Box Score

SPOKANE, Wash.--The Gonzaga University baseball squad saw its five-game win streak snapped Saturday night as the Bulldogs fell 7-4 to the visiting Pepperdine Waves at Patterson Baseball Complex and Washington Trust Field.

Pepperdine took an early lead in the contest, scoring on an RBI double by Aaron Barnett in the top of the first. Matthew Kanfer drew a one-out walk in the frame, and he scored from first on the two-bagger by Barnett. Those were the only Pepperdine base runners in the inning, though, as Hunter Wells then retired the next two batters.

After that, both starters --Wells for Gonzaga and Kiko Garcia for Pepperdine -- hit a grove. Starting with the final two out in the first, Wells retired 12 in a row and 15 of the next 16 to work into the sixth inning. In that sixth inning, he struck the leadoff runner out, but a single by Kanfer started a stretch of six straight Waves reaching base, with Jordan Qsar hitting a two-run double down the right field line and Ben Rodriguez drawing a bases-loaded walk to bring in runs. Reliever Wyatt Mills came in and struck out his first batter faced, but Chase Lambert added an RBI single when the Gonzaga infield lost a high popup in the lights. In all, the Waves scored four runs in the frame.

Garcia, meanwhile, scattered four hits across the GU lineup through the first seven innings. In the eighth inning, the Zags solved Garcia's mechanics, striking back for four runs on four hits. Left fielder Tyler Frost led off with a homer to right, and both Dustin Breshears and Joey Harris followed up with singles. After a fielder's choice by Branson Trube plated Breshears and replaced Harris on the base paths, Jeff Bohling also took Garcia deep to right field, scoring two runs and bringing Gonzaga within a run at 5-4.

In the ninth, however, the Waves added a pair of insurance runs. The visitors loaded the bases with one out, chasing new GU pitcher Calvin LeBrun from the contest. Sam Hellinger then came on in relief and was greeted with a sacrifice fly for one RBI and a single up the middle from Qsar for the other. During the bottom half of the frame, the Zags went down in order, snapping their five-game win streak.

Bulldog Bites:

• With two homers in the eighth, the Bulldogs posted their first multi-home run game of the season. They last hit multiple homers May 3, 2015 at UCLA; they had two such games last year. Both of Bohling's and Frosts' home runs were the second of the season. Bohling has three in his career while Frost hit his fifth Saturday night. Bohling's two RBIs were his 14^th and 15^th of the season, equaling his career high set last year.
• Mills equaled a career high with three strikeouts, registering those in 2.2 innings of work. The outing was his sixth of the season, and he hasn't allowed a run in the last four appearances and 5.1 innings. In all, he's posted a 1.80 ERA with eight strikeouts and is second on the team in appearances in relief.
• With a base hit in the bottom of the fourth, Justin Jacobs extended his season-long hit streak to 14 games. The stretch started Feb. 21 at Grand Canyon, and he's hitting .352 with 19 hits and a pair of doubles since then. He's also added 11 runs and six RBIs. Overall, Jacobs has at least one hit in 16 of the Zags' 17 contests. The 14-game stretch equals his career high set last season. Bohling's homer also extended his on base streak to 14 games, a career high.
• With the loss, the Zags saw their five-game win streak, dating back to March 9 at Arkansas, snapped. It was their first such streak since they strung together six wins in a row during April of 2014.

Zag Speak:

Sophomore left fielder Tyler Frost

• "In the eighth inning, we started staying on the ball and thinking the other way rather than flying off the ball. It was good to see that breakthrough in the eighth inning, but it would have been nice to see a little earlier."

Junior pitcher Hunter Wells

• "I started getting a little tired and left the ball up, and they took advantage of it. It's one of those games you wish you could get back; I want it back, to be honest."
• "For tomorrow, we don't need to change much. We just need to get ahead of guys on the pitching side and stay aggressive on offense. We're hitting the ball well, which is nice to see. Just keep doing what we're doing and we're going to win ballgames."

Next Up:

The Zags (10-7, 1-1 WCC) and Waves will decide the outcome of the conference-opening series in the rubber match Sunday, March 20. RHP Eli Morgan is slated to start the game for Gonzaga while Pepperdine will counter with LHP Easton Lucas. First pitch is slated for 12:00 p.m., again at Patterson Baseball Complex.