MORAGA - Calif. - On its second day of action, Oregon dropped both games of a doubleheader at Louis Guisto Field on Saturday afternoon.
In the second game of Saturday's doubleheader, Oregon fell 4-2, as the Gaels held off a late Ducks’ rally.
In the top of the eighth, Oregon loaded the bases with only one out, but sophomore right-hander Alex Schmarzo retired Curtis Raulinaitis and KC Serna to avoid surrendering the Gaels’ two-run lead.
Saint Mary’s tallied four runs on 10 hits, led by Troy Channing’s two-run homer over the center field wall that gave the Gaels a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the fifth.
Oregon’s offense was held at bay by sophomore Taylor Reid. The right-hander scattered seven hits over 7.1 innings, allowing just two runs in his first win of the year. Schmarzo closed the game earning his first save of the season.
Junior left-hander Bennett Whitmore took the loss for the Ducks despite dealing out 10 strikeouts over 6.1 innings of work. Whitmore allowed four runs on eight hits and one walk.
Trailing entering the fourth, Oregon tied the game as Serna scored on an RBI-single to left field from Rodriguez.
The Ducks first run came in the second inning when Mitch Karraker crossed the plate aided by junior Jett Hart’s RBI-double to right center field.
GAME #1
Home runs in the fourth and sixth innings for Saint Mary’s gave the Gaels a 6-3 edge in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader from Louis Guisto Field in Moraga, Calif.
Anthony Aliotti hit a two-run homer over the wall in right center in the fourth, before Justin Fazio hit a solo shot in the sixth. The sixth kept going as Aliotti doubled off the right field wall, and eventually scored on Chris Murphy’s double down the right field line, giving SMC a 5-3 heading into the seventh.
The Gaels scored their final run in the seventh when Fazio’s sacrifice fly scored Kyle Jensen.
Saint Mary’s totaled six runs on nine hits, while Oregon’s offense compiled three runs on eight hits.
SMC starter Scott Schneider earned his first win of the season, scattering seven hits over seven innings and striking out six.
Oregon junior right-hander Erik Stavert took the loss, allowing five runs on five hits over 5.1 innings.
Curtis Raulinaitis, Jett Hart and Eddy Rodriguez led the Ducks with two hits apiece.
In the top of the fourth, Hart hit the first home run in Oregon’s modern era, crushing a two-run homer over the left field wall. Hart got that opportunity after Rodriguez kept the inning live with a full-count, two-out single to shallow left field.
Oregon scored its third run in the sixth after Raulinaitis led off the inning with a double down the left field line. He scored on a Mitch Karraker RBI single.
Saint Mary’s put its first run on the board in the second with some sacrifices. Aliotti reached base after being hit by a pitch to lead off the bottom of the inning. He moved to second on a Troy Channing single and to third on a Murphy sacrifice bunt. Michael Gastelum’s RBI sacrifice fly finally brought Aliotti home.
The Ducks close the weekend series at Saint Mary's with a 1 p.m. start tomorrow.
