Baseball Drops Game 7-5 at No. 7 Arkansas

Thursday, February 20

Fayetteville, Ark.

12 p.m. PST

Gonzaga University

2-3

#7 Arkansas

4-0

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Gonzaga	0	0	2	1	2	0	0	0	0	5	11	0
Arkansas	0	2	3	0	0	0	2	0	X	7	8	0

Photo by: Zachary Lucy Photography

2/20/2020 4:57:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

GU outhit the Razorbacks 11-8, but had 11 LOB

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Gonzaga baseball outhit No. 7 Arkansas 11-8, but left 11 runners on base in a 7-5 loss to open the four-game series in Fayetteville, Ark.

Gonzaga (2-3) twice came back from deficits to tie the score, but the Razorbacks (4-0) had the final answer with two runs in the seventh inning to take the win.

"We did a good job of battling, but didn't play a clean enough game to win," head coach Mark Machtolf said. "We gave too many free passes and didn't turn a couple plays into outs, which you need to do against a team of that caliber. We are ready to get back out there tomorrow."

Stephen Lund went 3-for-4, while Brett Harris, Tyler Rando and Ryan Sullivan each had two hits. Rando pushed his hit streak to all five games on the year.

Gonzaga starter Keaton Knueppel threw for the first time in nearly two years and went 2.1 innings, allowing three runs on four hits with one strikeout. Daniel Naughton was solid in relief with 4.0 innings of work, allowing just two runs on two hits with five strikeouts.

Gonzaga answered a pair of second-inning Razorback runs with two of their own on Harris' first home run of the season. Harris went opposite field on the windy day and scored Ernie Yake, who had reached on a walk.

A bit of bad luck followed the Zags in the bottom of the third when Arkansas scored two on a pop fly to centerfield that Josh Bristyan lost in the sun. That was part of a three-run inning, but GU was there to answer once again.

Bristyan knocked home one with a groundout in the fourth, and then Sullivan and Gabriel Hughes hit back-to-back doubles in the fifth to bring the Zags within one. Later in the inning, Jack Machtolf knocked home the tying run with a groundout to make it 5-5.

On the mound, GU's Daniel Naughton faced just one over them minimum in the fourth, fifth and sixth to slow down the Razorbacks. After retiring the first batter of the seventh, Naughton's day was done and Arkansas put a pair of runners aboard against GU's Jacob Rutherford. Those runners came on to score after Rutherford was relieved by Trystan Vrieling. Vrieling settled in and pitched the final 1.2 innings.

Gonzaga and Arkansas will play the second of a four-game series in Fayetteville, Ark., on Friday at 1 p.m. PT/3 p.m. CT. Check GoZags.com for links to live coverage.