Box Score

PROVO, Utah--The Gonzaga University baseball team began a series between two teams atop the West Coast Conference standings Thursday night, falling 11-2 to BYU at Miller Field in Provo, Utah.

Both teams scored in the first inning, with the Zags drawing first blood on an RBI double from Jeff Bohling. The two-bagger, coming on an 0-1 pitch from BYU's Mike Rucker, brought in leadoff batter Sam Brown, who singled up the middle to begin the game.

BYU immediately countered with three runs off Bulldog starter Brandon Bailey in the bottom of the frame. Left fielder Eric Urry hit a single through the left side to bring in the first two Cougar runs, and right fielder Keaton Kringlen hit a grounder to shortstop Dustin Breshears to bring in the other. Kringlen's base knock took a bad hop and hit Breshears in the cheek, but the redshirt senior stayed in the game.

Both starters settled down to post a couple of scoreless innings in the second and third, but the Cougars got one more run off Bailey in the fourth. They scored another off the Broomfield, Colo., native in the fifth before Bailey was pulled in favor of reliever Justin Vernia, who closed out the fifth without any more runs crossing the plate.

The junior transfer got out of the fifth inning unscathed, but he did allow a solo home run in the sixth and a two-run homer in the seventh. In the eighth, BYU scored three more to clinch the win , but Gonzaga got one back in the ninth with an RBI single from Jace VanDeBrake to put the score at 11-2, the game's final.

Bulldog Bites:

• Bailey entered the game with a 1.57 ERA, second-lowest in the WCC, while Rucker's 2.81 ERA was fourth-best in the conference. Bailey tossed season lows with four innings pitched and only three strikeouts. His five earned runs was also a season high, and they raised his season ERA to 2.15 exiting the game. The Zags' run off Rucker, meanwhile, was the first first-inning run he'd given up all year.
• Gonzaga scattered nine hits on the night, with three of them coming in the first inning and two in the ninth. Eight of GU's nine starters posted a base knock, as did pinch hitter Nick Brooks in the ninth inning.
• Center fielder Tyler Frost was active in the middle of the outfield, making five catches on the night. That equals his career high with five putouts, which he's attained twice this year already.
• With the loss, the Zags cede first place in the conference to BYU percentage-wise. The Cougars are 11-5 (.688) in WCC action while Gonzaga falls to 12-7 (.632). GU is still ahead of the Cougars by one WCC win.

Next Up:

The Zags (24-14, 12-7 WCC) will look to even the series on Friday, April 29, with game two in Provo. Gonzaga will send RHP Eli Morgan to the mound while the Cougars will turn to LHP Hayden Rogers. First pitch for that game is slated for 5:00 p.m. (6:00 p.m. Mountain), again at Miller Field in Provo.