Box Score March 16, 2018 Box Score
SPOKANE, Wash. -- Starting pitcher
Daniel Bies struck out 13 batters in eight innings of work to lead Gonzaga baseball to a 1-0 win over Pepperdine in its home and West Coast Conference opener on Friday night.
"It was a great pitching effort from Daniel Bies, that's what Friday night looks like in this league," head coach Mark Machtolf said. "We didn't execute very well on offense, but I liked the way we battled with two strikes. We are going to take this win and move on to the next game."
Bies, who had set or tied a career high for strikeouts three times in four starts this year, blew those numbers away with his 13 on the night against Pepperdine. He gave up just two hits and walked just two batters in the combined shutout. Casey Legumina protected the 1-0 lead with a clean ninth to get his fifth save of the year.
The Zags bats were stifled most of the night as well, but they took advantage of a costly Pepperdine error in the bottom of the eighth to scratch out a run. Jake Vieth led off the inning with a pop up to short, but Pepperdine's Chase Lambert couldn't handle it and Vieth raced in to second. Pinch runner Isaac Barrera then moved to third on a wild pitch and Gunnar Schubert came up huge with a laser to centerfield to bring the winning run.
Schubert went 2-for-4 in the game, moving his on-base streak to 17 games and his hit streak to 11 games. Trube reached twice on walks, the first two of the season for Pepperdine starter Wil Jensen, who entered the game with zero in 29.0 innings of work.
Gonzaga will be back on the field for the second of a three-game series with Pepperdine on Saturday at 6 p.m. at Washington Trust Field at Patterson Baseball Complex. Follow the action with live stats and video at GoZags.com.
