SPOKANE, Wash. - The Gonzaga University baseball team tried to rally from a three-run deficit in the ninth inning but came up short as the University of the Pacific defeated the Bulldogs 4-2 in the non-conference series finale Sunday afternoon.
Marco Gonzales had three hits on the day, including his first career home run in the seventh inning, to lead the Bulldogs (12-6). Royce Bolinger, Clayton Eslick, Maxx Garrett and Billy Moon also added a base hit for the Bulldogs.
Andy Hunter (2-1) threw 6 1/3 frames, striking out four and allowing two earned runs on six hits and a pair of walks. Zach Abbruzza surrendered a double and a walk in 1 1/3 innings of work while David Bigelow struck out one but allowed a run on two hits in the ninth inning.
Hunter retired 15 of the first 17 batters but the Tigers (4-15) were able to figure out the right-hander in the sixth inning, using three straight singles and a sacrifice fly to score the first two runs in the game.
One inning later, Hunter surrendered a leadoff single but the Bulldogs caught the runner stealing second for the first out. He walked the next batter before Abbruzza took over and the first batter the freshman faced doubled down the left field line to set up runners on second and third base. The next batter hit a grounder to shortstop Steven Halcomb, but the throw to Garrett at home to prevent the run from scoring passed the catcher and into the backstop, allowing the Tigers to score the third run of the game.
Pacific starter Mike Hager (1-1) retired 17 of the first 19 Bulldogs he faced before Gonzales opened the seventh inning with his solo shot to right center field.
The Tigers were able to get the three-run lead back in the ninth inning. Bigelow allowed a leadoff double and a sacrifice bunt moved him to third. The Bulldogs got the second out on ground out to Halcomb but the next batter hit a fly ball over Bolinger in centerfield to bring in the run from third. The batter-runner easily reached second base and advanced to third when Bolinger had a difficult time picking up the ball near the centerfield fence. Bigelow would stop the damage with a strikeout.
The Bulldogs rally in the ninth inning began with back-to-back singles by Gonzales and Bolinger. The Bulldogs got their second run in when Eslick hit a RBI single up the middle deep enough for Gonzales to score from second base. Bolinger was able to reach third base but the move cost two outs as Halcomb grounded into a double play. Stanford looked to keep the game alive but a ground out to the second baseman ended the Bulldogs rally.
The Bulldogs will take Monday off and then make a trip to nearby Pullman to open a three-game season series with in-state rival Washington State University Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. Following a day off Wednesday, the Bulldogs will welcome the University of Hawai'i for a four-game non-conference series starting Thursday at 6 p.m.
