MORAGA, Calif. ? Erik Draxton was near perfect on the mound during seven innings for CSUB, but the Roadrunner offense stranded 12 runners on base and, despite outhitting Saint Mary's 9-to-4, fell 3-1 to the Gaels Monday at Louis Guisto Field.
Draxton (1-3) struck out two, walked one and surrendered just four hits for three runs (one earned) in 7 1/3 innings of work. The junior right-hander also retired 14 consecutive Gaels from the second through sixth inning before Justin Fazio was able to collect a single up the middle to open the bottom of the seventh. But Draxton returned to form after giving up the hit, drawing a ground out, foul fly and line out to close the inning.
In the bottom of the first, the Gaels' Cory Miller led off by reaching on a fielding error by Bakersfield short stop Kyle Richardson. Ryan Mulligan moved Miller to second on a ground out to second before a Kyle Jensen double to left allowed Miller to race home for a 1-0 advantage.
Saint Mary's (17-11) added another solo run in the second when leadoff Anthony Aliotti was hit by a pitch, advanced to second on a Timothy David ground out and scored on a Chris Murphy single that bounced over CSUB's Derek Geisinger into shallow right field.
While the Roadrunners remained scoreless through eight complete, the Gaels manufactured an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth when Michael Gastelum led off with a walk, advanced to second on a failed pickoff attempt by catcher Garrett Branske and scored on a single through the right side by Ryan Milligan.
Saint Mary's looked to add to the lead when Troy Channing drew a hit by pitch, forcing the Roadrunners to go to the bullpen. Freshman Spenser Messmore replaced Draxton, giving up a walk to load the bases, but got support from his defense with a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.
In the top of the ninth Branske led off with a single through the right side and advanced to second on a ground out by JJ Henry to bring up the top of the order. Boren nearly beat out a hard hit to the Gaels' first baseman Aliotti, but drew the ground out, while Branske moved to third.
With two outs, Richardson drove a single into right-center field, plating Branske. Looking to continue the rally, Ryan McIntyre stroked a single up the middle to move Richardson to third, but Stuart Smith struck out in the Roadrunners' final at bat.
Richardson finished 3-for-4 with an RBI while Boren and Branske had two hits apiece.
Saint Mary's starter Taylor Reid (2-3) recorded five strikeouts, a pair of walks and five hits without surrendering a run in six complete innings of work. Brandon Berl picked up the save after working himself out of a jam in the ninth to retain his team's lead.
The Roadrunners (4-18) return to Bakersfield for a mid-week stint, hosting the University of San Francisco Wednesday at 3 p.m. at Hardt Field.
Score by Innings R H E
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CSU Bakersfield..... 000 000 001 - 1 9 2
Saint Mary's (CA)... 110 000 01X - 3 4 1
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Win - REID (2-3). Loss - Draxton (1-3). Save - BERL (4).
E - Richardson(11); Branske(4); MURPHY(7). DP - Roadrunners 1; Gaels 1. LOB - Roadrunners 12; Gaels 5. 2B - JENSEN(5). HBP - McIntyre; Medina 2; CHANNING; ALIOTTI. SH - MULLIGAN(7); ALIOTTI(2). SB - Richardson(3); McIntyre 2(10); Medina 2(2).
