March 9, 2001

Box Score

LOS ANGELES - LOS ANGELES - The Gonzaga University baseball team (6-6, 1-0 WCC) ended a four-year losing skid at Page Stadium in Los Angeles as the Zags opened West Coast Conference play with a 14-7 victory over Loyola Marymount (11-10, 0-1 WCC) on Friday afternoon.

Gonzaga jumped on top early 7-0 with a Jared Hertz grand slam in the first inning and a Barry Matthews 3-run home run in the second. Matthews would hit his second long ball of the afternoon in the third inning as the Zags never looked back against the defending WCC champs.

Matthews (3-0) helped his own cause at the plate as he started on the mound for the Bulldogs and tossed his second complete game of the season. He allowed three runs on eight hits through eight innings before the Lions scored four runs in the final frame. In the ninth Kayzell Mitchell hit a two-run homer to left for the Lions big blow of the inning. Kris Zacuto led LMU with a 4-for-4 afternoon.

The Zags scored in five of the first six innings after chasing LMU starter James Clelland (3-1) in the top of the third inning. Gonzaga would work through five Lion pitchers on the afternoon as they banged out 16 hits. All but one GU starter contributed a hit as Matthews (3-for-4), Hertz (3-for-5) and Kevin Richardson (3-for-3) all finished with three hits.

The two teams will resume the series on Saturday afternoon with a single game at 1 p.m. The three game WCC series will end with a single game on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.