RIVERSIDE – A late rally from California Baptist University baseball fell just short against Saint Mary's to conclude a doubleheader on Saturday at Totman Stadium.
The Lancers looked to split the day, as they loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the ninth of the day's final game, but they could not break through. SMC took the nightcap 8-4 to sweep the day after winning 6-0 in the opener.
Saint Mary's improves to 5-2 on the year, while CBU drops to 2-4. The series will wrap up with a noon game back at Totman Stadium on Sunday.
Nick Plaia had a team-high four hits on the day, and
John Glenn added three of his own. Pitchers
Brett Finnel,
Ethan Pope and
Lee Atkinson all turned in scoreless innings of relief for the Lancers on the day, as well.
GAME ONE
Chris Burica saved the bullpen and nearly went the distance in game one for CBU, as he threw eight innings. Finnel relieved him and closed the game out in the ninth, giving up just the walk in one inning of work. Offensively, the Lancers were led by
David Martin, Glenn and Plaia who all had hits in Saturday's opener.
GAME TWO
Glenn, Plaia,
Chad Minato and
Chad Castillo all had multi-hit games in the finale. Plaia had three hits, Glenn collected two doubles, Castillo had two hits and an RBI in the game and Minato reached three times with two hits and a walk.
Saint Mary's jumped out first again in game two and took a 2-0 lead with a run in the first and second innings.
Connor Clift got CBU's offense going with a leadoff double in the third inning. He moved to third on a sacrifice bunt from Minato and then scored on a hard-hit infield single from
Damon Keith that made it 2-1.
The Gaels then scored six-straight run to go up 8-1, but the Lancers rallied with three runs in the seventh. Plaia started the inning with a double and
Ulises Caballero drew a full-count walk. Glenn scored them both with a double to left center.
Minato kept the threat on with a one-out single, and Castillo plated Glenn with a single down the right-field line. It brought the score to 8-4 going into the eighth. Pope and Atkinson held the Gaels scoreless in the eighth and ninth innings to keep comeback hopes alive.
Those hopes got a further boost in the bottom of the ninth when the Lancers loaded the bases with no outs on walks to Minato, Keith and a Castillo single. Saint Mary's escaped unscathed thanks to a consecutive strikeouts and a grounder to end the game.
GAELS AT A GLANCE
Saint Mary's is not far removed from a banner 2016 season when it won the West Coast Conference regular-season and tournament titles and qualified for the NCAA Tournament. The Gaels went 35-22 in 2019 to take third in the WCC.
UP NEXT
The Lancers and Gaels will wrap up their series with a noon game on Sunday at Totman Stadium. The game will be streamed live on the WAC Digital Network, with live stats provided on StatBroadcast.
