Bryan Byrne and Saint Mary's return to action on Friday at Pepperdine.

April 7, 2005

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WHAT'S ON SCHEDULE: The Saint Mary's baseball team hits the road for three games against Pepperdine in Malibu, CA beginning Friday, April 8. The two teams open the three-game series at 3 p.m. on Friday and play at 1 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. The Gaels carry a 6-6 West Coast Conference record and a 12-15 overall mark into the series. Pepperdine leads the West Division with a 7-1 conference mark and a 19-10 overall record.

WHO'S HOT: Saint Mary's junior first baseman Bryan Byrne has turned on the offense over the last four games. Byrne has gone 6-for-12 (.500) in the last four games, including seven runs scored three RBI and four walks. He has an on base percentage of .647 and a .500 slugging percentage.

GAELS BEAT BETHANY ON TUESDAY: Saint Mary's cruised to an 11-0 victory over the Bethany Bruins on Tuesday afternoon at Louis Guisto Field. The Gaels combined for 14 hits, including three hits for Bryan Byrne and Mike Sansoe and two hits by Sam Carter. Dan Lewis picked up his first victory of the season as he struck out eight batters in four innings, only allowing one hit.

THREE STRAIGHT FOR SMC: With an 11-0 victory on Tuesday, the Gaels have now won three straight games, their second longest winning streak of the season. Saint Mary's lost the first game of a three-game series against LMU, but beat the Lions two straight over the weekend and beat Bethany on Tuesday. The longest winning streak of the season for the Gaels stands at four games.

SCOUTING THE WAVES: Pepperdine comes into the weekend series with a West Division leading 7-1 record and a 19-10 overall mark. The Waves took two out of three games against San Francisco last weekend and are coming off a 4-3 loss to No. 29 USC on Tuesday. This season Pepperdine has been led offensively by Chad Tracy, who leads the team with a .361 batting average and has five home runs and 31 RBI in 29 games. Steve Kleen leads the team with 32 RBI to go along with a .348 batting average and David Uribes is batting .325 with 32 runs scored, 11 walks and 11 stolen bases. The pitching staff is led by Kea Kometani and Paul Coleman. Kometani has a 2.54 earned run average and a 6-2 record in nine starts. Coleman is 4-0 with a 2.72 earned run average in six starts.

1-2-3 IN WCC: After 12 WCC games, Saint Mary's junior left fielder Sam Carter leads the conference in hits with 17. Mike Sansoe is second with 16 in 12 games and Delaney Gallagher is third with 15 in 12 games.

SANSOE TOPS PLENTY OF WCC STATS: Senior center fielder Mike Sansoe leads the WCC in Triples, Stolen Bases, Slugging Percentage and Total Bases after 12 conference games. Sansoe has two triples, five stolen bases, a .617 slugging percentage and 29 total bases. Sansoe is also second in home runs with two and second in hits with 16.

PLENTY OF WCC RUNS BATTED IN: Senior right fielder Adam Bellows leads the conference with 13 RBI after 12 games. Bellows is averaging 1.08 RBI per game and leads teammate Sam Carter, who has 12 RBI in 12 games.

SETTING THE TONE AT THE TOP: Senior Mike Sansoe and junior Cody Nelson are among the leaders in triples and runs scored, respectively. Sansoe and Nelson have each spent time batting lead off and No. 2 in the batting order and have done an excellent job all year. Sansoe ranks second in the conference in triples with two and Nelson ranks third in the conference in runs scored with 26. Nelson and Sansoe also rank third in the conference in home runs with four.

CARTER RANKS FOURTH IN WCC: Saint Mary's junior outfielder Sam Carter ranks fourth in the West Coast Conference with a .359 batting average after 26 games. Carter also ranks second in home runs with five and ranks third in runs batted in with 31.

CLOSING TIME: Saint Mary's junior right hander Chris Mezzavilla ranks second in the conference in saves with three. Mezzavilla has made nine appearances and has a 4.44 earned run average in 24.1 innings pitched. Mezzavilla also has made two starts and has a 1-1 record to go along with his saves.

WEEK IN REVIEW: Saint Mary's went 2-1 in a three-game series against Loyola Marymount last weekend. The Gaels dropped the opening game 8-1, but bounced back with a 5-3 victory on Saturday and a 12-7 win on Sunday. Joel Fountain picked up the victory for the Gaels on Saturday, pitching seven innings, allowing three earned runs on four hits. Mike Sansoe went 2-for-2 with three runs scored and Sam Carter went 2-for-4 with two RBI. On Sunday, Corey Madden picked up the win in relief of starting pitcher Jordan Simo. Madden pitched three shut out innings, striking out three batters and only allowing one hit. Cody Nelson went 3-for-5 with three runs scored, Bryan Byrne went 2-for-3 with three runs scored and an RBI, Sam Carter went 2-for-3 with three RBI and three runs scored, Delaney Gallagher went 2-for-4 with three RBI and Adam Bellows went 1-for-4 with four RBI.

HEAD COACH Jedd Soto: In his second year as head coach at Saint Mary's is Jedd Soto. After one year at the college, Soto was instrumental in the completion of a new state-of-the-art infield at Louis Guisto Field and the resurrection of the Alumni Game. Soto signed his first recruiting class of over 10 players last spring and has a positive outlook on the upcoming season. Soto and the Gaels return seven starters from last season's young squad and brought in a talented group of players that will mesh well together. Soto was hired on July 1, 2003 as a unanimous choice of the players, coaches, administrators and the search committee. At 30 years of age, Soto is the youngest head coach in the West Coast Conference. This season Soto began a "Meet the Players Night" which will help fundraise money for the baseball program, along with giving fans an opportunity to meet the 2005 team.

WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE GAELS: Saint Mary's hits the road for a non-conference game on Tuesday, April 12 at San Jose State at 7 p.m. before getting back to WCC play on Friday, April 15. The Gaels will travel to San Francisco to face the Dons for three games beginning on Friday at 3 p.m. Games 2 and 3 will be played at 1 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.