LAS VEGAS - Saint Mary's was all about the long ball with four home runs, including Coleman Schmidt who blasted two home runs helping No. 5 Saint Mary's take down the defending West Coast Conference Tournament Champions and No. 4 seed San Diego, 17-8, in the first round of the 2023 WCC Baseball Tournament from Las Vegas Ballpark. 

The Gaels put up crooked numbers in their first at-bat. Following a sacrifice fly by Nathan Chong to put the Gaels up, 1-0, Schmidt blasted his first dinger of the night, a three-run roundtripper to left to put SMC up, 4-0.

USD fought back in the bottom of the second. Will Worthington slapped a triple to left that plated the Toreros' first run of the night. Worthington scored thanks to an RBI single from Ariel Armas in the next at-bat. Armas ended the night with two hits. 

Right after USD cut the lead in half, Schmidt gave the Gaels the momentum back with his second HR of the game, a blast to center that put SMC back up by four, 6-2. Schmidt ended the night with 5 RBI.

The WCC Co-Player of the Year Christian Almanaz got in on the fun with a two-run home run of his own in the top of the fourth, increasing the Gaels' lead to 8-2. Two innings later, Eddie Madrigal earned the first splash hit of the tournament, belting a home run to right-center right in the pool behind the outfield wall at Las Vegas Ballpark. 

An eight-run ninth inning for Saint Mary's put the game out of reach, including a two-run single by Bill Ralston for his fourth hit of the night. 

Blake McDonald also collected three hits for Saint Mary's. 

Gabe D'Arcy went 2-for-3 with a double for USD. 

With Wednesday night's win, The Gaels will now face top-seeded LMU on Thursday at 3 p.m.