BSB | Gutsy Gaels; Saint Mary’s Rallies for 5-Run 9th Inning to Clinch Series Win Over Broncos

Saturday, April 11

Santa Clara, CA

1:00 PM

Saint Mary's College of California

20-14, 3-8

Santa Clara

13-20, 7-4

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Saint Mary's	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	1	5	8	13	0
Santa Clara	0	0	1	1	2	0	0	0	0	4	8	1

#5 Diego Castellanos: 1-4, 3 R, 1 RBI, go-ahead RBI single in the 9th vs. Santa Clara

BSB | Gutsy Gaels; Saint Mary’s Rallies for 5-Run 9th Inning to Clinch Series Win Over Broncos

4/11/2026 8:31:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The Saint Mary's baseball team showed nothing but toughness and guts on Saturday afternoon as they rallied for a five-run 9th inning to beat Santa Clara 8-4 and clinch the West Coast Conference regular season series.

The Gaels found themselves down 4-3 heading into their last at-bat in the ninth. With their backs against the wall, they recorded five runs off six hits in the inning, including four consecutive hits to take a 6-4 lead. Diego Castellanos had the go-ahead RBI single to score Nick Allred from second and they continued to roll after that. Additional RBI hits came from Makoa Sniffen and Brady Petit to complete the five-run frame and give them an 8-4 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth.

Sophomore right hander Lukas Sarantos came in for the ninth and allowed just one baserunner and struck out the final batter to seal the thrilling 8-4 win for Saint Mary's. Fellow sophomore Sam Kretsch replaced starter Cam Staton in the fifth inning and was sensational over his 3.1 innings of work. Kretsch struck out a career-high eight batters and allowed just one hit to keep the Gaels within striking distance. He would earn his third win of the season in dominant fashion as Saint Mary's (20-14, 7-4 WCC) completed the comeback in Santa Clara (13-20, 3-8).

HOW IT HAPPENED

Junior southpaw Cam Staton returned to the starting rotation this week, making his sixth start as a Gael this season. Staton worked around some free passes over the first three innings but allowed just two runs as Saint Mary's found themselves down 2-1 through four innings. Staton was pitching to contact and getting nice defense behind him, as he came back out to start the fifth inning. Staton and the Gaels got to two outs in the inning with a baserunner on, but Santa Clara cashed in with back-to-back doubles to take a 4-1 lead and bounce Staton from the game. The Auburn, California native got a bit unlucky with one of those doubles coming as a dropped fly ball that got caught in the swirling wind in right field. Sam Kretsch would come in and strikeout the next batter to end the inning with the Gaels chasing three.

Saint Mary's continued to chip away though as they got one back in the sixth thanks to an RBI single from Ian Armstrong. The run would come with two outs after a double from Makoa Sniffen to keep the inning alive. Meanwhile on the mound, Kretsch continued to mow down the Broncos lineup as he struck out the side in the bottom of the sixth and the bottom of the seventh to finish with a career high eight K's. Amazingly, eight of his ten outs over his outing came via the strikeout.

The Gaels grabbed another run in the eighth with a fielder's choice from Sniffen that allowed Diego Castellanos to score from third. They would leave the bases loaded though as Santa Clara clinged to a 4-3 lead going into the ninth.

After Kretsch struck out the side in the bottom half of the eighth, the stage was set in the top of the ninth with Saint Mary's needing one run to extend the game. Freshman third baseman Ian Josephson has had himself quite a week after hitting for the program's first cycle on Wednesday against Bakersfield and led off the inning with a beautiful opposite field single. Cody Kashimoto would bunt him over to second as Nick Allred would come to the dish for his second AB of the game. Allred pinch-hit for Tanner Griffith in the top of the eighth and singled and he would come up with another big hit here in the ninth, rifling a double to the right center wall to score Josephson and tie the game at four.

Castellanos would then come to the dish in search of his first hit of the afternoon and he would find it, connecting on a 1-2 pitch back up the middle to plate Allred and put the Gaels in front for the first time, 5-4. The energy poured out of the dugout for Saint Mary's as they went on to record three more hits in the inning including RBI singles from Makoa Sniffen and Brady Petit to cap off a momentous five-run ninth inning.

Sophomore right hander Lukas Sarantos has found a new home in the back of the bullpen for the Gaels as he came on to close the game in his 12th appearance of the season. Santa Clara would get a one-out single but Sarantos induced a fielder's choice and then got a strikeout to end the game and complete the ninth inning comeback for the Gaels.

GAME NOTES

Sam Kretsch struck out a career high eight batters en route to his third win of the season; eight of his ten outs over his 3.1 innings came via the strikeout
Kretsch leads all pitchers with 13 appearances this season
For the seventh consecutive game, SMC pitching has allowed four runs or fewer; the Gaels are 6-1 over that seven-game stretch
Makoa Sniffen led the Gaels with his seventh three-hit game of the season, going 3-for-5 with two runs scored and two RBI
Nick Allred tied his season high with two hits after coming in as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning; he would record back-to-back singles in the eighth and ninth inning and score the go-ahead run
Diego Castellanos extended his hit streak to a season high 11 games after his go-ahead RBI single in the ninth
Saint Mary's recorded 13 hits in the ballgame, its 25th game of the season with 10+ hits
The Gaels hit .429 with runners on and an even .500 with runners in scoring position Saturday afternoon
SMC pitching hit double-digit strikeouts for the tenth time this season, recording a game high ten strikeouts
Saint Mary's is 10-1 this season when they record double-digit strikeouts on the mound
Once again, the Gaels have matched their longest win streak of the season with three consecutive victories

LOOKING AHEAD

Saint Mary's and Santa Clara will square off in the series finale on Sunday at 2 p.m. The game was pushed back from its original start time due to weather and additional updates or changes can be found at smcgaels.com. The game will be streamed 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.

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