Box Score

SPOKANE, Wash.--The Gonzaga University baseball team opened the 2017 home schedule with yet another pitching gem from junior Eli Morgan as the Zags downed Pacific 4-0 at Patterson Baseball Complex & Washington Trust Field Friday afternoon.

Morgan, the reigning National Pitcher of the Week according to numerous collegiate baseball outlets, threw his second consecutive complete game shutout, allowing just one hit and striking out 13 batters. The Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., native flirted with a perfect game, retiring the first 23 batters he faced. Pacific left fielder Blake Barry broke up that bid with a single up the middle with two down in the eighth inning, but he was the only Tiger to reach base all day. Blake was stranded on first with a fly out to centerfield to end the inning.

The Gonzaga righty needed just 85 pitches to record all 27 outs Friday. He faced only one three-ball count all game - that coming in the second inning - and he tallied at least one strikeout in every frame. Morgan struck out the side in the third and added two each in the fourth and the seventh.

Offensively, the Bulldogs manufactured a run in the second to give Morgan a lead. Daniel Fredrickson and Jake Vieth drew inning-opening walks, and Fredrickson took third with a stolen base; Vieth advanced on the play when Pacific catcher James Free bobbled the ball in an attempt to throw down to third base. Gunnar Schubert then hit a grounder to short, allowing Fredrickson to score but putting Vieth out on the play.

Fredrickson tallied Gonzaga's first hit in the fourth, and the Bulldogs struck for two runs on three hits in the sixth. With one down, Jeff Bohling reached on a base knock, and Tyler Frost brought him home with a home run over the scoreboard in right field. Justin Jacobs followed up with a single, but he was put out during an inning-ending double play.

Gonzaga tacked one on in the seventh. Vieth led the frame with a double near the foul line in left, and he moved up 90 feet on a single from Jake Roberts. The first baseman then came home on an RBI grounder from Sam Brown to put the score at 4-0 GU, the game's final.

Morgan collected the win, his third in a row and third of the season, while Pacific starter Ryan Shreve picked up his first loss. Shreve tossed 6.0 innings in the spot start. He gave up three runs on four hits while walking two Bulldogs and hitting one with a pitch.

Bulldog Bites:

• With five career shutouts, Morgan is now Division I's sole active leader in the category. He's also tied for fifth in the entire NCAA. This is his second consecutive shutout after blanking Cal State Fullerton March 10, and he's pitched back-to-back shutouts twice already in his three years as a Zag. Morgan also moved into a tie for fifth in Gonzaga history in career shutouts.
• Morgan is currently on a 22.2-inning shutout streak dating back to March 3. At UCLA, he allowed a run with one down in the second inning, but got out of the frame and pitched four more scoreless innings against the Bruins before his back-to-back shutouts. He's allowed just six hits during that stretch.
• In addition to being the Zags' home opener, Friday's contest was the first West Coast Conference contest of 2017 for both teams. The Bulldogs have now won the last six games against Pacific, taking the final two in 2015 and sweeping the series last year in Stockton.
• This is Gonzaga's first one-hitter since Tyler Olson stifled these same Pacific Tigers on March 6, 2011. Olson struck out 10 and walked two during that contest.
• Frost's home run was his fifth of the season, moving the junior into a tie for first in the WCC. He's homered in back-to-back games after a four-bagger March 14 at UC Riverside.

Zag Speak:

Junior RHP Eli Morgan

• "I'm not trying to do too much. I feel like I'm just going out there and trying to throw all strikes. I'm not really worrying about getting too deep into counts; if they hit it, let them hit it. If not, I have some good off-speed pitches I can put them away with."
• "It's awesome to be back home. We haven't been on the field in a long time, and seeing it game-ready is pretty cool."

Head Coach Mark Machtolf

• "First off, that was an amazing performance. It's hard [for Morgan] to be better than he was last Friday, and I think he was. But just from the standpoint of the weekend series, to get a complete game and to set the tone from your Friday starter, you can't draw it up any better than what he's done the last three weeks."

Next Up:

Gonzaga (8-9, 1-0 WCC) and Pacific (8-8, 0-1 WCC) resume the three-game conference series on Saturday March 18, again at Patterson Baseball Complex. RHP Justin Vernia is slated to get the start for Gonzaga, while Pacific will turn to RHP Will Lydon. First pitch is slated for 3:00 p.m.