thanks to an RBI ground out from sophomore infielder Brady Petit. Fellow sophomore Diego Castellanos would leg out an infield single the very next at bat to score a second run and give the Gaels a 2-0 lead to end the fourth.
Damozonio cruised into the sixth inning for the fifth time this season out of his now seven starts and after loading the bases, he recorded strikeout number nine on the night to leave them loaded and preserve the Gaels' 2-0 lead going into the seventh. Southpaw Cam Staton took over in the bottom half of the seventh and also struck out a Pilot hitter to end the frame and send the Gaels into the eighth needing six outs for the crucial conference win.
Insurance would come from none other than Brady Petit as he recorded his second RBI of the night with a well-executed hit-and-run play to score Makoa Sniffen from second in the top of the eighth. The Gaels have shown aggressiveness on the base paths all season long as Petit helped cash in the third run of the night with a perfectly timed hit-and-run play, shooting a single through the right side for his 17th RBI of the season.
Staton induced an inning ending 6-4-3 double play in the bottom of the eighth to strand more runners on for the Pilots and then got a foul fly ball to Sniffen down the right field line to end the game in the ninth and seal an impressive shutout win for Saint Mary's.
GAME NOTES
• Saint Mary's got its first win in Portland since 2018
• The Gaels also recorded their third shutout of the season
• Three shutouts are the most in a single season since recording four shutouts during the 2024 season
• Damozonio recorded a career-high nine strikeouts
• Damozonio completed six innings for the fifth time this season out of his seven starts
• Damozonio leads the Gaels with a 4-1 record and tied his career single season win total from last season
• Petit recorded his fourth multi-RBI game of the season
• Saint Mary's is now 7-2 this season when not committing an error
• The Gaels are also 7-1 this season when recording double-digit strikeouts
• Cam Staton recorded his first career save as a Gael, completing the final three innings allowing just one hit and recording three strikeouts
LOOKING AHEAD
Saint Mary's and Portland will square off in game two of their three-game series on Saturday at 3 p.m. Catch all the action live 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: Damozonio, John (4-1)
L: NEWMANN, TREY (2-2)
S: Staton, Cam (1)
Batting:
RBI: Petit, Brady 2 ; Castellanos, Diego 1
SH: Armstrong, Ian 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kashimoto, Cody 1 ; Sniffen, Makoa 2
SB: Griffith, Tanner 2
Batting:
2B: SALK, JONAS 1
Base Running:
HBP: MILLER, NOLAN 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
2
AB
5
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
5
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
2
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF
/ BaseballRHP
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballLHP
/ BaseballBSB | Saint Mary's at Portland Highlights, 3-27-26
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