SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Heading north for a three-game set, Santa Clara baseball fell to Saint Mary's by a final score of 8-3. The Broncos are now 10-29 overall and 0-16 in conference while the Gaels are 15-26 and 6-7 in WCC action.

The Broncos return to the field on tomorrow, Sat., April 27 at 1 p.m. for game two at Saint Mary's.

Reece Karalus (0-7, 7.40) started for Santa Clara and got a loss in 2.2 innings. Karalus allowed eight runs on nine hits with one walk and two strikeouts. The offense was led by Justin Viele who was 1-3 with a home run, two RBI and a walk. Casey Munoz was 2-4 with a RBI and stolen base while Zach Looney was 1-3 with a run scored.

Ben Griset (4-2, 2.71) started for Saint Mary's and got a win in 6.0 innings. Griset allowed three runs on seven hits with two walks and six strikeouts. The offense was led by Markus Melgosa who was 1-4 with a run scored and three RBI. Anthony Villa was 2-4 with a run and a RBI while Ricky Boas was 2-4 with a run and two RBI.

The Gaels exploded for all eight of their runs in the bottom of the third off of Karalus. Riley Heinzer led off with a walk and Boas laid down a bunt single. DonAndre Clark loaded the bases with his own bunt single. Melgosa followed with a bases-clearing double to left field. Melgosa moved up on a ground out to second and scored on a RBI single by Villa. Shawn O'Brien put runners on the corners with a single to center and Collin Ferguson hit a sac fly to center to make the score 5-0. O'Brien swiped second and went to third on a single to left by Darian Ramage. Heinzer came up for the second time in the inning and singled to left to bring in another run. Boas followed with a triple down the right field line to bring in the seventh and eighth runs of the inning and end the day for Karalus. Chris Mendoza came in to get the final out.

Santa Clara got a run back in the top of the fourth. Looney walked and advanced to second on a balk. After a fly out, Greg Harisis singled through the left side to put runners on the corners. Harisis moved to second on a wild pitch but Looney was unable to score. Munoz followed with a RBI single to center to make the score 8-1.

The Broncos were able to score two more in the top of the fifth. After the first two outs were recorded Matt Ozanne singled to left field and Viele followed with a bomb to left field to get Santa Clara within five. Looney followed with a triple but was stranded.

Neither team was able to score again and the game ended 8-3 in favor of Saint Mary's.