FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Gonzaga baseball mounted a rally in the middle innings, but wasn't able to keep up with No. 7 Arkansas in a 9-3 loss on Friday afternoon in Fayetteville, Ark.

Gonzaga (2-4) drew five walks and had five hits, but Arkansas' nine hits turned into nine runs against the Zags' pitching staff. Gabriel Hughes hit his first collegiate home run for Gonzaga and Ernie Yake had two hits and a run scored to pace the GU offense.

"Mac [Lardner] gave us a good start today, but need to buckle down when we got in a jam in the middle innings," head coach Mark Machtolf said. "Today was a good learning experience in minimizing those situations to allow our offense to answer back. We look forward to another good test and opportunity to play a complete game tomorrow."

On the mound, Mac Lardner had a solid start, going 5.0 innings and allowing five runs (four earned) with six strikeouts and two walks. After Reagan Haas allowed four runs in his 2.0 innings, Michael Spellacy pitched a hitless inning with two strikeouts.

After the Razorbacks posted a run in the fourth inning, Gonzaga tied it in the top of the fifth with an RBI single by Brett Harris. But that tie was short-lived as Arkansas scored four off Lardner in the fifth.

Hughes hit his deep home run in the sixth with a runner on base to bring the score to 5-3 heading to the bottom of the inning. Arkansas had the answer with two more runs in the sixth and then two in the seventh to take the 9-3 lead.

Gonzaga and Arkansas will play Game 3 of the four-game set on Saturday at 12 p.m. PT/2 p.m. CT in Fayetteville, Ark. Check GoZags.com for links to live coverage.