PROVO, Utah — Saint Mary’s Baseball has been one of the hottest teams in the WCC over the last two weekends, and hit the road on a crash course with a team heading in the opposite direction. BYU had dropped six of their last eight, while the Gaels had won six of their last seven, dropping them behind the Gaels in the WCC standings. Thursday’s results in the series opener closes the gap between Saint Mary’s and BYU just a bit, as the Cougars blew past the Gaels in game one with a score of 12-0, sending the Gaels to 20-18 (9-10).
CONSISTENT PRESSURE
Gaels pitching was under duress all evening long, starting right away with Ryan Taurek on the mound. It was the worst start in his young collegiate career, going just three innings and allowing nine hits and six runs. He labored through the third inning, where he allowed five runs, but there were also four infield hits over the course of the inning. Ryan Sanders took over in the fourth, and allowed three runs in the fourth, before one more came across in the sixth. He was pulled midway through the seventh with another two runs eventually coming home. Thursday marks the third time this year the Gaels have allowed 10+ runs in a game.
FRESH FACES
While the game got out of hand by the middle portion of the game, Saint Mary’s was able to put in a few players who have not seen much time this season. Diego Moran and Casey Candiotti each saw time on the mound, making their second appearances of the season. Candiotti pitched a scoreless eighth inning, including inducing a double-play. In the ninth inning, Eric Smelko came off the bench and singled, recording his first hit since the Gonzaga series in early April. Gabe Giosso, Jack Murphy, JC Santini, and Chris Santiago also came in as reserves midway through the ballgame.
LINEUP SHAKEUP
The Gaels changed the top of their order in a big way, bumping up Coleman Schmidt to the second spot in the order for the first time in his collegiate career, while Blake Mann found himself batting cleanup for SMC. Both responded with doubles in the ballgame; Mann doubled in the fourth inning, during what was one of the Gaels best chances to score. Schmidt led off the top of the sixth with a double down the left field line, his fourth double in the last four games.With the changes, it meant that Javy Espinoza was up in the five-spot, and Kyle Velazquez hit sixth for the first time this season.
UP NEXT
The series continues with a second night game on Friday night, with Saint Mary’s and BYU squaring off at 5:00 pm PT for the second-straight night. Saint Mary’s will turn to Sam Bower to try and right the ship, and things have been going well in his starts lately. The Gaels have won on walk-offs in the last two Bower starts, with both games coming at home against WCC opponents, and with both games coming in ten innings. He will be opposed by Jack Sterner for BYU, looking for his first win of the season.
