Box Score May 11, 2018 Box Score
SPOKANE, Wash. - Gonzaga baseball got a seventh-inning home run from
Jake Vieth and a great staff pitching performance on the way to a 2-1 win over New Mexico State on Friday night. The Zags also honored longtime head coach Steve Hertz in the rededication of the field as Patterson Baseball Complex and Coach Steve Hertz Field.
Down 1-0 heading into the bottom of the seventh, Jake Vieth ripped a two-run homer over the left field fence to put the Zags in the lead for good. Closer Casey Legumina came on and dominated in a two-out save that gave him the single-season school record at 13. He passed Wyatt Mills (2017) and Cody Martin (2011) who each had 12.
Facing an Aggie lineup that featured seven players hitting over .300 and a team batting average of .327 on the season, GU starter Daniel Bies put together a gem, but exited before the Zags took the lead. He went 6.0 innings, allowing just one run on three hits with six strikeouts and zero walks. Calvin LeBrun faced a minimum three batters in working through the seventh, and Legumina allowed just one hit with a pair of strikeouts in 2.0 innings.
On offense, Ernie Yake and Gunnar Schubert found themselves on base the most often, but it was Vieth who put the Zags in the lead. Yake and Isaac Barrera each had two hits, while Schubert reached three times with a single and a pair of walks.
The Zags threatened early, putting Yake and Schubert on with singles in the third, but NMSU starter Kyle Bradish got out of that jam with a groundout.
Vieth's blast put the Zags in the lead in the bottom of the seventh with an opposite field shot for his team-leading eighth home run of the year. He brought home Nick Brooks who had reached on a strikeout-wild pitch.
The Zags and Aggies will play the second of a three-game series on Saturday at 6 p.m. at Patterson Baseball Complex and Coach Steve Hertz Field. Live coverage will be available on GoZags.com.
