Monday, April 18, 2022

PORTLAND, Ore. – At the halfway point of the conference baseball season, Saint Martin’s was tied for last place and four games out of a qualifying spot for the GNAC Championships. But thanks to a key series win over first-place Northwest Nazarene, the Saints are making a run toward the playoffs.

After sweeping a Friday doubleheader from NNU, the Saints dropped game three but pulled a magical ending out of the hat in the finale, scoring five runs in the ninth inning off of Division II’s saves leader to win the game 5-4 and the series 3-1 in stunning fashion. For the upset series win in which they rallied in the final two innings in all three victories, the Saints have been named the GNAC Team of the Week.

"We’ve been waiting for our breakthrough moment as a team," head coach Kelly Gau said. "We got a bunch of great performances this weekend."

One such performance, a strong start from Finnley Butler, put the Saints off on the right foot in the series on Friday. The sophomore threw seven innings, giving up two runs, one earned, on six hits. As soon as Butler was pulled, however, the Nighthawks rallied with two runs in the top of the eighth inning to take a 4-3 lead.

The Saints didn’t even wait to record an out before retaking the lead in the bottom of the inning. Aaron Renaud singled and Michael Yamaguchi walked to set the table for Cody Chavis, who doubled down the left-field line to score one run. Reid Little drove in Yamaguchi and Chavis with a single to right-center. With a new two-run lead, Brock Wrolstad handled the ninth for his first save of the year.

Saint Martin’s had the perfect starter for the nightcap in sophomore Justice Yamashita. Yamashita, who leads the GNAC with a 2.52 ERA and ranks second with a .205 opposing batting average, had already shut down the Nighthawks once this season. In Nampa back on March 11, Yamashita threw a seven-inning complete-game three-hit shutout in a 1-0 SMU win, the only game that Saint Martin’s won in the first four-game clash between the two teams.

Yamashita nearly replicated his feat, allowing one run on four hits with seven strikeouts in another seven-inning complete-game effort. However, Yamashita was in line for the loss with the Saints trailing 1-0 until the bottom of the sixth. Nighthawks closer Max Holtzclaw replaced NNU starter Brock Moffitt after 5.1 innings pitched and struck out the first batter he faced with Renaud on first. With two outs, Little reached on a throwing error by the NNU third baseman and, with Renaud running on contact, he was able to come around to score to tie the game.

Chayson Dulatre laced a double into the left-center-field gap to score pinch-rinner Austin Schaler, and out of nothing the Saints had a 2-1 lead for Yamashita to close out in the seventh, which he did by retiring the Nighthawks in order with two strikeouts. Yamashita was named GNAC Pitcher of the Week for the second time this season. He also won the award in his previous start against NNU.

After a 5-2 win in Saturday’s opening game, Northwest Nazarene appeared to be heading toward a series split, allowing only a fourth-inning Renaud single through six innings and leading 4-0, but Saint Martin’s saved their best rally for last. In the seventh and final inning, the first two batters reached on a single and a throwing error, prompting NNU to bring in Holtzclaw, who leads Division II with 10 saves this season. After the pitching change, Dulatre walked and Griffin Williams was hit by a pitch to force in the Saints’ first run, but a strikeout and a sacrifice fly meant the Saints were down to their final out trailing 4-2 with runners on first and second.

Shortstop Ryne Oshiro kept the game alive by working a full count and poking a single to right field to score pinch-runner Alohi Arrechi, and Renaud capped his week-long tear with an RBI single to score Williams and tie the game. For the week, Renaud batted a GNAC-leading .478 (7 for 15) with three RBI and two runs scored. The comeback was complete when Bryant Nakagawa, who entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the fourth inning, hit a fly ball that sat down in the gap in left-center allowing Oshiro to score easily, raising his arm in celebration down the third-base line.

"Our pitching and defense have continued to keep us in games," Gau said. "And we were relentless in keeping belief in each other at the plate."

The series win places Saint Martin’s three games behind Montana State Billings for the third and final qualifying spot for the GNAC Championships ahead of a significant head-to-head series with the Yellowjackets next weekend. The Saints will play MSUB on the road twice on Friday and twice on Saturday.