SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Behind a dominating pitching performance by Sage Hager and contributions up and down the lineup, Santa Clara softball took the rubber match 7-0 over Saint Mary's on Sunday.  It was the second-straight West Coast Conference series win for the Broncos (18-23, 4-2 WCC).

Hager tossed another gem, keeping the Gaels (14-25, 2-7 WCC) lineup off balance to scatter four hits over six innings of work.  The freshman did not issue a walk and struck out one.  Her outing came on the heels of a complete game victory in Saturday's series opener.

Santa Clara collected 10 hits with Ashley Trierweiler, Sammy Needham and Sarah Ellersick each having two apiece.  Trierweiler and Needham scored twice each while Ellersick drove in a pair of runs.

Trierweiler got things rolling for the Broncos in the first drawing a leadoff walk against Gaels starter Kayla Scott before moving to scoring position on a stolen base.  Regan Dias brought her home on a single up the middle to put Santa Clara up 1-0.

The Broncos pushed the lead out to 3-0 in the fourth on RBI singles by Ellersick and Cameron McGinnis and broke the game open with a three run fifth, helped out by a pair of Gael errors.

Hannah Edwards came in relief in the seventh and threw a scoreless inning to preserve the Bronco shutout.

Hager improved to 8-3 on the season while Scott (4-10) took the loss.

Five Gaels had a hit with the only extra base hit coming from Indya Smith, who doubled in the seventh. 

NEXT UP

The Broncos head to Provo, Utah for a three-game West Coast Conference series against BYU starting on Friday.   

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