Gonzaga University
Saint Mary's
Bulldogs Fall At Saint Mary's, 11-3
5/3/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 3, 2002
MORAGA, Calif. - Gonzaga (23-23, 11-11 WCC) fell to the .500 mark for the first time since March 30 as the Bulldogs dropped their sixth straight game with an 11-3 loss at Saint Mary's (19-21, 11-9 WCC) on Friday afternoon. The two teams will continue their West Coast Conference series with Saturday and Sunday games at Louis Gusto Field.
The Gaels would strike first in the ball game scoring three runs in the bottom of the first inning. Jason Waugh opened the inning with a single to center. He would advance to third on an error when Mike Sansoe reached on a sacrifice bunt attempt that was misplayed. Both runners would come around to score as Tim Spooner doubled down the left field line. An infield ground out would score Mark Teahen to account for the third Gaels run.
Gonzaga would cut the lead to 3-1 in the third inning as Jeff Culpepper would beat out a double play ball allowing Sam Hess to score from third base. Hess had reached on a single to left. Saint Mary's would respond with two runs in their half of the third as Sansoe and Brian Houle opened with a walk and single against Gonzaga starter Ed Clelland (5-5). Sansoe would score on an infield ground out while Houle crossed the plate on Spooner's second RBI double of the day.
The Bulldogs attempted a come back in the middle innings as Kevin Richardson hit his 13th home run of the season to bring Gonzaga within 5-3. That would be all the damage the Gaels pitching staff would allow as Kevin Trochez worked seven innings to improve to 5-4 on the year. Matt Dolen worked the final two innings for Saint Mary's as the Gaels tacked on six additional runs in the late innings. Spooner continued to deliver the big hits as he hit a three-run home run in the eighth inning to finish the day with eight RBI. He was 3-for-3 at the plate to lead Saint Mary's.
Culpepper, Richardson and Garth Blumberg all finished with two hits for Gonzaga. The Bulldogs now fall one game behind Saint Mary's in the West Coast Conference Coast Division race. Both teams entered the day one game behind Pepperdine which plays a Friday night contest at Santa Clara.
