The Gaels completed their long weekend of baseball on Sunday with a 9-1 victory over the Washington State Cougars. By completing the sweep, it's the first time in program history that Saint Mary's has swept a Pac-12 team.

GAME THREE

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Gaels started from behind again in game three as Carlos Lomeli hit the first two batters. Collin Montez, who gave the Gaels a hard time in the first game with two homeruns, followed with a double up the right field line that scored both runners for the Cougars and gave WSU the 2-0 lead. During the Gaels' at-bat, Novis hit a sac-fly to shallow center field that scored the first run for Saint Mary's in the second game and the two teams went into the second inning with the Cougars on top 2-1.
• Daniel Mendez hit a double to the warning track in the bottom of the second that scored Thane and tied the game at 2-2. As Vranesh stole second base, the throw to the bag went high and wide which sent Mendez home and gave SMC the 3-2 lead. The third inning brought runs for neither team and was the first inning all Saturday, including the first game, where no runs came across the plate for either team.
• A trio of triples from Vranesh, Milam, and Novis brought the Gaels out to a 6-2 lead over the Cougars in the fourth. The bottom of the inning began with a hit-by-pitch for Thane followed by the single from Vranesh up the left side and then a straight shot up the middle for Milam which scored Thane. Novis then hit a single to left field that scored both Milam and Vranesh and gave the Gaels their seventh hit of the game and Novis' fourth of the day.
• The fifth through the seventh innings were largely defensive for each of the teams as both pitchers locked it down to slow the heavy offensive production that had been coming from both dugouts all Saturday. The game was suspended at the end of the seventh inning with the final two innings scheduled to be played on Sunday at 11 a.m.
• As the game resumed, a walk and a sac-fly advanced the Cougar runner to third base before sophomore Nathan Schneiderpitched the Gaels out of trouble. In the top of the ninth, Hobbs entered the game and inherited a bases-loaded situation. He walked the first batter to bring the score to 6-3, but struck out the following batter. The final batter of the game hit into a fielder's choice and the Gaels secured the 6-3 win.

GAME FOUR

HOW IT HAPPENED

• To start off the final game of the series for the Gaels, Milam dropped a double into deep left field, however Diaz popped out to right field and Milam was called out at second base after an early jump off the bag to end the inning. Freshman Tyler Thorton made quick work of the Cougars in the top of the second and had collected four strikeouts by the end of the inning. He went on to strike out another two batters in the top of the third for his fifth and sixth K's of the game.

• Matt Green led off the bottom of the third with a single straight up the middle for his first hit of the day, and was then advanced to second on a sac-bunt from J.C. Santini. Vranesh then hit a single over the head of the Cougar third baseman into left field that scored Green from second and gave the Gaels the 1-0 lead. Milam then dropped a double into deep right field that scored Vranesh after a fumble in the outfield and put the Gaels ahead 2-0 at the end of the third.

• Santini led off the bottom of the fifth inning with his first hit of the season on a single up the third base side. After a successful steal and a throwing error, Santini advanced to third base but the Cougars were able to get out of it without allowing any runs. In the top of the sixth, the Gaels got into trouble with Cougar runners at second and third as they called in Ty Madrigal for relief. The inherited runner at third scored on a pop-out to center field and gave the Cougars their first run of the game before Madrigal was able to pitch them out of the inning.

• Eddie Haus got hit by a pitch to lead off the bottom of the seventh followed by a single to left center for Austin Chauvin. A wild-pitch during Green's at bat advanced both runners before Green hit a double to center field that scored Haus, however Chauvin was called out at home on the slide. The Gaels then went on a tear and scored four more runs including a two-run single from Vranesh to give the Gaels a 7-1 advantage over the Cougars. A number of wild pitches for the Cougars caused Saint Mary's to capitalize on their base runners and the score improved to 8-1.

• With a number of substitutions in the bottom of the eighth, the Gaels put runners on the corners as Andrew Shebloski hit a single up the middle to score the ninth run of the day for Saint Mary's. Ryan Daugherty came in to pitch relief in the ninth inning and shut down the Cougars to secure the 9-1 win for Saint Mary's in the final game of the series.

QUOTABLES

"Tyler has been good and he just went out there and did what he has been doing," said head coach Eric Valenzuela. "I'm proud of him, he came in pitching strikes and was composed. When you give up a couple of runs early as a pitcher, it's good feeling to have such a productive offense. We're off to a good start."

• NOTABLE NUMBERS37: Total runs in the series for the Gaels, compared to WSU who recorded 13.
• 3: Gaels collected double-digit hits in three of the four games against the Cougars.
• 12: The first four-game sweep of a Pac-12 team in program history.
• 1: First four-game sweep to start the season since 2008 (UW-Milwaukee).

COMING UP

Saint Mary's will travel to Eugene next weekend to face the Oregon Ducks for a four-game series. The first game will take place on Friday at 3 p.m. followed by a double-header on Saturday and the series finale on Sunday.