On Saturday, March 7, SDSU baseball fell short in a back-and-forth battle in game 2 of a 3-game series against the St. Mary’s Gaels. 

Both offenses got off to a strong start with St. Mary’s left-fielder Jacob Johnson crushing a solo shot in the top of the first, followed by a two-run double in the bottom half of the inning by SDSU catcher Zach Justice to make it 2-1. Justice’s red-hot bat kept the Aztecs in the game throughout, as he finished with 5 RBI on 3 hits. 

“I feel good. Our scouting reports have been pretty good, so I’ve been trusting what the coaches are giving me, and I’m just trying to execute on every pitch,” Justice stated about his recent offensive production. 

Shortly after Justice’s first knock, a trio of singles from Cody Kashimoto, Tanner Griffith and Brady Petit put the Gaels ahead once again, 4-2. 

The score would stay put for a couple of innings, until the fifth, where the back-and-forth battle commenced once again. In the top half, Saint Mary’s tacked on two more on a single from Diego Castellanos and an RBI groundout from Ian Armstrong, making the score 6-2. 

In the bottom half of the inning, SDSU put on an offensive clinic with timely at-bats and exceptional plate discipline. A two-run double from Justice brought him his third and fourth RBI of the day, and he would eventually score on a wild pitch. A beautiful bunt single from Dawson Santana would knot the game up at six apiece momentarily, until Anthony Marnell IV smoked a single through the right side to give the Aztecs the 7-6 lead going into the sixth. 

With a two-run single from Jacob Johnson, St. Mary’s rapidly retook the lead. Another single from Makoa Sniffen added an extra run, bringing the score to a 9-7 Gaels lead. From this point on, the Aztecs struggled to respond effectively. 

“I thought offensively we worked in spurts and controlled the zone at times,” Coach Kevin Vance said. “I’d like to stay on the approach a little bit better. I think we can be even better than we were today offensively, for sure.” 

A sac fly from Marnell in the seventh would make it 9-8, but the Gaels were relentless. Singles from Diego Castellanos and Jared Mettam made it 11-8 in the eighth, and in the ninth, a sacrifice fly from Johnson brought the Gaels total to 12 and Johnson’s RBI total on the day to 4. 

A one-out triple from Jake Jackson and an RBI single from Santana hoped to ignite a rally, but the effort was too late as the game closed with St. Mary’s outlasting the Aztecs 12-9. 

“There’s a lot of things we can do better to where we don’t have to make it back and forth, right? So, that’s number one. We would like to clean that up,” said Vance. 

After Saturday’s loss, the Aztecs sought to win the series against St. Mary’s in an afternoon matchup. The Aztecs handed the ball to Carson Johnson to start. Carson started off well after giving up a one-out hit to St Mary’s Third Basemen Brady Petit; he struck out the next two with little issue. 

Jabin Trosky led off the first inning with a single for the Aztecs. Shortly after, Aztecs third baseman Tyce Peterson got the scoring started with an RBI double down the left field line. 

Carson would get into some trouble in the third inning, giving up an RBI triple to Petit, but limited the damage to one. The Aztecs responded in the bottom of the third with a run of their own to retake the lead. Carson would depart in the fifth with the bases loaded to make way for Alec Belardes after a bunt single. 

It wouldn’t get any better for the Aztecs as Belardes would proceed to give up a towering grand slam to St Mary’s First Basemen Makoa Sniffen to make it 6-2 in favor of the Gaels. St. Mary’s would never trail again. 

Reflecting on the pivotal fifth inning, Vance noted the thin margin for error. 

“It really started with that bunt hit; those are free outs you just can’t give up, and it just spiraled from there,” Vance said. “Sometimes it comes down to one pitch, but Alec responded well, getting the next two batters out.”

St Mary’s added on with a sacrifice fly one inning later to increase their lead to five. However, the Aztecs erupted in the bottom of the sixth, scoring three runs, narrowing the deficit to two; they would get closer thanks to an error in the seventh inning, shrinking it to one. 

Vance praised his team’s tenacity, saying, “We fought really well, every time they got us we punched back, and St Mary’s is a really good team.”

St. Mary’s responded to the Aztecs’ rally with a solo home run in the eighth inning and an RBI single in the ninth, extending their lead to three. The Aztecs refused to go down quietly, however, getting runners on first and second before Zane Kelly and Adam Magpoc would strike out, ending the game in a 9-6 victory for the Gaels. 

Despite the loss, Vance emphasized the value of these high-stakes non-conference matchups. Moving forward, the Aztecs will look to sharpen their execution as they push toward the top of the conference standings. 

The Aztecs will head to Fullerton to take on the CSU Fullerton Titans tomorrow at 6 p.m. before returning home to begin conference play against Washington State on Friday at 6 p.m.