Gonzaga University
Portland
Big Second Inning Propels GU Past Pilots
4/18/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Box Score
PORTLAND, Ore.—The Gonzaga University baseball squad got all the runs it needed in the second inning Friday afternoon, scoring five times in the frame and holding on for a 5-3 win against Portland at Joe Etzel Field in Portland.
The host Pilots actually opened scoring Friday, getting one in the bottom of the first inning. Michael Lucarelli hit a leadoff double to right field and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt from Cooper Hummel. Turner Gill then plated Lucarelli with a single up the middle. Portland proceeded to move Gill to third and put a man on first for runners on the corners with one out, but Bulldog starter Andrew Sopko got out of the jam with a fielder's choice and a grounder to short.
Gonzaga got all the offense it needed in the second inning, scoring five runs on four consecutive hits while putting the first six batters on base. Justin Jacobs and Cory LeBrun each got plunked by Portland starter Billy Sahlinger, giving the Zags two runners for Tyler Frost. The freshman ripped a double down the right field line to plate Jacobs, and LeBrun scored a batter later when Joey Harris singled to right field. Dustin Breshears sent a 3-1 pitch down the left field line for one more RBI double, and Sam Brown cleared the bases with another double, his second and the Bulldogs' fourth of the game. He got two RBIs on the base knock.
While the Zags scored enough runs to win in the second, Portland kept adding runs to stay in the game. In the fifth inning, Lucarelli doubled for the second time in the game to bring in an RBI, and Gill added another in the seventh with yet another RBI single up the middle.
The Pilots brought the tying run to the plate in both the seventh and eighth innings. In the seventh, they actually put the tying run aboard with Gill's single, but right hander David Bigelow replaced Sopko and got Portland's Kevin Wade to pop out to end the frame and the threat. In the eighth inning, Eric Sapp represented the tying run at the plate after the Pilots got a two-out single. Sapp, however, flied out to left field on the first pitch he saw from Bigelow.
In the bottom of the ninth, Bigelow retired the side in order as the Zags hung on for the 5-3 win. The victory is the Zags' sixth consecutive West Coast Conference win, and Gonzaga has now won four in a row and six of its last seven.
Bulldog Bites
- Gonzaga's five-run second inning is the seventh frame in which Gonzaga has plated five or more runs this season. They've done so twice in the month of April (also: seven in fifth inning April 4 versus USD), but the second inning is the earliest frame in which they've plated five runs. Five of those seven instances have come in the fifth inning or later.
- The Zags combined for five doubles on the day, their most as a team this season and most since also doubling five times against Saint Mary's April 14, 2013. Brown and Breshears each had two doubles, and today's contest is the Zags' first of the year where two players each doubled twice.
- With the win, Gonzaga extended its win streak against Portland to 13 games as Gonzaga has swept the last four series against its Pacific Northwest foe. GU has won every game against Portland since the beginning of the 2011 season.
- Breshears' two-hit day is his 10th of the season but first in over a month. He last had two hits in a game on March 14 versus San Francisco. It's his first game with two hits for extra bases in a Zag uniform. The redshirt junior entered today's game with just two extra-base hits.
- On the mound, Sopko threw his sixth quality start in 10 attempts, allowing three runs in 6.2 innings of work. The junior has gone 6.0 innings or more in eight of his 10 outings, and he's allowed three or less runs in eight outings as well. He also fanned eight batters for the second time in a row and was just one off his season high of nine strikeouts. With the win, he advanced to 6-3 on the season.
- Bigelow, meanwhile, earned his eighth save of the season, throwing 2.1 innings of one-hit ball. The redshirt senior entered the game tied for third in the WCC with seven saves. He's gone 2.0 innings or more in exactly half of those save appearances, in three of the last four dating back to March 31.
Mac Talk - Thoughts from Gonzaga head coach Mark Machtolf
"Sahlinger was keeping the ball up in the second inning, and we just made the swings in positive counts. We took advantage of what we needed to take advantage of in the first and second inning."
"We expect Bigelow to come in situations like that to go more than one or two innings for a save. He can go that distance. Sopko pitched well tonight, too."
Next Up
Gonzaga (19-17, 9-7 WCC) will renew acquaintances with the Pilots on Saturday, April 18, for game two of the three-game set. The Bulldogs will send RHP Hunter Wells to the mound while Portland will counter with RHP Kurt Yinger. First pitch in that contest will come at 1:00 p.m., again at Joe Etzel Field in Portland.
