LOS ANGELES — After falling into a six-run deficit in the bottom of the fourth, a scoreless final four frames wasn't enough for Gonzaga in its West Coast Conference series opener with Loyola Marymount on Friday evening, as the Zags fell 7-1 at Page Baseball Stadium to snap a season-best five-game win streak.

RHP Gabriel Hughes struck out four in his sixth start of the season, but the Lions' bats produced seven runs before the fifth — five of them earned — to claim the first of a three-game stand. 

Despite giving up four more hits, Hughes and righty reliever Jacob Rutherford threw a combined 96 strikes to LMU's 91, and Rutherford reined in the Lions' offense as the game progressed.

Ernie Yake led the offense with a 2-for-4 night, and Brett Harris, Tyler Rando and Mason Marenco all picked up a hit apiece in the losing effort. The Bulldogs (12-9) had runners in scoring position ten times — three times with less than two outs on the board — but only earned one run.

"Not our best effort tonight," said GU coach Mark Machtolf. "We didn't capitalize early in the game when we had some run scoring situations, and they strung some hits together when they had the chance. 

"Big game tomorrow and excited to see our guys' response."

The Zags tied the game up in the third when Harris laced a bases-loaded single to send Mason Marenco home for GU's sole run of the game. 

But beginning at the bottom of the inning, LMU's loaded the base multiple times and madethe most of their opportunities. Diego Baquiero and Alec Cargin responded with run-scoring doubles to make it a 4-1 ball game, and the Lions brought in three more runs in the fourth. Evan Liebl drove in a run and scored on a throwing error and Cargin doubled again — this time down the left field line — to set GU back six runs.

Rutherford was a bright spot for the Zags in his third appearance of the year. Taking over in the fifth and blanked the Lions for the rest of the game, Rutherford held batters to two hits while striking out seven. 

On the other side of the ball, LMU's reliever duo of Holden Christian and Adam Christopher combined for six K's and kept the Zags without a hit in the same span to smother hopes of a late-game rally.

Next Up

The Zags return to Page Stadium Saturday with a shot at evening the series. 39-36 against Loyola Marymount all-time, the Bulldogs haven't lost a conference series to the Lions since 2015.

Follow the Game

Saturday's start is set for 6 p.m., with Sunday's at 1 p.m. Live streaming will be available via the WCC Network. Check GoZags for up-to-date game information and live stats.