CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. — The final matchup for the Saint Mary’s softball team at the 2026 Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic featured a Long Beach State team that was coming off of an upset victory against Oklahoma, but it was the Gaels who reigned supreme on Sunday, defeating The Beach 13-10. A three run bottom of the sixth propelled the Gaels to their third win of the tournament, finishing out the premier tournament with a 3-2 record. 

Back in the starting lineup for the first time since Friday night, Hannah Ferguson had a brilliant day at the plate, with three hits including a pair of triples, scoring three times and driving in two for Saint Mary’s (8-5).  Sam Buckley, Braxton Brown and Victoria Castillo all left the yard, and were joined by Ferguson, Camille Lara, and Tori Cervantes with multi-hit games in the win over Long Beach State (9-6).

The Gaels used four pitchers in the contest, with Mia Nishikawa recording the final out of the sixth, earning the win, and Odhi Vasquez working a 1-2-3 seventh for her third save of the season. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Gaels were all over The Beach early in this one, and, charged by a pair of home runs from Buckley and a third from Brown, worked their way ahead 7-0 through two full innings. The Beach, however, continued to chip away at the deficit, never allowing the game to get into run-rule territory, and clawed their way back level in the sixth, before Nishikawa recorded the final out of the frame against the potential go-ahead Long Beach State run. 

Brown launched a double to the left centerfield gap with one out in the bottom of the sixth, and Sasha Canedo picked up a two out RBI single to score Brown’s pinch runner Ruby Cuen Camacho for her first hit of the season and the go-ahead RBI. Castillo added some insurance with her first home run of the season, a two run blast, and Vasquez worked a perfect top of the seventh to secure the victory. 

GAME NOTES


This contest featured Sam Buckley’s second career multi-home run game, and her first this season. Buckley moved into third all-time in program history with 21 home runs, 10th all-time in program history with 80 RBI, 6th all-time in program history with 94 runs scored, and continues to hold the program’s best career batting average, now at .380.
With a home run, a double and two more RBI today, Braxton Brown finished her Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic with a .438 average, two doubles, a triple, three home runs and nine RBI. Brown now leads the team with four doubles and 12 RBI, is tied for the lead with three home runs, and ranks second with a .393 batting average. 
Odhi Vasquez pitched in all five games of the Mary Nutter and logged a win and a pair of saves, striking out 10 batters in eight innings of work. 
Hannah Ferguson’s three hits today moved her to 15 on the season, seven of which are of the extra base variety. She leads the team with a .455 batting average. 
Camille Lara logged her 100th career hit as a Gael. 
The Gaels close out the Mary Nutter with a 3-2 record at the tournament, with their lone two losses coming in tight fashion against a pair of teams ranked in the top-25. 

The road does not get any easier for the Gaels in their juggernaut non-conference slate. Saint Mary’s heads  nCollege Station, Texas to take part in the Texas A&M Invitational. There, they will see Kennesaw State twice, Louisiana twice and the 13th-ranked host Aggies, who are coached by Saint Mary’s Softball Hall of Famer Tricia Ford, once. 

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