Feb. 26, 2017 Box Score | Photo Gallery 
LOS ANGELES--It was another close game for the Gonzaga baseball team at UCLA Sunday, but the Bruins held on for a 5-4 win thanks to a stolen home run ball in the eighth inning at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
Down by a run in the bottom of the eighth, Zag center fielder Tyler Frost sent a two-out, 1-1 pitch well into left field. As the ball was approaching the outfield fence, UCLA left fielder Brett Stephens made a well-timed leap, making the catch for the final out and stopping the Zags from tying the game.
The Zags opened the contest by scoring two runs in the first inning. Jeff Bohling and Frost both reached with one out, and Gunnar Schubert opened the scoring account with an RBI single to center field, allowing Bohling to score from third base. In the next at bat, Jake Vieth drove a 2-0 pitch into right field, plating Frost for the two-run advantage.
UCLA countered with four runs off Gonzaga right hander Casey Legumina in the second. The first four Bruins singled to begin the frame, and UCLA also took advantage of a GU throwing error and a sacrifice fly from Sean Bouchard for the runs. All four of those were earned runs despite the error.
Both teams tacked on one more in the third inning. The Zags scored theirs on another RBI single from Vieth, while the Bruins saw a solo homer from Jake Pries. Gonzaga got that run back in the next frame, however, when Frost went yard for the first time this season, cutting UCLA's lead to one at 5-4.
After Pries' home run with one down in the third, Legumina settled into a rhythm. He retired his next eight batters that he faced, and he faced the minimum 11 batters from the homer until the end of the sixth inning, when he left the game in favor of reliever Daniel Bies. Bies retired the side in order in the seventh and made two outs in the eighth before Wyatt Mills got the final out for the Zags.
While they did not score after Frost's fourth-inning home run, the Bulldogs saw ample opportunities. Besides Frost's near-second homer in the eighth, they loaded the bases in the sixth, getting two two-out walks and a single for a threat. Vieth then blasted a 3-2 pitch out to center field, but the Bruins' Daniel Amaral made the catch not far from the wall to retire the side.
UCLA reliever Nick Scheidler earned the win, his first of the year, after tossing 1.2 scoreless innings in the fourth and through most of the fifth. Legumina took the loss in his collegiate debut, while the Bruins' Brian Gadsby picked up the save.
Bulldog Bites:
- Vieth once again led the Zags at the plate, going 2-for-5 with two singles and two RBIs. It was the first multi-RBI game of his GU career and by a Bulldog this season, and he, Bohling, and Justin Jacobs now lead the team with three multi-hit games in 2017. Overall, Vieth hit .429 (5x12) with a double, two RBIs, and a walk in three games at UCLA
- Frost's fourth-inning home run was his first home run of the year and first by any Bulldog this season. Last year, Frost was second on the team with seven home runs, the first of which came in his 14th game played.
- Gonzaga's bullpen - Bies and Mills - combined for two shutout innings and only one hit allowed Sunday. The pen also held UCLA scoreless for four innings in Feb. 24's 10-inning contest. Relievers allowed three runs in 4.2 innings in the Bruins' win Feb. 25.
- Sunday's game clinched the series win for UCLA, giving the Zags their third straight series loss to the Bruins. In each series, however (2002, 2015, 2017), the Bulldogs have taken one game. Despite the series loss, the Bulldogs are still 8-4 against Pac-12 teams over the last two seasons.
Mac Talk: Thoughts from Gonzaga head coach Mark Machtolf
- "Legumina was pretty amped up early for his first collegiate outing. We also gave away a couple outs on bunt plays in that second inning, which turned it into a big one for them. Obviously, he did a nice job of settling in later in the game."
- "Offensively we were much better today with a lot of hard hit balls and some chances to win that ballgame and the series on the road."
Next Up:
Gonzaga (3-4) continues the season-opening road trip with another Pac-12 opponent next weekend. The Zags head to Berkeley, Calif., for four games at California. The first contest of the series will begin at 7:05 p.m. on Friday, March 3.