March 27, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

This Week In Gaels Baseball: The Saint Mary's Gaels opened up the week at home in the first of their nine game homestand. The Gaels fell to the Aggies of UC Davis 7-6 in 10 innings. The Gaels resume play this weekend hosting WCC rival San Francisco to open WCC play. The first game of the series is Friday March 28th, with a 3:00 PM first pitch.

Who's Hot: Junior shortstop Joel Staples is starting to get hot at the right time for the Gaels. Staples has a current nine game hitting streak which is tied for the lead for SMC this season. Over those last nine games Staples is batting over .340, going 12-for-35. Of those 12 hits, eight are extra base hits. During this stretch Staples has scored a team high 12 runs and knocked in six RBI's.

WCC Play: This weekend WCC play begins across the league, as previously mentioned the Gaels will host USF for a three game series at Louis Guisto. Other WCC opponents who will make the trip to the friendly confines will be Pepperdine, and Gonzaga. The Gaels were picked to finish last in the 2008 preseason poll, currently however, the Gaels find themselves in third after a strong non-conference schedule, that saw wins over nationally ranked Stanford and UCLA and four game sweeps over UW Milwaukee, and Fairleigh Dickinson.

Scouting the Dons: The Dons return six position players from last year's club that finished 13-10, 4th overall in WCC play. The infield is lead by a pair of seniors, 1B/RHP Mitchell Bialosky and second baseman Joey Railey. As a junior Bialosky was second on the team with a .345 average, hitting five homers, and leading the team with 40 RBI's. In 2008 he is currently batting .326 with 14 runs scored, seven doubles, two homeruns, and 13 RBI. Railey is having a very hot start in 2008, currently he leads the team in hits with 30, and has scored 11 runs and knocked in 12. The senior has proved to be a very tough out this year, only striking out 12 times in 84 at bats. Railey also boats a team high .989 fielding percentage. In the outfield the Dons added some much needed power in senior transfer Kyle Morgan. Morgan was the 2006 Western State Conference Player of the Year out of Bakersfield College. Currently Morgan leads the Dons in two offensive categories, RBI's (21) and homeruns (4). He is batting .282. Freshman outfielder Connor Bratz is also having an impact for the Dons this year, he is currently leading the team in batting average, hitting at a .397 clip, with five doubles, one triple, two homeruns, and 16 RBI.

Returning on the mound for the Dons is senior Matt Baugh, he is currently 3-2 with a 3.79 ERA in five starts. The left handed pitching Baugh will be the Dons starter for the Saturday game. On the bump for the Dons on Sunday is true freshman LHP Matt Lujan. Lujan is currently 2-0 with a 2.15 ERA in three starts. He has surrendered 27 hits, 12 runs, 7 earned, nine walks, while striking out 17 in his six appearances this season. Out of the bullpen the Dons have two go to guys in freshman Garret Luippold, and sophomore Alex Kalogrides. Both pitchers have made 10 appearances each for the Dons, with Kalogrides posting a 2-0 record and a 1.84 ERA in 14.2 innings pitched. Luippold has earned a 3-0 record, with a 4.58 ERA in 19.2 innings pitched.

Versus the Dons: The Dons lead the all time series 50-48, under Coach Soto, the Gaels are 2-11 against the WCC Rival. The last outing between the Gaels and the Dons ended with a heartbreaking walk-off homerun from senior catcher Jon Norfolk in extra innings, as the Dons defeated the Gaels in the season finale 11-10. The Gaels got off to an early lead scoring four in the top of the first and one in the top of the second, but were unable to hold the lead.

A Look Back At `07: Transition was the focus of the year during Saint Mary's 2007 campaign - characterized by a quality rebuilding effort by a very young squad including 17 freshman. The 2007 season was peppered with highs and lows that came with developing young talent. Highlights from last season's team included a Saint Mary's College baseball record 14-game winning streak that saw a thrilling victory over eventual NCAA Division 1 National Champion Oregon State.

On the Hill: RHP Scott Schneider (4-0, 1.38) earned his fourth win in as many starts. Schneider is turning into the type of pitcher the Gaels can count on to shut a team down, as opponents are only batting .213 against him. Of Schneider's four wins, two came against ranked Pac-10 teams including then 3rd ranked UCLA.

Home Sweet Home: The Gaels will play 23 home games in 2008. SMC boasted a 17-13-1 mark at home in 2007. Under head coach Jedd Soto, the Gaels are 45-21-1 at Louis Guisto Field in the last three seasons. Saint Mary's will play nine WCC games at home, including a three-game set against San Francisco (March 28-30) Pepperdine (April 4-6), and Gonzaga (April 25-27).

WCC Preseason Poll: The Saint Mary's baseball team was tabbed for an eighth place finish as selected by the West Coast Conference coaches. USA Today/ESPN.com Poll #9 San Diego is picked to win its second consecutive WCC baseball title. Pepperdine was chosen to finish second.

Next Week: The Gaels continue their longest homestand of the season, hosting San Francisco St on Tuesday April 1st, with a 3:00 PM first pitch. The Gaels then host WCC rival Pepperdine for a three game series beginning Friday April 4th with a 3:00 PM first pitch.

Last Time Out: The Gaels opened up their series against UC Santa Barbara, last Friday with a 9-3 win on the strength of junior Brian Justice's gem of a pitching performance. Justice threw seven innings, surrendering four hits, two runs, one earned, with no walks, and four strike outs. Justice received plenty of run support, specifically in the top of the ninth when a double by Scott Schneider scored three to put the game away for the Gaels.

Saturday proved to be very different for the Gaels as they lost both games of the double header to give the series to the Gauchos. In the two games the Gaels combined for just four runs on ten hits. Scott Schneider started the first game and received his first loss of the season going only four innings, his shortest outing of the season. Brandon Berl started the second game and didn't fair much better as the Gaucho bats connected for eight hits, six runs, four earned, in six innings against Berl who received his second loss of the season.

On Tuesday the Gaels hosted UC Davis at Louis Guisto Field. On the mound for the Gaels was freshman Alex Schmarzo. The Aggies jumped out to the early lead off a Ryan Royster lead-off homerun. Schmarzo calmed down and retired the next six batters. On the day Schmarzo went three innings, giving up three hits, three earned runs, one walk, while striking out one. Offensively the Gaels took an early 4-1 lead after a Joel Staples homerun. The Gaels were not able to keep the lead however, as the Aggies won 11-10 in extra innings. The tough luck loss was charged to sophomore Anthony Aliotti, who had his best outing since his first start against UC Davis February.