Thursday, May 14
Moraga, CA
6:00 PM
Saint Mary's College of California
29-23, 14-11
6
vs
9
San Francisco
23-27, 14-11
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 17 | 5 |
| Saint Mary's | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 2 |
#47 Jake Nobles: 4.1 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 5 SO (career high in IP and SO) vs. San Francisco
Photo by: Saint Mary's Athletics / Tod Fierner
BSB | Gaels Comeback Falls Short as Dons Take Game One 9-6
5/14/2026 11:17:00 PM | Baseball
MORAGA, Calif. - The Saint Mary's baseball team nearly erased an eight-run deficit Thursday night against San Francisco but the Dons were able to strand a pair of baserunners in the bottom of the ninth to hang on for the 9-6 West Coast Conference victory.
San Francisco (23-27, 14-11 WCC) jumped out to a 9-1 lead after six innings which featured two three-run homers. Saint Mary's (29-23, 14-11 WCC) finally responded though with a four-run sixth inning which included aggressive baserunning to get back into the game. Clean relief innings from the likes of Jake Nobles and Cooper Berger allowed the Gaels to stay within striking distance as the duo combined to allow just one run off seven hits over 5.2 innings. The Gaels put runners on in the ninth and even brought the tying run to the plate in the form of Ian Josephson but USF's closer would get Josephson to fly out to left to seal the three-run victory.
Josephson connected on his third homer of the season that sparked the Gaels four-run rally in the sixth while Diego Castellanos extended his hit streak to 28 games with a 2-for-4 night. Nick Allred earned another start in left for the Gaels and had the other multi-hit game, going 2-for-3 with a run scored.
On a brighter note, Saint Mary's would officially clinch a spot in the 2026 WCC Tournament with defeats from Portland and Seattle U, mathematically clinching them a spot in the postseason tournament. The Gaels will now jockey for seeding over the final two regular season games and can still reach as high as second with a series win and some help across the conference.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Sophomore right hander Lukas Sarantos made his fifth start of the season Thursday night after a career outing last week against LMU, earning his second win of the season with seven innings pitched and a career high 11 strikeouts. Fatigue may have played a role in tonight's start though as the San Clemente native allowed eight runs off ten hits and departed with one out in the fourth. Freshman Jake Nobles stranded a baserunner and got the final two outs of the fourth but the Dons had taken a commanding 8-1 lead including a three-run homer in the first and the fourth inning.
Despite seeing their largest deficit of the game, the Gaels responded with a big inning of their own, scoring four runs in the home half of the sixth to cut the deficit to four. All the damage would come with two outs and the rally would start with a solo blast from Ian Josephson for his third of the season. A fielding error and a hit batter would continue the inning and allow senior Cody Kashimoto to slap a double down the third baseline to score Jared Mettam from second. Allred and Kashimoto would come in to score during the next at bat on a wacky wild pitch. Allred scored on the initial wild pitch but the ball was also ball four to Tanner Griffith in the at bat. Griffith would hustle down to first but then turn and dart for second, catching the Dons catcher off guard. The catcher would throw the ball down to second in an effort to get Griffith but Kashimoto would then take off for home on the throw and score the fourth run of the inning.
Nobles continued to give the Gaels' bullpen length as he finished with 4.1 innings of work, allowing just one run with a team high five strikeouts. Fellow freshman Cooper Berger would finish the eighth and complete the ninth in just his sixth appearance of the season, allowing just one hit and zero runs. Saint Mary's got another rally started in the bottom of the ninth and even scored a run off an errant pickoff attempt from the Dons pitcher. USF would eliminate the scare though and get Josephson to fly out to left to hang on for the wild 9-6 victory.
San Francisco also punched its ticket to the WCC Tournament, now matching the Gaels with a 14-11 conference record. Four teams are now duking it out for the final spot in the postseason tournament with two games to play.
GAME NOTES
LOOKING AHEAD
Saint Mary's and San Francisco will battle in game two of their three-game regular season finale on Friday at 6 p.m. Catch all the action live on ESPN+ and get your tickets online at smcgaels.com/tickets.
Be sure to follow your Gaels on Facebook, Instagram, and X to get all the latest Saint Mary's athletics updates and information.
#GaelsRise
San Francisco (23-27, 14-11 WCC) jumped out to a 9-1 lead after six innings which featured two three-run homers. Saint Mary's (29-23, 14-11 WCC) finally responded though with a four-run sixth inning which included aggressive baserunning to get back into the game. Clean relief innings from the likes of Jake Nobles and Cooper Berger allowed the Gaels to stay within striking distance as the duo combined to allow just one run off seven hits over 5.2 innings. The Gaels put runners on in the ninth and even brought the tying run to the plate in the form of Ian Josephson but USF's closer would get Josephson to fly out to left to seal the three-run victory.
Josephson connected on his third homer of the season that sparked the Gaels four-run rally in the sixth while Diego Castellanos extended his hit streak to 28 games with a 2-for-4 night. Nick Allred earned another start in left for the Gaels and had the other multi-hit game, going 2-for-3 with a run scored.
On a brighter note, Saint Mary's would officially clinch a spot in the 2026 WCC Tournament with defeats from Portland and Seattle U, mathematically clinching them a spot in the postseason tournament. The Gaels will now jockey for seeding over the final two regular season games and can still reach as high as second with a series win and some help across the conference.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Sophomore right hander Lukas Sarantos made his fifth start of the season Thursday night after a career outing last week against LMU, earning his second win of the season with seven innings pitched and a career high 11 strikeouts. Fatigue may have played a role in tonight's start though as the San Clemente native allowed eight runs off ten hits and departed with one out in the fourth. Freshman Jake Nobles stranded a baserunner and got the final two outs of the fourth but the Dons had taken a commanding 8-1 lead including a three-run homer in the first and the fourth inning.
Despite seeing their largest deficit of the game, the Gaels responded with a big inning of their own, scoring four runs in the home half of the sixth to cut the deficit to four. All the damage would come with two outs and the rally would start with a solo blast from Ian Josephson for his third of the season. A fielding error and a hit batter would continue the inning and allow senior Cody Kashimoto to slap a double down the third baseline to score Jared Mettam from second. Allred and Kashimoto would come in to score during the next at bat on a wacky wild pitch. Allred scored on the initial wild pitch but the ball was also ball four to Tanner Griffith in the at bat. Griffith would hustle down to first but then turn and dart for second, catching the Dons catcher off guard. The catcher would throw the ball down to second in an effort to get Griffith but Kashimoto would then take off for home on the throw and score the fourth run of the inning.
Nobles continued to give the Gaels' bullpen length as he finished with 4.1 innings of work, allowing just one run with a team high five strikeouts. Fellow freshman Cooper Berger would finish the eighth and complete the ninth in just his sixth appearance of the season, allowing just one hit and zero runs. Saint Mary's got another rally started in the bottom of the ninth and even scored a run off an errant pickoff attempt from the Dons pitcher. USF would eliminate the scare though and get Josephson to fly out to left to hang on for the wild 9-6 victory.
San Francisco also punched its ticket to the WCC Tournament, now matching the Gaels with a 14-11 conference record. Four teams are now duking it out for the final spot in the postseason tournament with two games to play.
GAME NOTES
- Castellanos went 2-for-4 to extend his hit streak to a season high 28 games
- Nick Allred had the other multi-hit game for the Gaels, going 2-for-3 with a run scored
- Allred now has hits in each of his last five games
- Jared Mettam scored a run in Thursday's game and is now tied for the second most runs scored in program history with 132 over his four years at Saint Mary's
- Josephson connected on home run number three and is now hitting .370 as a true freshman
- Tanner Griffith drew three walks on the night and leads the team with 39 walks on the season
- Nobles pitched a career high 4.1 innings and also recorded a career high five strikeouts in what was his 16th appearance of the season
- Berger also recorded his third scoreless outing of the season with 1.1 innings of work
- USF earned its first win in Moraga since 2018
LOOKING AHEAD
Saint Mary's and San Francisco will battle in game two of their three-game regular season finale on Friday at 6 p.m. Catch all the action live on ESPN+ and get your tickets online at smcgaels.com/tickets.
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: Gabriel Barrett (3-5)
L: Sarantos, Lukas (2-2)
Batting:
2B: Trevor Harmon 1 ; Tyler Harries 1 ; Isaiah Landry 1
HR: TJ Rogers 1 ; Trevor Harmon 1 ; Eddison Esquivel 2
RBI: TJ Rogers 3 ; Trevor Harmon 1 ; Eddison Esquivel 4
SH: Jared Lewis 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Jared Lewis 1 ; TJ Rogers 1 ; Trevor Harmon 2 ; Jackson Nystrom 1 ; Eddison Esquivel 3 ; Isaiah Landry 1
CS: Jared Lewis 1
HBP: Trevor Harmon 1 ; Jackson Nystrom 1 ; Jordan Lewis 1
Batting:
2B: Kashimoto, Cody 1
HR: Josephson, Ian 1
RBI: Josephson, Ian 1 ; Kashimoto, Cody 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Griffith, Tanner 1 ; Castellanos, Diego 1 ; Josephson, Ian 1 ; Mettam, Jared 1 ; Allred, Nick 1 ; Kashimoto, Cody 1
HBP: Allred, Nick 1
PO: Griffith, Tanner 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
5
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
1
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF
/ BaseballRHP
/ BaseballOF
/ BaseballOF
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballRHP/UTL
/ BaseballRHP
/ BaseballBSB | Saint Mary's vs. San Francisco Highlights, 5-14-26
Thursday, May 14
BSB | Saint Mary's at Stanford Highlights, 5-12-26
Tuesday, May 12
BSB | Saint Mary's at LMU Highlights, 5-10-26
Sunday, May 10
BSB | Saint Mary's at LMU Highlights, 5-9-26
Sunday, May 10
