Saturday, April 25
San Diego, CA
5:00 PM
Saint Mary's College of California
25-17, 10-7
14
at
3
San Diego
15-25, 7-10
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint Mary's | 2 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 17 | 0 |
| San Diego | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 3 |
#23 Makoa Sniffen: 4-for-5, 2 R, 2 RBI vs. San Diego
BSB | Gaels Mash Their Way to 14-3 Run-Rule Victory in San Diego
4/25/2026 9:21:00 PM | Baseball
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - The Saint Mary's baseball team followed up its dominant game one victory Friday night with an even more impressive one, defeating San Diego 14-3 in run-rule fashion to secure the West Coast Conference series victory.
14 runs off 17 hits in seven innings of play yielded an impressive win for the Gaels as they won their 25th game of the season. Seven of the nine players had multi-hit games including a game high four hits for first baseman Makoa Sniffen. Sniffen recorded his third four-hit game of the season and leads the team with 20 multi-hit games on the year. Ian Armstrong was 3-for-4 with a pair of RBI while Diego Castellanos led the team with three RBI and four runs scored in 2-for-4 ballgame. Sophomore right hander Sam Kretsch earned his career high fourth win of the season in just his second start, completing six innings allowing three runs off six hits along with a game high five strikeouts.
The Gaels' 11-run victory was their largest margin of victory over San Diego (15-25, 7-10) since a 20-0 slaughter back in 2019. Saint Mary's sits alone in third place in the WCC standings at the end of the night at 10-7, just a game back of San Francisco at 11-6.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Saint Mary's (25-17, 10-7) got going early on again, plating two runs in the opening frame to take an early lead. The Gaels really seized control of the game with a six-run second inning that included six hits, all singles, as they took an 8-0 lead after two. An error got the inning going but Saint Mary;s strung together six consecutive hits to force San Diego's starter from the game. RBI hits in the sequence came from Tanner Griffith, Diego Castellanos, Ian Armstrong, Ian Josephson and Jacob Johnson. The Gaels peppered the middle of the field all night long with line drive after line drive.
Sam Kretsch was dealing through his first five innings, allowing one run off just four hits in what was just his second start of the 2026 season. Kretsch has specialized as a lengthy bullpen arm for head coach Eric Valenzuela but he got the start Saturday night and did not disappoint as the Gaels walked out of Fowler Park with just another two pitchers used. Cody Kashimoto plated the team's eleventh run of the game with an RBI base hit in the fourth inning to put them in run-rule range. USD would hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth to extend the game but the Gaels responded with a three-run seventh to seal the 14-3 victory. Makoa Sniffen tripled off the right center wall to score the 13th and 14th runs for the Gaels as they cruised to the dominant 11-run victory.
Redshirt freshman Max Johnson came in for the bottom of the seventh where he struck out two Toreros for a clean frame in his eighth appearance of the season. The Gaels are a perfect 3-0 this week and will look for the WCC series sweep over San Diego on Sunday in what would be their first sweep over the Toreros since 1991.
GAME NOTES
LOOKING AHEAD
Saint Mary's will look for the series sweep on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. Stream the game 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
14 runs off 17 hits in seven innings of play yielded an impressive win for the Gaels as they won their 25th game of the season. Seven of the nine players had multi-hit games including a game high four hits for first baseman Makoa Sniffen. Sniffen recorded his third four-hit game of the season and leads the team with 20 multi-hit games on the year. Ian Armstrong was 3-for-4 with a pair of RBI while Diego Castellanos led the team with three RBI and four runs scored in 2-for-4 ballgame. Sophomore right hander Sam Kretsch earned his career high fourth win of the season in just his second start, completing six innings allowing three runs off six hits along with a game high five strikeouts.
The Gaels' 11-run victory was their largest margin of victory over San Diego (15-25, 7-10) since a 20-0 slaughter back in 2019. Saint Mary's sits alone in third place in the WCC standings at the end of the night at 10-7, just a game back of San Francisco at 11-6.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Saint Mary's (25-17, 10-7) got going early on again, plating two runs in the opening frame to take an early lead. The Gaels really seized control of the game with a six-run second inning that included six hits, all singles, as they took an 8-0 lead after two. An error got the inning going but Saint Mary;s strung together six consecutive hits to force San Diego's starter from the game. RBI hits in the sequence came from Tanner Griffith, Diego Castellanos, Ian Armstrong, Ian Josephson and Jacob Johnson. The Gaels peppered the middle of the field all night long with line drive after line drive.
Sam Kretsch was dealing through his first five innings, allowing one run off just four hits in what was just his second start of the 2026 season. Kretsch has specialized as a lengthy bullpen arm for head coach Eric Valenzuela but he got the start Saturday night and did not disappoint as the Gaels walked out of Fowler Park with just another two pitchers used. Cody Kashimoto plated the team's eleventh run of the game with an RBI base hit in the fourth inning to put them in run-rule range. USD would hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth to extend the game but the Gaels responded with a three-run seventh to seal the 14-3 victory. Makoa Sniffen tripled off the right center wall to score the 13th and 14th runs for the Gaels as they cruised to the dominant 11-run victory.
Redshirt freshman Max Johnson came in for the bottom of the seventh where he struck out two Toreros for a clean frame in his eighth appearance of the season. The Gaels are a perfect 3-0 this week and will look for the WCC series sweep over San Diego on Sunday in what would be their first sweep over the Toreros since 1991.
GAME NOTES
- The Gaels' 17 hits was two shy of their season high
- Saint Mary's scored double-digit runs for the 14th time this season
- Makoa Sniffen recorded his team leading third four-hit game of the season
- Sniffen leads the team with 20 multi-hit games
- Castellanos was responsible for half of the team's runs, scoring four and hitting in three
- Saint Mary's went 17-for-32 tonight good for a .531 batting average
- Saint Mary's was 11-for-14 with runners in scoring position
- The Gaels now have three pitchers with four or more wins
- Sam Kretsch recorded a career high fourth win this season
- Kretsch also completed a career high six innings Saturday night
- Saint Mary's is now hitting .336 as a team this season
- The Gaels have not swept the Toreros in a WCC series since 1991
LOOKING AHEAD
Saint Mary's will look for the series sweep on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. Stream the game 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: Kretsch, Sam (4-1)
L: Fernando Palencia (2-4)
Batting:
2B: Griffith, Tanner 1 ; Sniffen, Makoa 1
3B: Sniffen, Makoa 1
RBI: Griffith, Tanner 1 ; Castellanos, Diego 3 ; Sniffen, Makoa 2 ; Armstrong, Ian 2 ; Josephson, Ian 2 ; Johnson, Jacob 2 ; Williams, Brett 1 ; Kashimoto, Cody 1
SH: Griffith, Tanner 1 ; Kashimoto, Cody 1
SF: Johnson, Jacob 1 ; Williams, Brett 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Griffith, Tanner 1 ; Castellanos, Diego 4 ; Sniffen, Makoa 2 ; Armstrong, Ian 1 ; Josephson, Ian 1 ; Mettam, Jared 3 ; Kashimoto, Cody 2
SB: Mettam, Jared 1
CS: Johnson, Jacob 1
PO: Kashimoto, Cody 1
Batting:
HR: Diego Gonzalez 1
RBI: Diego Gonzalez 2 ; Cade Martinez 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Andrew Gauna 1 ; Diego Gonzalez 2
SB: Gage Mestas 1
HBP: Jayden Lobliner 1
Game Leaders
AB
5
R
2
H
4
RBI
2
AB
4
R
1
H
3
RBI
2
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
4
H
2
RBI
3
Players Mentioned
C
/ BaseballOF
/ BaseballOF
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballRHP
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballRHP
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballBSB | Saint Mary's at San Diego Highlights, 4-25-26
Saturday, April 25
BSB | Saint Mary's at San Diego Highlights, 4-24-26
Friday, April 24
BSB | Saint Mary's at Nevada Highlights, 4-21-26
Tuesday, April 21
BSB | Saint Mary's vs. Gonzaga Highlights, 4-19-26
Sunday, April 19
