Sweet victory: The Gaels celebrate a 14–6 win over Gonzaga. / Photo by Kyle Terada
Gaels Bats Explode for Wins over USF, Gonzaga, and LMU in West Coast Conference Tournament
Saint Mary’s gets revenge against the Dons, powers past the Zags, and bests LMU to earn a spot in the championship game. SMC’s Eddie Madrigal and Ian Armstrong etch their names into the history books in homers and hits.
FRIDAY NIGHT UPDATE: Saint Mary’s defeated LMU 18–11 on May 23. The Gaels will play in the championship game of the West Coast Conference Tournament in Las Vegas on Saturday, May 24. Story and photos coming soon.
Saint Mary’s Baseball came into the West Coast Conference Tournament in Las Vegas as a No. 3 seed. In their first two matchups, against University of San Francisco 9–4 and Gonzaga 14–6, the Gaels’ bats exploded for a pair of emphatic wins. With these victories, Saint Mary’s has earned a place in the winner’s bracket in the tournament and is guaranteed a finish in the top three. But with the way they’re playing, the Gaels clearly have bigger things on their minds as they take on LMU on Friday at 4:05 p.m., with the game broadcast live on ESPN+.
Wednesday: Taking Down the Dons
It had been 53 days since Saint Mary's and San Francisco met in the conference opener, where USF took two games to start a tough stretch for the Gaels—who went on to lose five of their next six conference games. On May 21, though, Saint Mary’s got their revenge in Las Vegas, knocking off the Dons 9–4 to advance in the WCC Tournament and push their win streak to six games.
The game didn't go completely to plan for Coach Eric Valenzuela and his staff. Freshman starter Lukas Sarantos came into the game with a perfect record but gave up a two-run homer in the first and allowed a two-out walk in the second. That prompted Valenzuela to go to the bullpen; with it being an elimination game, both coaches had to be willing to keep their guys on short leashes to keep the game from getting out of hand.
Senior southpaw Dylan Delvecchio came in and threw another gem to earn his sixth win of the season. Delvecchio pitched through the sixth inning, allowing just one run off one hit and striking out four Dons hitters. Delvecchio has now earned three wins in his last three outings, including a pair of starts against Gonzaga and Santa Clara.
That Big Sixth
While Delvecchio helped steady the ship for the Gaels, they still found themselves down 3–2 after five innings of play. Saint Mary’s has the best offense in the WCC, and it was only a matter of time before they barreled some baseballs and took advantage of runners in scoring position. The scoring got started in the sixth with a bit of luck as Brian Duroff skied a fly ball to shallow right field that found the turf between second, first, and right field. Three pitches later, Diego Castellanos connected on a ball to deep right center field that seemed to just keep carrying—right into the pool over the center field wall—for his seventh home run of the season.
Two batters later, Ian Armstrong singled to right field to keep the inning alive. Then Tanner Griffith doubled to the right center wall to score Armstrong and put Saint Mary's up 5–2, a lead they would never surrender. The bottom half of the lineup has been stellar all season long for the Gaels, and they came through again Wednesday with six hits and seven RBI in spots 6–9.
Senior reliever Daniel Guevara Castro came in for the final three frames. He started off on the right foot with a pair of strikeouts to put up another zero for San Francisco in the top half of the seventh. Four more runs in the bottom of the seventh sealed the deal for the Gaels, courtesy two more homers from Jared Mettam and Aiden Taurek.
Taurek got down 1–2 in his at bat with one out in the inning but absolutely crushed the next pitch high off the advertisement in left field for his ninth of the season, extending the Gaels' lead to 6–3. His solo shot came off the bat at 108 MPH and traveled an estimated 437 feet.
Ryan Pierce singled through the left side to extend the rally, and then a ground out from Brian Duroff put Pierce into scoring position with two outs and Castellanos at the dish. San Francisco elected to make a pitching change and then intentionally walked Castellanos to face Mettam with two outs. Mettam may have taken the chess move personally, as he jumped on the first pitch of the at-bat and lined his fourth home run of the season over the left field wall. That made it a four-run inning for Saint Mary's. Mettam finished the afternoon with a pair of hits, including the nail in the coffin with his three-run homer in the seventh inning.
Reliever Daniel Guevara Castro worked around a pair of two-out hits in the ninth but finished the game off with a ground out to Cody Kashimoto at second to earn his second save of the season. Delvecchio and Castro combined to allow just four hits and two runs over their 7.1 innings of relief, allowing the offense to get going late, scoring seven runs in their final three at-bats. Aiden Taurek and Ryan Pierce did the damage in the top half of the lineup, coming for four hits and a pair of RBI, while Castellanos and Mettam combined for four hits and five RBI in the bottom half of the order.
With the 9–4 victory for the Gaels over USF, the stage was set for Thursday’s game against Gonzaga.
Thursday: Pummeling the Zags
Saint Mary's got great outings from their bullpen once again in night two of the WCC Tournament. And the Gaels bats exploded for a six-run inning in the eighth to pull away from two-seed Gonzaga for a 14–6 victory. A pair of Gael hitters also etched their names into the WCC Tournament history books: Eddie Madrigal homered twice to tie the single-game record, and a two-RBI single in the eighth from freshman Ian Armstrong has given him a tournament record five hits in the game.
On the mound, Talin Gardini picked up his third win of the season with a career-high five innings pitched, after taking over in the second for Garret Plata. Gardini recorded four strikeouts on the night and was able to pitch to contact to limit big innings, allowing just three runs with zero walks. The Gaels' offense got going early with a combined eight runs over the first two innings, and they finished the night with a season high 19 hits, including a two-homer night from Madrigal and a two-run shot in the first from Brian Duroff for his sixth of the season.
Getting Started Early
Being the lower seed, Saint Mary's got to showcase their offense first and did so in a big way at the top of the first with a pair of home runs off the bats of Eddie Madrigal and Brian Duroff. Madrigal needed just two pitches to crush one over the right field wall for his 20th of the season.
Three batters later, the Gaels punished Gonzaga after a two-out error, bringing Brian Duroff to the plate. Duroff launched the 1–2 pitch to the deepest part of the yard for his sixth homer of the season, giving the Gaels a quick three-run lead out of the gate.
Junior southpaw Garret Plata got his first start of the season, but he’s no stranger to the mound; he has been one of the team's most versatile arms out of the bullpen with 24 appearances. Plata produced weak contact all throughout the first inning, but Gonzaga answered right back with a three-spot of their own to tie the game.
The bats did anything but slow down in the top of the second as Saint Mary's put up five runs off six hits, including another bomb from league leader Madrigal for his 21st of the season. Madrigal punished a 3–1 pitch over the pool in right center to push the Gaels' lead to 6–3. The two-run homer made this his second multi-home run game of the season.
Gonzaga starter Finbar O'Brien hit the next batter, and then All-WCC Second Team member Aiden Taurek lined a triple into the right center gap to plate another run and extend the Gaels’ lead to four. Taurek busted around the bases for his second triple and 39th RBI of the season. Ryan Pierce capped off the five-run inning with a bloop single to center to plate Taurek as Saint Mary's took an 8–3 lead.
Just like two weeks before in Spokane, the teams traded blows as the Zags scored a run in the fourth and a two-spot in the sixth to make it a two-run game. Gonzaga reliever Kai Francis went 5.2 innings in relief and gave up hard contact with nine hits but was able to strand seven runners during his outing to keep the Zags within striking distance.
For the Gaels, Garret Plata completed just the first inning before Eric Valenzuela made another early change: He brought in freshman Talin Gardini for his 20th appearance of the season. Two weeks prior, Gardini went 4.1 innings in relief and recorded his second win of the season against the Zags. On Thursday, he delivered another solid outing: a career-high five innings in relief, allowing just three runs off five hits en route to his third win of the season.
Gaels Score Six in the Eighth
The game tensed up over the middle innings, with the two teams combining for just three runs over a five-inning span. Then the Gaels got some well needed insurance with a six-run eighth inning—thanks in part to a pair of Gonzaga errors. The Gaels put the ball in play and put down a couple of bunts to move runners over. Two runs came around to score after a throwing error on a sacrifice bunt attempt from Aiden Taurek. Later in the inning, Gonzaga brought the infield in with runners on second and third, but Diego Castellanos bounced a high chopper over the second baseman to score two runs and give the Gaels a 12–6 lead. Castellanos finished the night with a pair of hits and two RBI to bring his season total to 36.
After a one-out double to the left center gap from Jared Mettam to put runners in scoring position, freshman catcher Ian Armstrong capped off an historic night with his fifth hit of the ballgame. He not only plated two more runs but set the single-game WCC Tournament record for hits. Armstrong finished a perfect 5-for-5 from the plate for a career high in hits and also added a run scored and two RBI.
On the mound, senior lefty Derik Eaquinto followed Gardini and got out of a jam in the seventh to keep Gonzaga off the scoreboard. Then sophomore Noah Waldeck made his team-high 26th appearance of the season and completed the final two innings for the Gaels, not allowing a single baserunner.
In achieving the 14–6 victory, Saint Mary's racked up a season-high 19 hits and kept the Zags offense at bay, allowing just six runs off seven hits over the nine innings. Eight of the nine SMC hitters recorded a hit in the ballgame, including eight combined hits from Jared Mettam and Ian Armstrong.
After going hitless in game one, Eddie Madrigal smashed two home runs to tie the single-game WCC Tournament record. He also reached base four times out of the leadoff spot. Junior second baseman Cody Kashimoto was stellar in the field with several diving plays and a clutch double play to help strand a runner in the seventh inning.
Looking Ahead
Saint Mary's improved to 33–23 overall and advanced to the winners' bracket. They will take on four-seed LMU, which upset top-seed San Diego on Thursday. The Gaels face the Lions in the second game on Friday, slated for a 4:05 p.m. first pitch. The two teams will face off for the first time since April 27th, when Saint Mary's won the conference series two games to one.
The Gaels have moved to 2–0 in the WCC Tournament for the first time since 2023. Stream the game live on ESPN+ and get your tickets online at wccsports.com.
Story updated May 23 at 9:20 p.m. Pacific.
