Box Score SALT LAKE CITY — Gonzaga baseball took advantage of a three-run homer by Nick Nyquist and shut down Utah on the way to a 5-3 road win on Tuesday afternoon in Salt Lake City.
 
Nyquist came to the plate with two runners aboard in the sixth and Gonzaga trailing 2-1, and the senior deposited the ball over the left field fence for his third home run of the season. The dinger put GU ahead 4-2.
 
Gonzaga's bullpen then pitched its way out of two big jams in the eighth and ninth to complete the victory. Utah loaded the bases in both innings, but came away empty-handed. After starter Matthew Henckel went 4.1 innings and allowed just two runs, the bullpen pitched the final 4.2 innings and gave up just one run. Taylor Davis got the win, going 1.2 innings and allowing just one run. Trent Schulte and Billy Dimlow combined for the next 1.2, and Alek Jacob closed out the final 1.1 for his fourth save of the year.
 
On offense, Gonzaga got three hits from Ernie Yake and two from Troy Johnston to go along with Nyquists homer.
 
"That was a good win to springboard us into conference play," head coach Mark Machtolf said. "It was a good group effort on the mound and really nice to see Nick Nyquist hit that big blast."
 
GU scored to start the game when Yake led off with a triple and came home on a sacrifice fly by Guthrie Morrison for a 1-0 lead. After Utah scored single runs in the fourth and fifth, Nyquist's game changing at-bat put GU in the lead for good. The Zags added one more in the seventh on a sac fly by Brett Harris.
 
GU stays in the state of Utah for the West Coast Conference opener at BYU on Thursday, March 14. In a series that was originally scheduled for Spokane, this season's location was switched with the 2020 BYU-GU series. GU will play the three games this week in Provo, Utah. Links to live coverage will be available at GoZags.com.