Box Score STOCKTON, Calif. – The University of the Pacific fell late in the ninth inning on a three-run rally by Saint Mary's College by a score of 4-3 on Friday night.
The Tigers fall to 14-22 on the season and 5-11 in West Coast Conference play, while the Gaels improve to 20-16 overall and 9-7 in conference action.
The Orange and Black jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second with Nate Verlin grabbing the first hit for Pacific on a single to right center. Lucas Halstead followed suit with a single up the middle to push Verlin to second. On a sacrifice bunt by Carter Hayes, Halstead and Verlin moved to second and third, respectively. Verlin scored the first run on a wild pitch by the Gaels before Alex LeForestier hit a sacrifice fly out to center field to score Halsted for the 2-0 lead.
In the fourth, the Gaels cut the lead by one to trail, 2-1, with Brett Rasso hitting a leadoff double to start the inning. The Tigers answered back in the bottom half of the inning to keep the lead at 3-1 with James Free hitting a leadoff single to shortstop before a single down the left field line by Hayes allowed Free to score.
However, a late rally in the top of the ninth by Saint Mary's propelled them over the Tigers to a 4-3 victory.
Six players all tallied hits for the Tigers, while Hayes and LeForestier each had an RBI. Free, Verlin, and Halstead scored the three runs for Pacific.
On the mound, Shelby Lackey had a great outing pitching eight innings with seven strikeouts. Ryan Shreve was charged with the loss after pitching one inning with one strikeout. Andrew Hansen picked up the win for the Gaels after going 1.2 innings and Michael Hobbs earned his 10th save with two strikeouts and one inning pitched.
The Tigers and Gaels meet again on Saturday for game two of the series with first pitch scheduled for 6:00 p.m.
