Gonzaga University
San Francisco
Matthews Pitches Zags To Seventh Straight WCC Win
4/27/2001 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 27, 2001
SPOKANE, Wash. - Gonzaga senior pitcher Barry Matthews allowed a single San Francisco (24-20, 10-12 WCC) run to score in the top of the first inning, but held the Dons in check the remainder of the game as the Zags (22-20, 13-9 WCC) posted their seventh straight West Coast Conference win 15-1 on Friday afternoon at August/A.R.T. Stadium. The teams will resume the three game series at 1 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.
San Francisco jumped on the board with their lone run as Jason Howard led off the game with one of his two doubles on the afternoon. Howard came around to score on a single to center by Armand Gaerlin and give the Dons a 1-0 lead. Matthews (7-1) would settle down and work out of the inning allowing only five more San Francisco hits during his eight innings of work on the mound. Matthews struck out eight batters, without allowing a walk as he improved his earned run average to 2.65 on the season.
Brian Munhall would provide Matthews all the offense he would need in the bottom of the first connecting for a two-run home run to left off San Francisco starter Jesse Foppert (6-4). Eric Rodland scored on the home run after leading off the inning with a walk. Gonzaga would add four more insurance runs in the third with Jared Hertz delivering a big two-run double to left with bases loaded. Foppert would pitch into the fifth before exiting the game.
The Zags tacked on a single run in the fourth on a Matthews RBI single and two more runs in both the fifth and sixth innings. Rodland's double down the right field line was the big shot in the fifth while Hertz added another RBI double in the sixth. Hertz concluded his four-RBI day leading off the eighth with a home run to right as Gonzaga scored four more runs against the San Francisco bullpen. Garth Blumberg added a big two-RBI double to close out the scoring in the final Bulldog at-bat.
John Gonzalez closed out the game for the Bulldogs but not before making it interesting as the Dons loaded the bases with a series of pinch-hits and one walk. Hertz led Gonzaga's 16-hit attack with a 4-for-5 day while Munhall, Nate Gold and Kevin Cave each added two hits. Howard was San Francisco's top hitter with a 3-for-4 afternoon as the Dons scratched out nine hits.
