Box Score

FULLERTON, Calif.--The Gonzaga baseball team was just four outs from a win and series clinch at No. 7/11 Cal State Fullerton, but an eighth inning rally from the home team handed the Bulldogs a 4-3 loss and evened the series Saturday night at Goodwin Field.

Gonzaga took a 3-1 lead into the bottom of the eighth, but Cal State Fullerton stormed ahead with a trio of runs. Titan first baseman Taylor Bryant led the frame off with a single to right field, but GU reliever Sam Hellinger got the next two batters to fly out. Then, the senior righty hit Tristan Hildebrandt with a 3-2 pitch to give the Titans a pair of baserunners. Timmy Richards cut the deficit to one with an RBI single up the middle, and right fielder Hunter Cullen hit a triple down the right field line to put the home team on top. Hellinger got the next batter to ground out, but the Zags were unable to rally in the top of the ninth, and the series was evened at one game apiece.

Gonzaga had taken the lead in the fifth inning after tying the game in the fourth. In the fifth, the Bulldogs grabbed the lead by scoring two runs on four hits. Gunnar Schubert led the frame off with a single, and he moved to second with a base knock from Jake Roberts. Schubert scored when Jeff Bohling sliced a 2-2 pitch into left field, and Roberts came home on the next play as Tyler Frost ripped a single up the middle.

Frost led the fourth off with a solo blast to right field, leveling the score at one. Two more Zags reached base in the inning, but the Titan defense used a pickoff and a double play to keep Gonzaga from scoring any more. Frost's homerun was the first run of the season allowed by Cal State Fullerton starter Gavin Velasquez.

The Titans opened the scoring account early with a first-inning run. Niko Pacheco hit a two-out single through the right side past the glove of Jacobs at second base. The base knock allowed Scott Hurst to score from second. Gonzaga starter Justin Vernia then held the Titans scoreless through the rest of his six-inning outing. He was in line for the win until the eighth-inning rally. Instead, the win went to CSUF reliever Erik Cha, and Hellinger took his first loss of the year. Brett Conine got the save after making the final two outs in the ninth inning.

Bulldog Bites:

• Vernia pitched six innings Saturday night, allowing just one run on seven hits while striking out six and walking two. The six strikeouts are a career high for the Issaquah, Wash., native, and he posted his third quality start of the season.
• As a team, the Zags collected 10 hits on the night, their fourth double-digit hit performance of the season. Schubert and Jacobs both had three apiece, Schubert collecting three singles and Jacobs hitting a double and two singles. It was Schubert's first career three-hit night, and Jacobs matched his career best as well.
• Frost drove in two runs on two hits Saturday night, getting one of both with his fourth-inning blast. That home run was his third of the season, and it was his second multi-hit and multi-RBI game of the year as well.
• Hellinger's three runs allowed in the eighth were the first earned runs he had allowed all season. The reliever entered the game in the seventh inning, inheriting a two-on, no-out jam. He needed just five pitches to get a double play and a lineout to end the frame, however. He still has not allowed an inherited runner to score this season.

Mac Talk: Thoughts from Gonzaga head coach Mark Mactholf

"It was a good battle all night, some things just didn't go our way late. Tough games like this will give us an opportunity to respond with a great effort in the next one. We look to do that tomorrow in the rubber game."

Next Up:

Gonzaga and Cal State Fullerton will play one more to determine the series winner Sunday, March 12. The rubber match will begin at 1:00 p.m., again on Goodwin Field. Freshman southpaw Mac Lardner will take the mound for the Zags, and the Titans will send fellow lefty John Gavin to the rubber. Links to live stats and video for that game may be found at www.GoZags.com.