Wednesday, April 8
Moraga, CA
3:00 PM
Saint Mary's College of California
18-14
14
vs
4
CSU Bakersfield
14-19
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CSU Bakersfield | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| Saint Mary's | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 14 | 14 | 0 |
#18 Ian Josephson: 4-5, 2 R, 6 RBI, hit for program's first ever cycle vs. Bakersfield
Photo by: Saint Mary's Athletics / Tod Fierner
BSB | Josephson Makes History with Program’s First Cycle; Gaels Down Roadrunners, 14-4
4/8/2026 8:33:00 PM | Baseball
MORAGA, Calif. - The Saint Mary's baseball team came away with a dominant midweek victory over CSU Bakersfield 14-4 but also witnessed some history Wednesday afternoon as true freshman Ian Josephson hit for the program's first-ever cycle, which was capped off by a game ending two-RBI double in the bottom of the seventh to complete the cycle.
Josephson becomes just the third player in West Coast Conference history to record a cycle and the first since Portland's Matt Allen, who recorded a cycle against LMU in 2001. Josephson came to the plate for the fifth time in the game with the bases loaded with Saint Mary's (18-14) up 12-4, needing two more runs to end the game in run-rule fashion. The San Mateo native ripped a 1-0 pitch to the opposite field, which surely was good enough to plate two runs but he hustled out of the box to slide into second safely for his second double of the season and a mighty special one, as it completed the program's first-ever cycle.
Historically speaking, the closest a former Gael came to hitting a cycle was during the 2022 season where SMC catcher Nathan Chong went 4-for-5 and was a double shy of the cycle in a 20-11 slugging of UC Riverside. Throughout the WCC, the other two cycles came from Matt Allen of Portland in 2001 and Scott Walter of LMU in 2000.
The Gaels' offense racked up 14 runs off 14 hits en route to their 18th win of the season. Redshirt freshman Max Johnson made his first career start in the bullpen outing for the Gaels' pitching staff and impressively struck out the side in the opening frame to get credit for his first collegiate win. Makoa Sniffen added to his season hit total with three in the ballgame while freshman catcher Brayden Gutierrez got the start behind the dish and went 2-for-3 with four runs scored and a solo home run in the sixth for his second career long ball.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Redshirt freshman Max Johnson made his first career start for the Gaels in their midweek bullpen game against the Roadrunners and got off to a blazing start. Johnson struck out the side in the top of the first on just 15 pitches. In fitting fashion, the Gaels offense got going early with a six-spot in the bottom half of the inning to put Johnson in line for the win.
Makoa Sniffen singled back up the middle for his 30th RBI of the season for the game's first run and then after loading the bases, Saint Mary's would get clutch two-out hits from Brayden Gutierrez and Ian Josephson to give them a 5-0 lead. Gutierrez plated two with his first double of the season while Josephson singled to center to keep the inning going.
Saint Mary's kept the momentum rolling into the second inning where its offense plated four more runs including a three-run homer off the bat of Josephson for his first collegiate home run. The 391-foot shot helped complete a four-run second inning as the Gaels took a commanding 10-0 lead.
Bakersfield scored its first runs of the game in the third and then made things interesting with a single run in the top of the sixth to make it 10-4. The Gaels quickly put a stop to that though as Gutierrez smashed his second home run of the season in the top half of the sixth to push the lead back to seven. Fast forward to the bottom of the seventh, Saint Mary's loaded the bases once again and found themselves just two runs away from the 10-run run rule victory.
Junior transfer Nick Allred wore a pitch off the shoulder to load the bases with two outs and set up an epic scenario for true freshman Ian Josephson. Josephson was just a double shy of the cycle and that exact hit could score two runs and end the game in run-rule fashion. The San Mateo native saw just one pitch before rifling a line drive into the left center gap. Josephson had nothing on his mind but second base as he hustled out of the box and slid into second to not only end the game for the Gaels but complete the cycle and etch his name into the Saint Mary's record book with the program's first-ever cycle.
Josephson's career afternoon included a game high four hits, two runs scored and a career high six RBI as Saint Mary's slugged its way to the 14-4 victory. Sniffen and Gutierrez had the other multi-hit games for Saint Mary's as Sniffen recorded his team leading sixth three-hit game of the season while Gutierrez connected on home run number two of his collegiate career with his solo shot in the sixth.
On the mound, head coach Eric Valenzuela used eight different pitchers including redshirt freshman Max Johnson, who got credit for his first collegiate win after striking out the side in the first inning. Additional scoreless outings came from David Roberts and Lukas Sarantos who each completed an inning, allowing just one combined hit between the two.
GAME NOTES
LOOKING AHEAD
Saint Mary's will head to Santa Clara for week four of West Coast Conference action. Game one of the three-game series will take place on Friday at 6:00 p.m. You can stream the series 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
Josephson becomes just the third player in West Coast Conference history to record a cycle and the first since Portland's Matt Allen, who recorded a cycle against LMU in 2001. Josephson came to the plate for the fifth time in the game with the bases loaded with Saint Mary's (18-14) up 12-4, needing two more runs to end the game in run-rule fashion. The San Mateo native ripped a 1-0 pitch to the opposite field, which surely was good enough to plate two runs but he hustled out of the box to slide into second safely for his second double of the season and a mighty special one, as it completed the program's first-ever cycle.
"So proud of Ian! What an amazing game for the young kid", said head coach Eric Valenzuela. "He's a very good player with a super bright future. A historic day for him which included a complete team win before we get ready for a tough conference series on the weekend" (Valenzuela).
"I was definitely aware I was a double away from the cycle, I think it's hard to not be", said Josephson. "The mindset today was to enjoy the moment and compete at a high level. I was confident if I could control those two things the hits would follow suit. Accomplishing something so amazing at such a young point in my career was incredible, especially seeing how fired up all my older teammates were, that meant the world to me. I can't wait to experience more amazing memories with this group" (Josephson).
Historically speaking, the closest a former Gael came to hitting a cycle was during the 2022 season where SMC catcher Nathan Chong went 4-for-5 and was a double shy of the cycle in a 20-11 slugging of UC Riverside. Throughout the WCC, the other two cycles came from Matt Allen of Portland in 2001 and Scott Walter of LMU in 2000.
The Gaels' offense racked up 14 runs off 14 hits en route to their 18th win of the season. Redshirt freshman Max Johnson made his first career start in the bullpen outing for the Gaels' pitching staff and impressively struck out the side in the opening frame to get credit for his first collegiate win. Makoa Sniffen added to his season hit total with three in the ballgame while freshman catcher Brayden Gutierrez got the start behind the dish and went 2-for-3 with four runs scored and a solo home run in the sixth for his second career long ball.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Redshirt freshman Max Johnson made his first career start for the Gaels in their midweek bullpen game against the Roadrunners and got off to a blazing start. Johnson struck out the side in the top of the first on just 15 pitches. In fitting fashion, the Gaels offense got going early with a six-spot in the bottom half of the inning to put Johnson in line for the win.
Makoa Sniffen singled back up the middle for his 30th RBI of the season for the game's first run and then after loading the bases, Saint Mary's would get clutch two-out hits from Brayden Gutierrez and Ian Josephson to give them a 5-0 lead. Gutierrez plated two with his first double of the season while Josephson singled to center to keep the inning going.
Saint Mary's kept the momentum rolling into the second inning where its offense plated four more runs including a three-run homer off the bat of Josephson for his first collegiate home run. The 391-foot shot helped complete a four-run second inning as the Gaels took a commanding 10-0 lead.
Bakersfield scored its first runs of the game in the third and then made things interesting with a single run in the top of the sixth to make it 10-4. The Gaels quickly put a stop to that though as Gutierrez smashed his second home run of the season in the top half of the sixth to push the lead back to seven. Fast forward to the bottom of the seventh, Saint Mary's loaded the bases once again and found themselves just two runs away from the 10-run run rule victory.
Junior transfer Nick Allred wore a pitch off the shoulder to load the bases with two outs and set up an epic scenario for true freshman Ian Josephson. Josephson was just a double shy of the cycle and that exact hit could score two runs and end the game in run-rule fashion. The San Mateo native saw just one pitch before rifling a line drive into the left center gap. Josephson had nothing on his mind but second base as he hustled out of the box and slid into second to not only end the game for the Gaels but complete the cycle and etch his name into the Saint Mary's record book with the program's first-ever cycle.
Josephson's career afternoon included a game high four hits, two runs scored and a career high six RBI as Saint Mary's slugged its way to the 14-4 victory. Sniffen and Gutierrez had the other multi-hit games for Saint Mary's as Sniffen recorded his team leading sixth three-hit game of the season while Gutierrez connected on home run number two of his collegiate career with his solo shot in the sixth.
On the mound, head coach Eric Valenzuela used eight different pitchers including redshirt freshman Max Johnson, who got credit for his first collegiate win after striking out the side in the first inning. Additional scoreless outings came from David Roberts and Lukas Sarantos who each completed an inning, allowing just one combined hit between the two.
GAME NOTES
- Ian Josephson had a career day and hit for the program's first ever cycle, going 4-for-5 from the plate with two runs scored and a career high six RBI
- Saint Mary's scored 14 runs off 14 hits and were a whopping 6-for-14 in the game with runners in scoring position
- This is the 23rd time this season the Gaels have recorded 10+ hits
- Saint Mary's recorded its 10th multi-home run game of the season
- The Gaels also drew 10 walks for the second highest single-game total of the season
- Sniffen leads the team now with six three-hit games this season and is tied for the team lead with 46 hits
- Max Johnson earned his first collegiate win in his first collegiate start, striking out the side in the first inning
LOOKING AHEAD
Saint Mary's will head to Santa Clara for week four of West Coast Conference action. Game one of the three-game series will take place on Friday at 6:00 p.m. You can stream the series 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: Johnson, Max (1-0)
L: Brown, CJ (1-2)
Batting:
2B: Cloyd, Evan 1
RBI: Cloyd, Evan 2 ; Wilkes, Devon 1
Base Running:
RUNS: May, Jacob 1 ; Cloyd, Evan 1 ; Bennett, Elgin 1 ; Salazar, Adam 1
HBP: May, Jacob 1 ; Cloyd, Evan 1 ; Pelayo, Elijah 1
Batting:
2B: Gutierrez, Brayden 1 ; Allred, Nick 1 ; Josephson, Ian 1
3B: Josephson, Ian 1
HR: Gutierrez, Brayden 1 ; Josephson, Ian 1
RBI: Griffith, Tanner 1 ; Castellanos, Diego 1 ; Sniffen, Makoa 1 ; Mettam, Jared 1 ; Gutierrez, Brayden 3 ; Allred, Nick 1 ; Josephson, Ian 6
SF: Griffith, Tanner 1 ; Allred, Nick 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Griffith, Tanner 1 ; Johnson, Jacob 1 ; Sniffen, Makoa 2 ; Petit, Brady 1 ; Mettam, Jared 2 ; Gutierrez, Brayden 4 ; Allred, Nick 1 ; Josephson, Ian 2
HBP: Sniffen, Makoa 1 ; Mettam, Jared 1 ; Allred, Nick 1
Game Leaders
AB
5
R
2
H
4
RBI
6
AB
4
R
2
H
3
RBI
1
AB
3
R
4
H
2
RBI
3
AB
2
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
OF
/ BaseballC
/ BaseballRHP
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballLHP
/ BaseballRHP
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballBSB | Saint Mary's vs. Bakersfield Highlights, 4-8-26
Wednesday, April 08
BSB | Saint Mary's at UC Davis Highlights, 4-6-26
Monday, April 06
BSB | Saint Mary's vs. Pacific Highlights, 4-4-26
Saturday, April 04
BSB | Saint Mary's vs. Pacific Highlights, 4-3-26
Friday, April 03
