SB | Gaels Open Up April Play at Stanford Round Robin

Thursday, April 2

Stanford, CA

2:00 PM

Saint Mary's College of California

Washington

Braxton Brown Rounding First After HR vs Pacific

Braxton Brown batted 0.451 in the month of March for the Gaels

SB | Gaels Open Up April Play at Stanford Round Robin

4/1/2026 10:00:00 AM | Softball

MORAGA, Calif. — The historic start for Saint Mary's Softball has now spanned through the first two months of the season. The Gaels are 24-10, their best start in program history. This past week, they won their eighth, ninth and tenth consecutive victories, setting a new program record, and won their 12th, 13th and 14th straight games at home, also a program best. Coming off of their first conference opening sweep since 2016, the Gaels will now go into their West Coast Conference bye week, heading to the Stanford Round Robin to take on the 24th-ranked host Cardinal and the 14th-ranked Washington Huskies.

THE DETAILS
Saint Mary's Gaels vs. No. 14 Washington Huskies
Thursday, April 2 at 2 PM
Stanford Softball Stadium – Stanford, Calif.
LIVE STATS

Saint Mary's Gaels vs. No. 14 Washington Huskies
Friday, April 3 at 2 PM
Stanford Softball Stadium – Stanford, Calif.
LIVE STATS

Saint Mary's Gaels at No. 24 Stanford Cardinal
Friday, April 3 at 5 PM
Stanford Softball Stadium – Stanford, Calif.
WATCH | LIVE STATS

Saint Mary's Gaels at No. 24 Stanford Cardinal
Saturday, April 4 at 3:30 PM
Stanford Softball Stadium – Stanford, Calif.
WATCH | LIVE STATS

MAGNIFICENT MARCH
The second month of the season was a triumphant one for Saint Mary's Softball, going 14-3 in that span, including a program-record active 10-game winning streak starting on March 12. The Gaels have jumped 32 spots in the RPI rankings, and currently boast the best RPI rank in the West Coast Conference at 92nd. In March, the Gaels batted .360 as a team, paced by Braxton Brown (.451 5 2B 4 HR 21 RBI), Mia Zabat (.447 3 2B HR 11 RBI) and Hannah Ferguson (.435 3 2B 3 3B 2 HR 14 RBI). Saint Mary's outscored opponents by 46 runs in the month of March. Half of that was due to the offensive fire power, but the other half was the pitching brilliance, paced by Odhi Vasquez. In the month of March, Vasquez went 9-0 with a 2.22 ERA and 43 strikeouts in 47.1 innings pitched. She currently leads the WCC with 72 strikeouts for the season. Also with a strong month in the circle has been sophomore Ella Thurman, who struck out 18 while walking just four in 22.2 innings.

ABOUT THE HUSKIES
Since the Gaels and Huskies last met at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in late February, both teams have been red hot. The Gaels' success through the month of March is documented above. Meanwhile, the Huskies have gone 22-2 since besting the Gaels in Cathedral City, running their record to 30-6 overall and climbing to 14th in the country. Outside of the COVID-19 shortened 2020 campaign, 22nd-year head coach Heather Tarr has amassed 30 or more wins in every season leading the Huskies, now including this year. This Washington side really knows how to break out the offensive fireworks, especially with Alexis DeBoer, Ally Hetzel and Jadyn Glab at the plate, all with OPS numbers better than 1.200. When they met at the Nutter on February 20, it was Glab who starred at the plate, with two hits, including a double, and two RBI, while Morgan Reimer and Ryan Maddox combined for a two hit shutout in the circle. The Gaels are winless in nine matchups all-time with the Huskies.

ABOUT THE CARDINAL
The Stanford Cardinal enter the week ranked 24th in the latest USA Softball/ESPN top-25 poll. Sitting at 20-10 overall, the Cardinal will take on 14th-ranked Washington twice this week, as well as the Gaels. Ninth-year head coach Jessica Allister is coming off of her 600th career win between her 16 overall years split between Stanford and Minnesota, and looks to have her team on their way to seventh straight NCAA postseason. She rolls out an offensive juggernaut of a team that featured three everyday starters, Taryn Kern, Kyra Chan and Emily Jones, batting better than 0.410. Kern leads the charge with a 0.429/0.978/0.565 hitting line, 44 runs scored, and 31 RBI, while boasting 25 of her 39 hits as those of the extra base variety. Pitching has been less consistent for Stanford this season, as they are on pace to have their first team ERA above 4.00 since 2017. The Gaels are 19-41 all-time in 60 total matchups against the Cardinal, and have played them extremely tough in their last two meetings, falling 5-4 in 10 last year, and 8-6 two years ago in the NCAA Regional.

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