March 11, 2001
Box Score
LOS ANGELES - Gonzaga rightfielder Jared Hertz hit a sacrifice fly to center in the top of the 10th inning with one out to lift the Bulldogs (7-7, 2-1 WCC) to a 10-9 come-from-behind victory over Loyola Marymount (12-11, 1-2 WCC) on Sunday afternoon at Page Stadium. The win leaves Gonzaga in second place in the Coast Division behind Santa Clara which swept the opening series from San Francisco.
The Zags jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first as Eric Rodland and Barry Matthews each drew walks and Kevin Cave singled to load the bases. Brian Munhall drove home the first run on a ground out while Kevin Richardson scored Cave on a fielders choice. Hertz then plated Gonzaga's final run of the inning with a single to score Matthews. Gonzaga increased its lead to 4-0 in the second as Munhall drove home Cave who had doubled with two outs.
Loyola Marymount battled back scoring four runs in the third and four runs in the fifth. Jeff Walker connected for a 2-run double in the third and Jack Brooks 2-run single in the fifth paced the Lions early offense. After working through three GU pitchers, LMU struggled over the final five innings against Zags relievers John Gonzalez and David Hixson. The duo limited Loyola Marymount to five hits as Hixson (2-3) worked 4.2 scoreless innings for the win.
After falling behind 9-4, Gonzaga mounted a comeback scoring three runs in the seventh and two more in the eighth. Nate Gold drove home Richardson and John Gebbers in the seventh while Richardson belted a 2-run homer to left to knot the game at 9-9 in the eighth.
In the 10th inning Cave continued his 4-for-6 day at the plate with a lead off single. Matthews followed with a single and both runners were moved up on a sacrifice bunt by Munhall. Hertz then delivered the game winner off Lions pitcher Joshua Whitesell (3-1) who surrendered the final three Gonzaga runs.
Matthews, Gold and Danny Evans all finished the game with 2-hits for the Zags who will resume play on Tuesday afternoon with a two-game series at Oregon State. Game time for Tuesday's contest is at 2:30 p.m.
Robert Hirsh, Tommy Perez, Kris Zacuto and Mario Cordero each accounted for two hits as the Lions finished with 14 hits on the afternoon.
