Gonzaga University
San Francisco
Church Lifts Gonzaga To 7-6 Win Over Dons
5/13/2000 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 13, 2000
SPOKANE, Wash. - Gonzaga (27-22, 17-12 WCC) used a six run inning in both games of Saturday's West Coast Conference double-header against San Francisco (25-32, 9-20 WCC) to sweep the twin-bill from the Dons at August / A.R.T. Stadium in Spokane. Gonzaga won the opener 7-6 and the nightcap 12-4. The two teams will conclude this three-game series on Sunday at noon with the Bulldogs final home game of the 2000 season.
In the opening game, Gonzaga senior ace Steve Bennett (9-4) was dominant in the early going tossing 5.2 innings of hitless baseball against the Dons. All-American Tag Bozied finally broke open the drought with a hard hit single down the left field line in the top of the sixth. Following a walk by Dustin Delucchi, first-baseman Chad Soares would tally the second Dons hit with a three-run homer to right center. Bennett would finish a strong seventh inning before the Bulldog bats came to the rescue.
San Francisco senior Jeff Bowman matched Bennett's effort through six innings of work allowing a single Gonzaga run to score on a wild pitch in the bottom of the second. Bowman would then turn the game over the Dons bullpen in the bottom of the seventh after Gonzaga's two lead-off men reached base successfully. Danny Evans then delivered the first run scoring blow in what would become a six-run outburst for the Bulldogs, chasing Dons relief pitchers John Herbert (4-4) and Kevin Annis from the game.
After Evans opened up the offensive series with a run scoring single through the left side, Chris Florko cut the Dons lead to one run scoring on a Herbert wild pitch. Senior outfielder Brent Church then put Gonzaga up for good clearing the bases with a three-run double to left center. Barry Matthews extended his hitting streak to 22 games driving home Church for the Zags seventh run of the game.
David Hixson entered in the eighth inning for Gonzaga and worked two innings to collect his fifth save of the season. San Francisco closed the gap in the top of the inning as Dustin Delucchi doubled down the right field line to score two Dons. Hixson would pick Delucchi off at third base to end the San Francisco threat and work a perfect ninth to close the game.
Brent Church was the Zags top run producer in the opener with three RBI's while Adam Stokey was the only Gonzaga player to collect two hits as both teams finished with five hits for the game. Chad Soares drove home three runs for San Francisco while Tag Bozied went 2-for-3.
