Box Score
LOS ANGELES—For the first time in 2015, the Gonzaga University baseball team played extra innings, forcing 10 frames Friday night at Loyola Marymount. Also for the first time in 2015, the Bulldogs suffered the agony of a walk-off loss as the Lions won 6-5 in 10 innings at Page Stadium in Los Angeles.
Billy Wilson picked up the game-winning RBI in the bottom of the 10th inning, drawing a bases-loaded hit by pitch from GU reliever David Bigelow. The hit by pitch brought home David Fletcher for the winning run, who first reached base with a leadoff double and took third on a sacrifice bunt from David Edwards.
Before the 10th inning, Bigelow had pitched two strong frames after entering the game to begin the eighth. The redshirt senior fanned the first two batters he faced in the eighth, and he got another strikeout in the ninth to send the game into extra innings.
Gonzaga scored two runs in the sixth to draw the game level at five, where it stayed for the rest of regulation. Taylor Jones ripped a single up the middle, and Joey Harris followed up with a double down the right field line, giving the Zags two runners in scoring position with one out. A batter later, newly-placed leadoff hitter Sam Brown brought the two home with a single to left center, picking up his third and fourth RBIs of the game.
Brown's 2-RBI single to left center halted a stretch of five consecutive runs for Loyola Marymount. The Lions scored three in the bottom of the second to tie the game at three, and they added one in both the fourth and fifth innings to take the lead.
The visiting Zags scored the first three runs of the game, getting one in the first inning and two in the second. In the first, Mitchell Gunsolus didn't need any time to adjust to a new spot in the lineup as he cranked out a solo homer as the third man to the plate. The senior infielder blasted a 1-0 pitch out to right center field for his third home run of the year. They got two more in the top of the second when Brown with another 2-RBI single.
Bulldog Bites
- Brown picked up four RBIs on the night, matching the career high he set Feb. 21 at UC Davis (Game 1). The RBIs came in the second and the sixth innings, and the Mill Creek, Wash., native brought in Jones and Harris in both frames with a single. It's the third time a GU batter posted four RBIs in a game this season.
- GU head coach Mark Machtolf shook up the lineup Friday, putting hitters in new positions on the diamond and in the order. Gunsolus, previously the Zags' leadoff man and third baseman, moved over to second and hit third, while Brown hit leadoff for the first time this season. Cory LeBrun played left field for the first time in 2015. Additionally, Jeff Bohling got the nod at third for the first time this season.
- The Gonzaga pitching staff struck out 12 batters this season, equaling the team's yearly high. Starter Brandon Bailey fanned eight Lions in 6.2 innings of work, and reliever Calvin LeBrun's only recorded out came via the strikeout. Finally, three of Bigelow's seven outs came on strikes as well. The Zags hadn't fanned 12 batters since the Tulane series (March 6-8), when they did so in game one March 6 and game three on March 8.
- Loyola Marymount leads the nation, having been hit by 58 pitches throughout the year. Wilson, who drew the team's only HBP of the night to win the game, now leads the team by being plunked 10 times in 2015.
Mac Talk - Thoughts from Gonzaga head coach Mark Machtolf
On the team putting the loss behind them
"We just need to continue to push through and learn from our mistakes, to stop making those we are making. "
On the lineup changes tonight
"We shook the lineup a little bit to give Mitch a chance to drive in some runs…leading off, Sam did a great job and came up with clutch hits tonight."
Next Up
The Bulldogs (11-14, 2-5 WCC) and Lions will play the second game of the series Saturday, March 28. First pitch for that contest is scheduled for 6:00 p.m., again at Page Stadium in Los Angeles. Gonzaga will send RHP Andrew Sopko to the mound while LMU counters with RHP Tylor Megill.
