SPOKANE, Wash. – Gonzaga baseball earned a 4-3 walk-off win in the opener of a doubleheader against CSUN, but fell to the Matadors 4-3 in the nightcap on Saturday at Patterson Baseball Complex and Coach Steve Hertz Field.
Gonzaga (4-10) came from down a run in the ninth in the first game, but CSUN (10-4) erased a two-run deficit late in the second game to win.
Game 1 – Gonzaga 4, CSUN 3
Gonzaga got a walk-off single by
Jack Machtolf with two outs in the ninth inning to complete a come-from-behind win over the Matadors.
Gonzaga trailed 3-2 entering its final at-bat and put together three hits and a walk to set up Machtolf's game-winner.
Ernie Yake singled to start the inning and then scored on a double by
Brett Harris. Harris moved to third on a fielder's choice and then Machtolf deposited his game-winning hit.
Starter
Alek Jacob went 5.0 innings, allowing three runs on five hits with six strikeouts, before giving way to
Alec Gomez in the sixth. Gomez was nearly unhittable, pitching a scoreless final 4.0 innings with two strikeouts, a walk and just one hit allowed.
On offense, Yake and Harris led the way with three-hit games, while
Anthony Garrett had two in his first-career start.
The Zags put two on in the first inning and
Ryan Sullivan knocked home the first with a sacrifice fly. One batter later,
Stephen Lund ripped a single to make it 2-0 Zags.
CSUN answered right away in the second with a three-run inning, but Jacob settled in after that and combined with Gomez to keep the Matadors off the board the rest of the way.
Game 2 – CSUN 4, Gonzaga 3
CSUN took advantage of three Gonzaga errors in the game to score four unearned runs, including two in the final two innings to get the win.
GU took a 3-1 lead into the eighth inning, but a two-out, two-run homer after a GU error tied the game. The Matadors then scored their final unearned run in the ninth after Mason Le reached on an error.
GU starter
Nick Trogrlic-Iverson had a fantastic outing, going 8.0 innings and allowing three runs (zero earned) on three hits with six strikeouts and two walks. On offense,
Ernie Yake went 2-for-3 with a homer, while reaching base three times.
Gonzaga scored first, getting a solo homer from
Stephen Lund to make it 1-0. Meanwhile, Iverson was cruising through four before giving up an unearned run in the fifth.
GU answered to go up 3-1 with another solo homer, this time off the bat of Yake.
Later, Iverson appeared to be out of the inning in the eighth, but an error put a runner on with two outs and CSUN's Denzel Clarke hit a two-run homer to tie it at 3-3.
Gonzaga and CSUN will wrap the four-game series on Sunday at 12 p.m. Check GoZags.com for links to live coverage.
