May 28, 2016 Box Score
STOCKTON, Calif.-Gonzaga baseball's WCC Tournament run came to an end in the final in a 13-4 loss to Saint Mary's on Saturday at Banner Island Ballpark.
Saint Mary's scored eight runs in the first two innings and Gonzaga was unable to mount a substantial comeback.
The Bulldogs saw an immediate runner in scoring position after Sam Brown hit a leadoff double, but he wasn't able to come around for a run. After a strikeout, Brown did move up on a fly out from Taylor Jones, but another strikeout ended the inning. Saint Mary's capitalized on their scoring opportunity in the first, scoring twice after loading the bases for a 2-0 lead.
In the next frame, Saint Mary's broke the game open with six more runs on five hits and a walk. The Gaels got four of those hits in their first five official at bats of the frame, and Anthony Villa's single to left center and a throwing error from Tyler Frost eventually chased Gonzaga starter Calvin LeBrun from the game. After a walk was issued from reliever Sam Hellinger, Jackson Thoreson hit a three-run home run to cap off the inning.
After Hellinger kept Saint Mary's off the scoreboard in the third and the fourth, the Zags got their first two runs of the game with blast from Jace VanDeBrake in the fifth inning. Saint Mary's countered with two runs of its own in the fifth, but the Zags tried to answer back by loading the bases with one out in the sixth. Catcher Joey Harris hit a sharp liner, but right at Thoreson on first base, who caught it and stepped on first base to complete a double play.
Saint Mary's scored three more runs in the seventh inning, but Gonzaga got two of those back, one on an RBI double from Justin Jacobs and another on an RBI groundout from Dustin Breshears. Those two eighth-inning runs put the score at 13-4, the game's final.
All-Tournament Team:
Three Zags earned All-WCC Championship Team honors: Frost, Brown, and Brandon Bailey. Frost was one of two Bulldogs to hit .333 at the tournament while leading the club with four runs scored and two home runs, including the walk-off winner against Pepperdine May 27 in an elimination game. Brown collected four hits, two of which were extra bases, and drove in two runs while scoring one himself in the tournament-opening win over BYU May 26. Bailey meanwhile fanned 17 batters, the most by a Bulldog in at least 20 years and a WCC Championships single game record, in that same game against the Cougars.
Bulldog Bites:
- VanDeBrake's home run was his third of the year and first since April 16 against San Francisco. During that game, the redshirt freshman went yard twice for his first two career four-baggers. After three home runs versus Pepperdine on May 27, the Bulldogs have hit four in the last two games, more than any other two-game stretch this year.
- With three doubles today, the Zags are just four away from tying the program record of 129 set in 2010.That 125 mark is second-most in the WCC and among the Top 20 in Division I, and Gonzaga's 2.4 doubles per game is one of the 10 highest marks in the country. Brown hit his 16th two-bagger of the year, and Jones hit his WCC-leading 24th; his doubles-per-game tally of 0.45 is the fourth highest in the nation.
Next Up:
With the end of the WCC Championships, the Zags (35-19) now await word to see if they will continue postseason play. The entire NCAA Tournament field will be announced Monday, May 30 at 9:00 a.m. Pacific on ESPNU. Gonzaga entered Saturday with an NCAA RPI of 29.
