Huskies Shutout St. Mary's, 3-0, To Win Series

Sunday, April 24

Seattle, WA

2:00 PM

University of Washington

22-14

Saint Mary's

22-15

St. Mary's

Washington

Photo by: Washington Athletics

April 25, 2016 | Baseball

Box Score

By: Washington Athletics

SEATTLE – Three Washington pitchers combined to shutout St. Mary's, 3-0, Sunday at Husky Ballpark, giving the Huskies wins in three-out-of-four games over the Gaels.

After dropping the Friday night game 5-3, the Pac-12 leading Huskies (22-14) rebounded to win the final three games of the series over WCC-leading St. Mary's (22-15). Washington has now won eight of nine series this season and split two others.

UW's pitching staff allowed just two runs over the final three games of the series, including recording their second shutout of the season. Greg Minier (4-0) set the tone for the pitching staff on Sunday, throwing five scoreless innings, allowing four hits, one walk and striking out a batter to pick up his fourth win of the season.

“We've been put into some very tough situations this season,” said Minier – who has made 19 appearances, four starts – on the pitching staff. “It's been a long process for us, so for us to come out and put bagels up on the board, it's been really good and has allowed us to get the train rolling.”

Washington outhit St. Mary's, 9-6, with Joey Morgan (3 for 3, 2B) leading the way with three hits.

The Huskies struck for two runs to grab the lead in the fourth as rain poured down on the field. John Naff doubled home one run and Levi Jordan drove home the other on a groundout for the 2-0 lead.

Washington scored an unearned run in the fifth to take the three-run advantage. KJ Brady singled to start the inning and Jack Meggs attempted to sacrifice him to second, but third baseman Anthony Villa threw the ball into right field, putting two runners in scoring position. The Huskies managed to only score once on a sacrifice fly by Chris Baker, but that proved to be enough offense.

Saint Mary's had a golden opportunity to get on the board in the sixth, but the Huskies used outstanding defense to escape unscored upon. The first two batters reached on a single and a walk off Minier, putting an end to the junior left-hander's day.

Alex Nesbitt replaced him on the mound and promptly gave up a single to center field, but Meggs came up firing and nailed Zach Kirtley at home to preserve the shutout. MJ Hubbs followed with a nice sliding catch in right field and Nesbitt got out of the inning on a groundout to second base, ending St. Mary's best threat of the game.

After Nesbitt pitched in the seventh inning, the game was turned over into the hands of the Huskies' dominant closer Troy Rallings. The senior threw the final two innings and picked up his Pac-12 leading 11^th save of the season. He entered the weekend ranked second nationally in earned run average and dropped it to 0.78 with five scoreless innings over the weekend.

“That's the way we want to play,” said Husky Coach Lindsay Meggs. “We want to pitch, we want to defend and we want to get the timely hit.”

The Huskies return to action Tuesday against Seattle U at Husky Ballpark with first pitch scheduled for 5:00 p.m. The two teams are tied in their annual series at 1-1. The game will be aired on the Pac-12 Networks.

Washington 3 (22-14), St. Mary's 0 (22-15)

SMC 000 000 000 –- 0 6 1
UW 000 210 00x –- 3 9 1

LOB: SMC 6, UW 10. Drew Strotman, Ty Madrigal (6), David Dellaserra (7) and Nate Nolan; Greg Minier, Alex Nesbitt (6) and Joey Morgan. W – Minier (4-0). L – Strotman (3-4). SV – Rallings (11). HR – none. 3B – none. 2B – SMC, Anthony Villa; UW, Joey Morgan, John Naff. Time – 2:45. Attendance – 554.