BSB | Saint Mary’s Embarks on 5-Game Week with UC Santa Barbara and Round Robin in Phoenix Against GCU and Rice

Tuesday, March 10

Santa Barbara, CA

4:35 PM

Saint Mary's College of California

UC Santa Barbara

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Cody Kashimoto Celly vs. San Diego State 2026

#4 Cody Kashimoto: .444 BA, 4 H, 4 R, 2 RBI last week vs. UC Davis and San Diego State

BSB | Saint Mary’s Embarks on 5-Game Week with UC Santa Barbara and Round Robin in Phoenix Against GCU and Rice

3/9/2026 4:02:00 PM | Baseball

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The Saint Mary's baseball team continued its impressive start to the 2026 season, taking two games against San Diego State this past weekend to improve to a conference-best 10-5 through the first four weeks of the college baseball season.

This week, the Gaels will play five games starting things off with a premier west coast matchup against UC Santa Barbara on Tuesday before heading to Phoenix for a desert round robin with Grand Canyon and Rice starting on Friday.

The Gaels split their regular season series with the Gauchos last season, which also included an upset road win over then 21st-ranked UC Santa Barbara. Saint Mary's and Rice will meet for the first time in program history while the Gaels will head to Phoenix for the first time in a decade to battle the Lopes.

GAME COVERAGE AND INFORMATION

BSB | Saint Mary's at UC Santa Barbara | Caesar Uyesaka Stadium
Santa Barbara, Calif. | March 10 | 4:30 p.m.
Live Stats | ESPN+ | Tickets

BSB | Saint Mary's vs. Rice/Grand Canyon | Brazell Field at GCU Ballpark
Phoenix, Calif. | March 13/14 | 1:00 p.m.
Live Stats | Mountain West Network | Tickets

BSB | Saint Mary's vs. Rice/Grand Canyon | Brazell Field at GCU Ballpark
Phoenix, Calif. | March 15 | 11:00 a.m./3:00 p.m.
Live Stats | Mountain West Network | Tickets

GAELS OUTLOOK

More Winning, Gaels Go 3-1 With Wins Over UC Davis and San Diego State…

Saint Mary's improved to 10-5 this past week with wins over UC Davis and San Diego State, finishing its four-game week with a 3-1 record. The Gaels held the Aggies to just two runs off five hits en route to the 7-2 midweek win. Sophomore switch hitter Micah Nicholson homered in the fourth to put the Gaels ahead for good before Saint Mary's scored four in the seventh to seal the five-run victory.

The Gaels finished the weekend at Tony Gwynn Stadium with a three-game series against San Diego State and despite suffering a narrow pitching duel defeat in game one, the Gaels bounced back for wins on Saturday and Sunday to win the series and be the first WCC team to ten wins. The Gaels offense went for 12 runs on 16 hits in game two as sophomore right hander Sam Kretsch completed four innings in relief to earn his second win of the season. In the rubber match, the Gaels put up a five-spot in the fifth inning to take the lead for good, highlighted by a grand slam from Makoa Sniffen for his fifth home run of the season. Lukas Sarantos recorded his first career save after completing the final two frames while recording three strikeouts to seal the 9-6 victory.

Johnson Leads Gaels with .529 BA During Four-Game Week…

Jacob Johnson stormed onto the scene this season, sitting at the top of the national home run leaderboard through the first seven games with six home runs. Despite the power numbers cooling off, Johnson has taken over the team lead in batting average after a nine-hit week against UC Davis and San Diego State. The Danville native finished the four-game week 9-for-17 with six runs scored, a home run and six RBI.

Johnson still leads the West Coast Conference in slugging (.839), OPS (1.304), runs (18), hits (26), RBI (27) and home runs (8). He had just two hits through the first two games of the week and then combined for seven hits over the final two games of the San Diego State series including a career high four-hit performance in the 12-9 game two win. Johnson also belted his conference leading eighth home run of the season as one of his four hits in that game.

Jake Hilton Remains Perfect, 3-0 to Start SMC Career…

Grad transfer Jake Hilton has been a marvel for Saint Mary's, stepping in as the Sunday starter through the first four weeks of the season. Hilton made his SMC debut out of the bullpen against Creighton but moved into the Sunday starter role in his next appearance against CSUN. Since, Hilton has gone a team best 3-0 with wins over CSUN, San Jose State and most recently San Diego State in the rubber match on Sunday.

The southpaw has reached five innings in all three starts and possesses swing and miss stuff, recording 18 strikeouts this season including a career high seven in a win over San Jose State. Hilton is now tied for the conference lead with three wins and is one of just two pitchers in the WCC with a perfect 3-0 record.

Valenzuela Matches Best Start in SMC Tenure at 10-5…

Head coach Eric Valenzuela has brought Saint Mary's to new heights and is responsible for some of the biggest peaks in program history including its two WCC Tournament titles and NCAA Regional appearances. This season, Valenzuela has matched his best start through 15 games in his SMC tenure with the Gaels sitting at 10-5 here in 2026. The other 10-5 start for Valenzuela came in 2017 where he went on to lead the Gaels to a career high 37 wins, good for second most in a single-season in program history.

Valenzuela became the program's all-time wins leader last season and led Saint Mary's to its first NCAA Regional victory after upsetting 8th ranked Oregon State in the opener of the Corvallis Regional. Valenzuela and the Gaels have their eyes set on another NCAA Regional appearance and better yet, working towards advancing to the supers for another first in program history.

Series History…

Saint Mary's ended a four-game drought to UC Santa Barbara last season, upsetting then 21st-ranked UCSB 5-1 on the road. The Gauchos would earn the win later in the season to split the home-and-home series. Saint Mary's is 8-12 overall against UC Santa Barbara dating back to 2008 and the two programs have a combined 22 wins so far in 2026, standing as two of the hottest west region teams in the country.

Saint Mary's and Rice will meet for the first time this weekend in Phoenix while the Gaels and Lopes will battle for the first time since 2024. Grand Canyon came to Moraga for a four-game series that season where the Gaels came out on top with a 3-1 series victory. Saint Mary's is 5-2 over its last seven games with Grand Canyon and will head to Phoenix for the first time since 2016.

ABOUT THE GAUCHOS (12-2, 3-0 Big West)

UC Santa Barbara was picked to win the 2026 Big West Preseason Poll and are off to a stellar start this season, entering the week at 12-2. The Gauchos have been known in recent seasons for stellar pitching as they had three-year player Tyler Bremner get taken second overall in the 2025 MLB Draft to the Los Angeles Angels. This season, The Gauchos lead the Big West in hitting and pitching, owning a team batting average of .290 and a staff ERA of 2.44.

Junior right hander Jackson Flora leads the Gauchos with a 1.50 ERA and a conference best 4-0 record in four starts this season. Raymond Olivas has been a great stopper for UC Santa Barbara, leading the team with eight appearances while recording two saves and a 0.79 ERA. At the plate, Rowan Kelly and Cade Goldstein are each hitting .368 to lead the team with Kelly leading in hits (21) and Goldstein in on-base percentage (.538).

Key wins for the Gauchos this season have included a season opening win over No. 20 Southern Miss, and series sweeps over Portland, Utah and Long Beach State. Against the West Coast Conference UCSB is a perfect 5-0 with its sweep over the Pilots and home-and-home wins over LMU.

ABOUT THE OWLS (9-7, American)

The Rice Owls were picked to finish 7th in the 2026 American Preseason Poll and enter the week at 9-7. They have yet to start league play but have key wins over Big Ten members Northwestern and Purdue. The Owls are coming off a series win over Abilene Christian and will take on Houston in their midweek Tuesday night before heading to Phoenix for games with Grand Canyon and Saint Mary's starting on Friday.

Through 16 games, Rice ranks dead last in the American in batting average (.224) and seventh in team ERA (4.56). JC Davis leads all Owls with a .360 average including four home runs and ten RBI. Paul Smith leads the team with five homers as Rice ranks fifth in the conference with 17 on the season. Brayden Sharp leads all pitchers with a 2-1 record on the mound in his four starts Ryland Urbanczyk is the other pitcher on staff with four starts this season, sitting at an 0-1 record with a 2.63 ERA.

ABOUT THE LOPES (6-11, Mountain West)

Grand Canyon was picked to finish third in the Mountain West Preseason Poll after winning 31 games and upsetting three top-25 teams a season ago. This year, the Lopes are off to a rocky start at 6-11. They opened the season at the MLB Network Desert Invitational where they run-ruled Northeastern in the opener but fell in back-to-back games to Penn State and Nebraska.

Other notable results include a two-game split with UC Irvine and a 2-1 series defeat to fellow WCC member Pacific. The Lopes are riding a four-game losing streak going into the week after suffering a four-game sweep to Utah last week.

Billy Scaldeferri leads the Lopes at the plate with a .357 batting average, 20 hits and six doubles. Scaldeferri is easily the most dangerous and balanced hitter in the lineup for Grand Canyon as he also owns a .661 slugging percentage with three home runs. Cannon Peery leads the team with four home runs as they rank fourth in the Mountain West with eleven long balls this season.

Additional game information and media links can be found at smcgaels.com. 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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