MORAGA, Calif. – Six Saint Mary's pitchers combined to shutout Utah Valley University en route to leading SMC to a 2-0 victory over UVU on Sunday afternoon in the opening-weekend finale at Louis Guisto Field in Moraga.
 
UVU (2-2) previously took the first two games of the series, however, to split the four-game opening-season series. The series split marked the first time that UVU has split or won a season-opening series since 2016 when UVU went 2-2 at the Surprise Tournament against Ball State, Minnesota and No. 5 Oregon State.
 
The Gaels (2-2) loaded the bases in the second inning and managed to score what proved to be the only runs of the game to take an early 2-0 lead. With the bases full and nobody out in the frame, JC Santini drew a bases-loaded walk off of UVU starter Mason Gray to drive in the first run of the game. Following a strikeout, Utah Valley right fielder Alexander Marco then made two back-to-back stellar defensive plays to help limit the damage. On a ball hit down the line in right off the bat of SMC's Kyle Velazquez, Marco made a nice sliding catch in foul territory for out number two, but a run came in off of what resulted in a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0. Then with two-outs and runners on second and third, Eric Smelko lined a ball to right-center, but Marco was able to get over and make another nice grab to end the inning.
 
The Wolverines got baserunners into scoring position in the first, third, fifth, sixth, and eighth innings but couldn't managed to score, as they ended up stranding a total of 10 runners on the basepaths in the contest.
 
In the eighth, UVU's Kase Ogata belted a one-out double off the wall in the left but SMC reliever Chris Santiago responded by retiring the next two batters to keep it a 2-0 advantage for Saint Mary's. Then in the ninth, Ty Mead extended the game by drawing a two-out walk to bring the tying run to the plate in Garrett Broussard, but SMC reliever Christopher Campos managed to get Broussard to pop out to preserve the shutout. 
 
Dalton Ponce started on the mound for Saint Mary's and tossed 4.0 hitless and scoreless innings in his first start of 2021. The Gaels bullpen was then solid, as five SMC relievers each tossed an inning of scoreless relief. SMC's Liam Steigerwald (1-0) was credited with the win after pitching a scoreless fifth while Campos pitched a scoreless ninth to earn his first save of the year. The six SMC hurlers combined to strikeout 14 Wolverines on the day. 
 
UVU sophomore starter Gray (0-1) too pitched well for UVU but was tagged with the loss after allowing two runs on three hits in 5.0 innings of work. Logan Petet then came on and struck out five batters in 2.0 innings of scoreless relief while Cole Yocum followed by retiring the side in order in the eighth to give the Wolverine offense a chance.
 
The Utah Valley offense managed to muster just three hits on the afternoon and the Boise State transfer Kase Ogata led the way by going 1-for-2 with a double and walk. Mitch Moralez and Kade Poulsen had the other two hits in the contest for UVU, and Moralez led the Wolverine offense in the opening series by going 5-for-14 (.357) with a pair of RBIs and a pair of stolen bases.
 
The Wolverines will return to California for the second of three consecutive early season trips to the Golden State by taking on former WAC foe CSU Bakersfield in Bakersfield next weekend. The four-game non-conference series will run Friday to Sunday, Feb. 26-28, at CSUB's Hardt Field and the series will get underway on Friday at 4 p.m. MT/3 p.m. PT.