Moraga, CA – Kyle Barraclough made his ninth start of the season and pitched four very effective innings, in the fifth he turned the ball over to fellow freshman Mark Anderson (1-0) who pitched beautifully to earn his first collegiate victory.  The Gaels offense did their part tallying 14 hits and scoring seven runs, as Saint Mary’s (26-21) defeated No. 13 Cal Poly (30-11) Wednesday afternoon at Louis Guisto Field.

The Mustangs got things started scoring a run in the top of the first off Barraclough, Ryan Lee led off the inning reaching first after getting hit by a pitch.  Lee moved over to second on his 22nd stolen base of the season, and came around to score on an error at first to give the Mustangs a 1-0 lead.

Their lead didn’t last long however, as the Gael offense came alive to score four runs in the bottom of the first all off three infield hits.  Cory Miller led off the game with a single up the middle; it was the first of four hits for Miller on the day.  Miller moved over to second when Aliotti wore a pitch off his helmet to put runners at first and second with no outs.  Troy Channing drew his 21st walk of the season to load the bases for Ryan Young, who did his job with a deep fly ball to center field scoring Miller from third.  Ryan Mulligan reached safely on a fielder’s choice to load the bases again for the Gaels.  Kyle Jensen collected the second hit of the inning scoring Aliotti.  Greg Ditmer singled to the shortstop scoring Mulligan to give the Gaels a four to one lead.

In the top of the second the Mustangs cut the Gaels lead to one, as third baseman J.J. Thompson knocked his fourth homerun of the season.  The two run homerun scored Luke Yoder who reached on a walk.  That would cap the scoring for the Mustangs against Barraclough, who’s line for the day was 4.0 complete innings, scattering one hit, three runs, two earned, one walk and five strike outs. 

Saint Mary’s added an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth when Ditmer’s fly ball to right field was deep enough to score Channing from third.  Channing started the inning with a single to center field; he moved over on the sacrifice bunt from Young and moved over to third on the single from Mulligan. 

The fifth inning ended the day for Mustangs starter Kyle Anderson (0-1) who was making his third start of the season.  Anderson went 5.0 complete, surrendering eight hits, five runs all earned, with two walks and three strike outs.

In the fifth inning SMC turned the ball over to Anderson who simply dealt, keeping the Mustang offense off balance.  Anderson went 5.0 complete innings, scattering four hits, one earned run, one walk and four strike outs.  The lone blemish of the day for Anderson was the homerun her served up to Yoder in the top of the seventh.

The Gaels added two more insurance runs in the bottom of the eighty to give the Gaels a three run lead.  Michael Gastelum grounded out to second base to score Donald Collins from third for the first run of the inning.  Aliotti singled to shortstop scoring Chris Murphy for the second.  Ditmer led off the inning with a double down the right field line.

For the afternoon seven Gaels collected a hit, five of them collected multiple hits.  Miller continues to hit the ball hard, as he went 4-for-5 with a run scored.  Aliotti went 1-for-4 with a run scored and a run driven in.  Troy Channing saw his average go over .400 going 2-for-4 with two runs scored, Mulligan also went 2-for-4 with a run scored.  Jensen went 2-for-3 with an RBI his 37th of the season.  Ditmer is really heating up quickly, as he went 2-for-3 on the day with three runs driven in; he also hit his eighth double of the season.

Saint Mary’s will return to action on Friday when they head North to Spokane, WA to take on the Bulldogs of Gonzaga in a big weekend series.  First pitch on Friday is slated for 6:00 PM, taking the ball for the Gaels will likely be senior Brian Justice.