Make it a double: Hannah Ferguson with hit No. 79 for the season—tying the Saint Mary’s single season record / Photo by Gary Breedlove for SMC Athletics
What a Team, What a Run, What a Year! History-Making Softball Season Comes to an End in Eugene Regional Finals
They battled their way to the NCAA Regional Final on Sunday, where they lost to Mississippi State 5–0. Along the way, these Gaels broke records left, right, and center, including the most wins for any Saint Mary’s team in any sport in a single season.
The Saint Mary’s Softball team wrote a new chapter in the annals of Gael Athletics on Sunday evening at Jane Sanders Stadium in Eugene, Oregon, appearing in the program’s first-ever NCAA Regional Final. The Gaels battled valiantly, keeping the bats of the Mississippi State Bulldogs at bay for a majority of the game, but couldn’t muster the offense to match their pitching and defense effort, falling 5–0. The Gaels’ storied season has now come to a close, with a Saint Mary’s record of 42 wins.
That’s not only the most wins for a Gaels Softball team in a season. It’s the most wins for any team in any sport at SMC in one season. And it is just one record of many that were shattered throughout the team’s historic campaign.
In Sunday’s game, it was the Gaels’ offensive leaders throughout the season, Hannah Ferguson and Sam Buckley, who were responsible for the lone two hits. Ferguson’s first inning double went down as her 79th hit this season, tying the program single-season program hits record set by Jennifer Price in 2000. For SMC pitching, sophomore pitcher Ella Thurman entered the game in the first inning behind 2–0, but hung up zeroes in the second, third, fourth and fifth, before eventually giving up her first run in the sixth. Senior Odhi Vasquez came on to close things out and did surrender a pair of runs, but she retired the final three outs of the frame to put the final stamp on an incredible career in the circle.
Sunday’s Match-Up
Here’s how Saint Mary’s got to the final: The Gaels won the West Coast Conference title outright—the third season in a row they had won or shared in the title—and earned a spot in the NCAA Regional. On Friday’s opener against Mississippi State, the Gaels lost a heartbreaker in extra innings, 3–2. The next day they turned around and defeated Idaho State and, right after that, they took down host team Oregon—ranked No. 13 in the country—earning a spot in the final on Sunday.
Just three batters into Sunday’s final match-up, Mississippi State (41–18) took an early 2–0 lead on a two-run home run. Ella Thurman came out of the bullpen for the Gaels (42–16) and retired 14 of the first 19 batters that she faced, keeping the deficit at two through five full innings. In the sixth, the Bulldogs tacked on three more. Odhi Vasquez retired the final three outs against Mississippi State, but the Gaels’ offense couldn’t find a way to rally back, ultimately falling 5–0.
The Gaels put runners on base in five of the seven frames, and they put runners in scoring position in the first, fourth, and fifth. But they didn’t manage to bring anyone home. In the first inning, Hannah Ferguson doubled to right center, good for her program-record tying 79th hit of the season, and extending her team-best reached base streak to 16 straight games. In the fourth, Sam Buckley singled and moved up to second on an error but was stranded there. In the fifth, Kiah Silva and Tori Cervantes worked back-to-back walks, and Taylor Lane bunted both of them into scoring position, but Silva and Cervantes would also be left on the basepaths.
Oh, the Records They Broke
With Hannah Ferguson tying the program single season hits record on Sunday, the Gaels have tied or broken 19 different program records this year. They racked up the most wins in a single season—42. They earned the most wins against ranked opponents in a single season. They had the longest win streak.
As for individual season records, Hannah Ferguson set a new mark for runs scored, hits, and triples. Braxton Brown set a new mark for RBIs. Pitcher Odhi Vasquez set a new record for wins.
There were program career records broken, too. Sam Buckley set a new record for career for home runs. Hannah Ferguson set a new career high for triples and stolen bases. And for career wins, Odhi Vasquez set a new record as well. It also bears repeating that she was West Coast Conference Pitcher of the Year.
In the NCAA Regionals across the country, the Gaels were the first team to take down a host—drawing headlines like “shocking upset” from the likes of Sports Illustrated. In the Eugene Regional, only one batter recorded six hits in the tournament: SMC’s Hannah Ferguson.
This was a historic season for the West Coast Conference, thanks to the Gaels. Saint Mary’s now joins BYU (2017 and 2021) as the only two WCC programs to make it to an NCAA Regional Final—dating back to the first year the WCC began sponsoring the sport, in 2014. And here it bears repeating that SMC Head Coach Sonja Garnett earned recognition as WCC Coach of the Year—well before she took the team to the NCAA Regional final.
On an individual note, Sunday’s game was also a high mark for pitcher Ella Thurman: She put together her best outing against a ranked foe this season, surrendering just one earned run over 4.2 innings. Thurman also pitched against Texas A&M and Stanford this year.
Congrats to the Seniors
This Friday, Saint Mary’s holds its Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony. It is always a day of celebration and honoring the work that led to this momentous occasion. A few Gael seniors will graduate with their names etched in the history books of Saint Mary’s Softball when it comes to the top 10 in program history.
Victoria Castillo is 10th in batting average. Taylor Lane is fourth in RBIs, tied for ninth in home runs, and tied for 10th in walks. Tori Cervantes is ninth in runs scored and tied for third in triples. And pitcher Odhi Vasquez is sixth in appearances, eighth in complete games, third in shutouts, seventh in innings pitched, sixth in ERA, second in strikeouts, and (drum roll, please) most wins in program history.
Congratulations to this remarkable team and all they have accomplished—together.
