April 15, 2016 Box Score
SAN FRANCISCO--The Gonzaga University baseball team saw its season-long seven game win streak snapped Friday afternoon as the Dons took game one of a three-game set 9-1 at Benedetti Diamond in San Francisco.
The Zags opened the scoring accord early, plating one in the first inning. Left fielder Sam Brown led the game off with a double down the left field line, and he moved up to third base on a groundout from Jeff Bohling. Those extra 90 feet ended up not mattering as much as first baseman Taylor Jones sent a two-bagger down the right field line to bring in the redshirt junior. Jones was later picked off at second to end the inning.
San Francisco took the lead for good in the second with five unearned runs in the frame. After the first two batters reached base, GU starter Brandon Bailey got a ground ball from Aaron Ping, but after collecting the ball, Bailey's throw sailed wide of Bohling in an attempt to get the lead runner Nico Giarratano out at third. The errant throw allowed Giarratano to score and the other two USF runners to take second and third. A sacrifice fly brought in another run, and after a groundout to shortstop Dustin Breshears for what should have been the second out, San Francisco scored twice more on base hits and once more on a throwing error by catcher Joey Harris in an attempt to catch Matt Sinatro stealing third. The ball bounced off Sinatro's helmet and into the Gonzaga dugout to plate the run, the fifth of the frame.
Dons' starter Anthony Shew kept the Zags off the basepaths in the third and fourth innings, but Gonzaga managed at least one hit in each of the final four. Those hits were scattered, however, as the Bulldogs didn't see a runner past first base until the ninth, when Breshears and Patrick Chung posted back-to-back singles. San Francisco, meanwhile, added on with one run in the fifth and three in the eighth to put the score at 9-1 in favor of the home team, where it stayed despite the two ninth-inning GU base knocks.
Bulldog Bites:
- Shew got the win for USF while Bailey took the loss, just his second of the season. The five-inning, six-run outing snapped Bailey's streak of five consecutive quality starts, although only one of his runs allowed was earned.
- With two hits on the day, Jones extended his hit streak to 11 games, tying the longest of his career. He also extended his personal-best on base streak to 19 games. His double in the first was his 18th, allowing the senior from Kent, Wash., to take the conference lead in the category; he entered the day tied for BYU's Brennon Lund, and they were both tied for seventh in the nation.
- Jones' two-hit game also gives him the team lead with 16 multi-hit performances. Jacobs and Chung also collected two base-knocks apiece, giving Jacobs his 10th and Chung his eighth multi-hit game of the year.
- Gonzaga's three pitchers -- Bailey, Sam Hellinger, and Eli Thornquist -- combined for 11 strikeouts on the day for the team's fourth double-digit strikeout game of the year. Bailey fanned seven for his seventh 7+ K game of the year, while Hellinger and Thornquist both added two each. Gonzaga entered the series second in the WCC with 278 strikeouts and leading the league with a 2.57 strikeout-walk ratio and 9.2 strikeouts per nine innings.
Next Up:
The Zags (20-11, 9-4 WCC) look to even the series Saturday, April 16, with game two of the set against the Dons. First pitch for that contest will be at 1:00 p.m., again at Benedetti Diamond. RHP Eli Morgan will toe the rubber for Gonzaga while San Francisco counters with RHP Thomas Ponticelli.
