BSB | Gaels Drop Game 1 to Rice after 15-Hit Afternoon

Friday, March 13

Phoenix, AZ

1:00 PM

Saint Mary's College of California

10-7

Rice

10-8

Saint Mary's

Rice University

Jared Mettam Hitting vs. Rice at GCU 2026

#45 Jared Mettam: 3-for-4, season high three hits, second 3-hit game of the season

Photo by: Oliver Stoll/@OliverStollPhoto

BSB | Gaels Drop Game 1 to Rice after 15-Hit Afternoon

3/13/2026 6:22:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

PHOENIX, Ariz. - The Saint Mary's baseball team showcased its offensive depth once again with 15 hits, its 13th game of the season with double-digit hits, but the Gaels fell in the bottom of the ninth after a walk-off hit gave the Rice Owls the 6-5 victory.

The Gaels kicked off their four-game round robin at Brazell Field at GCU Ballpark on Friday and held a 5-2 lead over Rice (10-8) heading into the bottom of the eighth. The Owls answered the Gaels' three-run eighth with three runs of their own to knot the game at five. After going down in order in the top of the ninth, Rice took advantage of a leadoff walk and got the eventual game-winning hit three batters later to walk it off 6-5.

Five different players had multiple hits for Saint Mary's (10-7) including sophomore catcher Ian Armstrong who led all players with four hits, a new season high and just one shy of his career high. Armstrong also had a pair of RBI while Jacob Johnson, Diego Castellanos, Jared Mettam and Cody Kashimoto had the other multi-hit performances for the Gaels. Senior right hander John Damozonio made his fifth start of the season as the Gaels Friday starter and matched his career high with six innings, allowing just two runs with five strikeouts en route to the no-decision.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Things were looking good for Saint Mary's in the early going. The Gaels had a game high five hits through the first three innings while Damozonio was perfect through his first two innings and held Rice hitless through the first four. The San Jose native reached a new milestone in the first inning, recording his 100th strikeout of his collegiate career.

Saint Mary's finally got on the scoreboard in the top of the fifth inning after a leadoff double from Kashimoto. Two batters later with Kashimoto on third, sophomore third baseman Brady Petit would hit a hard ground ball up the middle that was smothered by the shortstop but was enough to score Kashimoto and give the Gaels a 1-0 lead.

Saint Mary's doubled its lead in the sixth with a one-out RBI single from Armstrong, plating Castellanos from second. Damozonio nearly left the game in line for the win but Rice would record three of its four hits at the time in the bottom of the sixth to help tie the game at two. Despite the no-decision, Damozonio put together arguably his most effective outing of the season with six innings of work, just two runs allowed and five strikeouts.

Saint Mary's swung the game back in its favor though with a three-run eighth inning. The Gaels packed the bases and got RBI hits from Armstrong and Jared Mettam. Mettam also had one of his best games of the season, finishing 3-for-4 from the plate for his second three-hit game of the year. Saint Mary's left the top of the eighth with a 5-2 lead but saw that lead disappear after a three-run answer from Rice in the bottom half of the ninth to tie the game for the second time.

The game felt bound for extras but the Owls got their leadoff man on base in the bottom of the ninth and after getting him to second off a sacrifice bunt, he would come in to score with a one-out hit from Garet Boehm to walk the game off for the 6-5 victory.

GAME NOTES

Saint Mary's outhit Rice 15-9 in the ballgame
The Gaels offense recorded their 13th game of the season with 10+ hits
Ian Armstrong recorded a team high four hits in the game, just one shy of his career high
For the second consecutive game, Armstrong finished perfect from the plate as he was 4-for-4 on Friday against Rice and 3-for-3 earlier in the week against UC Santa Barbara
Jacob Johnson went 2-for-5 for his team leading 9th multi-hit game of the season
Cody Kashimoto pushed his current hit streak to ten games for the longest active streak on the team
Jared Mettam matched his season high with three hits in the game
John Damozonio matched his career high with six innings pitched
Damozonio recorded strikeout number 100 on Friday and now sits at 104 for his career
Five different players had multiple hits for Saint Mary's
Saint Mary's went errorless for the eighth time this season and now has a .977 fielding percentage

LOOKING AHEAD

Saint Mary's will return to Brazell Field at GCU Ballpark on Saturday for its first game of the weekend with Grand Canyon starting at 1:00 p.m. Catch all the action live on the Mountain West Network.

Be sure to follow your Gaels on Facebook, Instagram, and X to get all the latest Saint Mary's athletics updates and information.

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