DALLAS, Texas — After a back-and-forth series that featured two blowouts on both sides and a come-from-behind win in a weather delay, it felt natural that the final game between Gonzaga and Dallas Baptist went down to the wire. Tied 7-all going into the bottom of the ninth with two outs on the board, DBU's Ryan Wrobleski singled into center field to send Jace Grady home and end the game 8-7. The four-game series finished with a 2-2 split.
 
RHP Bradley Mullan threw just over three innings as GU's starter, striking out three and walking three more while giving up three earned runs on three hits. Trystan Vrieling, the Bulldogs' starter from Thursday night, threw three strikeouts in relief for two innings along with Daniel Naughton (2.5 ERA, two hits, two strikeouts in 2 IP), Alec Gomez and Michael Spellacy.
 
"Proud of our guys' effort today," said Head Coach Mark Machtolf. "A lot of battle in this group. Didn't get the result we wanted today, but feel like we can take away a lot of positives and negatives from this weekend that we can use to be better going forward."
 
Despite being walked only three times, GU's hitters were productive from the onset, taking a 4-2 lead off of a single RBI from Grayson Sterling and a two-run single by Guthrie Morrison and then scoring off a wild pitch and a balk in the eighth to tie it again at 6-all after the Patriots produced two more runs in the previous inning. Yake scored off another balk to even the score at 7-7 going into the ninth, but DBU's late onslaught of hitting kept the Bulldogs from pushing for extra innings.
 
Yake hit 3-of-4 and scored two runs and Morrison and Andrez Orzel both went 2-for-3, with Jack Machtolf, Stephen Lund and Sterling picking up GU's other three base hits with one apiece. 
 
Next Up
 
The Zags return to Spokane to play host on Friday, March 5 for the first of three games with WCC foe Portland. GU pitcher Gabriel Hughes (1-1, 11.2 IP, 6.17 ERA, 13 SO) will take his usual Friday spot in the rotation, likely to face off against UP's Eli Morse (2-1, 4.2 IP, 0.00 ERA, 5 SO).
 
Follow the Game
 
Up-to-date game time information is available on GoZags.com, and free live streaming will be available via the West Coast Conference website. The game starts at 3 p.m. PST Friday.
 
Series Background
GU is 51-13 all-time against Portland, the last game played between them a 3-2 GU win in 2019. Portland placed three players on the 2021 Preseason All-WCC list, namely infielders Chad Stevens and Trace Tammaro and outfielder Jake Holcroft.
 
Notes
-The all-time series between GU and DBU was tied at 1-1 before this weekend, and remains tied at 3-3 after DBU's final-game win.
-Andrew Orzel is now GU's leader in batting average (.333) and OPS (1.033). Brett Harris, Jack Machtolf and Guthrie Morrison are the Zags' other batters above the .900 line in OPS.
-GU batters have been hit by pitches 17 times, two more than the next-highest total for No. 1 in the country.
-GU is tied for fourth in the country for most double plays, with five on the season.
-Orzel was also responsible for GU's only extra base hit, a double.
-No GU batter was walked more than once against DBU today, after the Patriots exceeded double-digit walks twice this weekend.