April 15, 2000
Box Score
SAN DIEGO - San Diego (25-20-1, 8-9 WCC) needed 11 innings and a sacrifice bunt Saturday afternoon to defeat Gonzaga (20-16, 11-6 WCC), 6-5, in the nightcap of a double-header to avoid the Zags sweeping their second straight West Coast Conference series. The Zags won the opening game at Cunningham Stadium by a score of 5-2, after winning the series opener in San Diego on Friday afternoon.
In the final game of the series, Marty Hayes sacrifice bunt in the bottom of the eleventh inning scored Josh Harris from third base to give the Toreros a 6-5 victory and allowed USD to avoid the three game conference sweep. Harris had reached base with a inning opening single off Gonzaga closer David Hixson (1-4). Relief pitcher Darrin Trautmann would come in to help out Hixson but the Zags could not work out of the jam.
Starting pitchers Mike Amundson of San Diego and Sean Lichter of Gonzaga battled each other through the early stages of the game with Amundson setting down the first 13 Zags he faced. San Diego was able to scratch the first run on the board in the third inning as Kevin Reese connected for a RBI double.
Gonzaga was able to tie the score at 1-1 in the fifth inning as Adam Stokey continued his move up the Gonzaga career home run list with his fifth long ball of the year. Kevin Reese then added to his RBI total in the bottom half of the fifth with another RBI single to give San Diego a 2-1 lead. The Toreros would add another single run to lead 3-1 after five complete innings.
Gonzaga again rallied when they came to the plate as Eric Rodland and Brent Church combined for back-to-back doubles. The two teams traded runs in the final innings before Gonzaga rallied in the ninth inning for a game tying run off reliever Ricky Barrett.
Adam Stokey drove home two runs for the game going 2-for-5 with a solo home run. Brent Church also provided two hits for the Zags. Gonzaga remains in the hunt for the Coast Division title and will remain either a half game or a game and a half behind Loyola Marymount based on LMU's result on Sunday.
The Zags now return to Spokane for their longest home stand of the season. After a single game at Whitworth College on Wednesday, Gonzaga will host Portland in a three-game Easter Weekend series at August/A.R.T. Stadium in Spokane. Start time for Saturday's double-header is 12 noon.
