Sunday, March 8
San Diego, CA
1:00 PM
Saint Mary's College of California
10-5
9
at
6
San Diego State
9-7
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Saint Marys
0
0
1
0
5
1
0
1
1
9
11
0
San Diego State
1
0
1
0
0
3
1
0
0
6
8
1
#48 Lukas Sarantos: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 3 SO, 0 R, SV (1), first career save vs. San Diego State
BSB | Sarantos Shuts the Door as Gaels Take Rubber Match 9-6 over Aztecs
3/8/2026 5:32:00 PM | Baseball
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - The Saint Mary's baseball team picked up win number ten on the season in another tightly contested game, defeating San Diego State 9-6 in the rubber match to win the road series two games to one.
The Gaels took the lead for good in the fifth inning thanks to a grand slam from Makoa Sniffen for his fifth of the season. Saint Mary's added insurance runs in the eighth and ninth inning to take a 9-6 lead and allow sophomore right hander Lukas Sarantos to close the game with two scoreless innings in relief for his first career save.
Spots two through four in the lineup combined for seven hits as Jacob Johnson led the team with three hits while Brady Petit and Makoa Sniffen each had two. Sniffen matched his career high for the second time this season with five RBI including the momentous grand slam in the fifth inning. Senior transfer Jake Hilton grinded through five innings to earn his team leading third win of the season. Hilton allowed just two runs off three hits to improve to 3-0 in his first season as a Gael.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Hilton made his third start of the season and second consecutive as the Gaels Sunday starter as he fought into the sixth inning with a 6-2 lead. Despite walking a season high six batters, Hilton allowed just two runs off three hits and found ways to get out of jams all afternoon.
At the plate, the Gaels were scoreless through the first two frames but Brady Petit would change that with an RBI triple in the third, the first of his career. The Aztecs retook the lead in the bottom half of the third but Saint Mary's would erupt for a five-run fifth to take a commanding 6-2 lead. Saint Mary's loaded the bases and went station-to-station off an RBI single from Johnson. The very next at-bat, Sniffen would crush the 0-1 pitch to deep left field for his fifth home run of the season and his first career grand slam, giving the Gaels a four-run lead.
San Diego State cut the deficit to one over the next two innings, forcing a pair of pitching changes for Saint Mary's, but Lukas Sarantos would get the call for his fifth appearance of the season and close out the final two innings allowing just one hit and recording three strikeouts. The two clean frames for the sophomore right hander would earn him his first career save in his best outing of the 2026 season.
The two insurance runs during Sarantos' two innings of work would come from a solo home-run from Ian Armstrong in the eighth for his third of the season and an RBI double from Sniffen to plate Johnson in the top of the ninth, helping seal the eventual 9-7 victory.
Saint Mary's becomes the first West Coast Conference program to ten wins as they clinch the road series win over San Diego State.
GAME NOTES
- Saint Mary's recorded its seventh game this season with multiple home runs
- The Gaels improved to 6-0 this season when not committing an error
- Johnson led the Gaels with three hits and now leads the team with eight multi-hit games this season
- Johnson also now leads the team with a .419 batting average, eight home runs and 27 RBI
- Armstrong's solo home-run in the eighth inning went down as his third of the season and eighth of his SMC career
- Sarantos threw two scoreless innings allowing just one hit en route to his first career save
- Saint Mary's had 11 hits in Sunday's series finale win for its 11th game this season with double-digit hits
- Sniffen recorded a game high five RBI for the second time this season and also recorded his first career grand slam
- Petit's RBI triple in the third inning went down as his first of his career
- Hilton is now tied for the conference lead with three wins and is one of two pitchers in the WCC with a 3-0 record
LOOKING AHEAD
Saint Mary's will remain in Southern California to take on UC Santa Barbara on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. They will then hit the road for the second consecutive week for a round robin with Rice and Grand Canyon in Phoenix starting next Friday.
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: Hilton, Jake (3-0)
L: Johnson, Carson (0-3)
S: Sarantos, Lukas (1)
Batting:
2B: Sniffen, Makoa 1
3B: Petit, Brady 1
HR: Sniffen, Makoa 1 ; Armstrong, Ian 1
RBI: Sniffen, Makoa 5 ; Petit, Brady 1 ; Kashimoto, Cody 1 ; Armstrong, Ian 1 ; Johnson, Jacob 1
SH: Kashimoto, Cody 1
SF: Kashimoto, Cody 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Sniffen, Makoa 1 ; Petit, Brady 1 ; Griffith, Tanner 1 ; Kashimoto, Cody 1 ; Armstrong, Ian 2 ; Williams, Brett 1 ; Johnson, Jacob 2
SB: Castellanos, Diego 1 ; Armstrong, Ian 1 ; Johnson, Jacob 1
HBP: Williams, Brett 1
Batting:
2B: Peterson, Tyce 1
RBI: Jackson, Jake 1 ; Magpoc, Adam 1 ; Peterson, Tyce 2 ; Trosky, Jabin 1 ; Justice, Zach 1
SF: Peterson, Tyce 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Santana, Dawson 1 ; Magpoc, Adam 1 ; Trosky, Jabin 2 ; Farrell, Max 1 ; Marnell IV, Anthony 1
SB: Magpoc, Adam 2
HBP: Santana, Dawson 1 ; Magpoc, Adam 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
2
H
3
RBI
1
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
5
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
2
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
C
/ BaseballLHP
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballRHP
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballBSB | Saint Mary's vs. San Diego State Game 3 Highlights, 3-8-26
Sunday, March 08
BSB | Saint Mary's vs. UC Davis Highlights, 3-3-26
Tuesday, March 03
BSB | Saint Mary's at San Jose State Game 4 Highlights, 3-1-26
Sunday, March 01
BSB | Saint Mary's vs. San Jose State Game 2 Highlights, 2-27-26
Friday, February 27
