BSB | Gaels Pitching Holds Tigers to Two Hits, Completing Series Sweep with 2-1 Victory

Saturday, April 4

Moraga, CA

1:00 PM

Saint Mary's College of California

17-13, 0

Pacific

10-20, 0

Pacific

Saint Mary's

#21 Jake Hilton: 5.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 4 SO, W (4-2)

Photo by: Saint Mary's Athletics / Tod Fierner

BSB | Gaels Pitching Holds Tigers to Two Hits, Completing Series Sweep with 2-1 Victory

4/4/2026 5:40:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

MORAGA, Calif. - The Saint Mary's baseball team completed its first sweep of the 2026 season, beating Pacific 2-1 on Saturday afternoon to head into Easter Weekend at 5-4 in West Coast Conference play and on a three-game win streak.

The Gaels stand as the best offensive team in the WCC with a .328 team batting average but got the win Saturday afternoon with their efforts on the mound, holding Pacific (10-20, 2-7) to one run off just two hits in the ballgame. Senior transfer Jake Hilton made his seventh start of the season and got back in the win column after starting the season 3-0, completing five scoreless innings allowing just one hit while striking out a game high four batters. The win improved his record to 4-2 for second most wins on the team, one behind John Damozonio who stands at 5-1.

Saint Mary's (17-13, 5-4) had just five hits in the game but got to Pacific starter and former Gael Garret Plata in the fourth inning with an RBI triple from Diego Castellanos. Castellanos helped produce both runs as he eventually came home to score on a wild pitch later in the inning, giving the Gaels a 2-0 lead. Redshirt freshman Max Johnson went three innings in relief in his fourth appearance of the season and looked stellar, allowing one run off one hit to get Saint Mary's into the ninth with a 2-1 lead. Sophomore southpaw Talin Gardini closed the game with a 1-2-3 ninth inning to earn his second save of the season and complete the series sweep over Pacific.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Jake Hilton brings a unique pitching style to the mound for Saint Mary's utilizing offspeed stuff and change of speed to keep hitters off balance. After suffering back-to-back defeats over his last two starts he got back on track on Saturday with five scoreless innings for the Gaels. Hilton was perfect through the first three innings, retiring all nine Pacific hitters he faced with a pair of strikeouts as the game remained scoreless into the fourth.

Saint Mary's got to the Tigers starter in the fourth inning after a leadoff double from the WCC's leading hitter in Jacob Johnson. After Johnson's team leading ninth double of the season, junior outfielder Diego Castellanos would come to the plate and rifle a triple down the right field line to put them up 1-0. Castellanos legged out his team leading second triple of the season and recorded RBI number 16 on the year. The Tigers brought the infield in and came up with some crucial ground ball outs to keep Castellanos at third but he would dart home on a wild pitch the next at bat to double the Gaels lead.

Hilton worked around a pair of walks in the top of the fifth but got a lineout to Brady Petit at third to end the threat and close the book on his day with Saint Mary's up 2-0 through five.

Pacific came up with a two-out RBI single in the eighth to cut the deficit to one but Talin Gardini would come on in the ninth and shut the door, retiring the Tigers in order to seal the 2-1 victory and record his second save of the season. Nick Allred got the start in left and led the Gaels with two hits on the day. Max Johnson finished with a career high three innings in relief to help complete a successful day for head coach Eric Valenzuela and his pitching staff, holding Pacific to one run off two hits.

GAME NOTES

Saint Mary's matched its longest win streak of the season at three games
The Gaels also pulled off their first series sweep of the 2026 season
Max Johnson threw a career high three innings in relief, allowing just one run off one hit
Jake Hilton recorded win number four on the season, improving to 4-2
Gardini recorded save number two of the season with a 1-2-3 ninth inning
Nick Allred matched his season high with two hits, hit third multi-hit game of the season
Jacob Johnson tied the team lead with his ninth double of the season
Castellanos was responsible for both runs scored for the Gaels, recording an RBI triple and then scoring on a wild pitch
The Gaels held the Tigers to one run off two hits; two hits allowed was the lowest single-game total since holding Saint Louis to two hits last season in a 16-1 victory

LOOKING AHEAD

Saint Mary's will gear up for another long five-game week after East Weekend, taking on UC Davis on Monday, CSU Bakersfield on Wednesday and then resuming WCC play on the road in a three-game series against Santa Clara starting on Friday. Additional game information can be found at smcgaels.com.

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