SPOKANE, Wash. — Gonzaga thrower Alek Jacob is on a roll that can't be slowed.
 
Less than a week after recording the program's first no-hitter since 1990, GU's righty ace put up another shutdown start and the Bulldogs' offense kicked into gear late in the Zags' West Coast Conference series opener with BYU, producing multiple runs in three straight frames to turn a tie game into a 12-1 rout at Patterson Baseball Complex and Coach Steve Hertz Field Thursday evening.


Jacob held the Cougars (12-21, 6-7 WCC) to two hits in eight innings of work, striking out 12 to match a career high he threw last week. BYU didn't pick up a single hit outside of the third inning, and the Bulldogs (24-13, 12-4 WCC) scored four runs in the fifth, five in the sixth, and two in the seventh to put the game increasingly out of reach.


Guthrie Morrison (three runs), Brett Harris (two runs, one RBI) and Mason Marenco (two runs, three RBI) all finished with three hits apiece to lead GU's 17-hit night — the most since a 21-hit effort in a 21-3 win over Saint Mary's on April 10. 


"A very good effort from our team tonight — started with a great pregame," said Head Coach Mark Machtolf. "Offensively we had a lot of quality AB's, especially Marenco with the big blast."
 
"[Jacob] did a great job of putting up a big zero in the bottom of the fifth, and then slammed the door the rest of the way."
 
With its third straight win, GU strengthened its hold on the top of the WCC standings with a 1.5 game lead over second-place Portland (18-18, 10-5).


The Action


Miscues by the Cougars' infield helped Morrison and Harris get on base with back-to-back singles, and a curving flyout from Rando got Morrison home for the Zags' first run after Harris' single moved him from first to third in the previous at-bat.


But BYU's defense tightened up in the next couple frames, keeping the Zags scoreless without a single strikeout — flyouts generated all three outs in the second, and a double play ended the third before a GU runner could get in scoring position.
 
The Cougars evened the score in the top of the third when Peyton Cole singled, advanced to second on a wild pitch, and scored off a single from Cole Gambill — but Jacob struck out Joshua Cowden swinging and Yake collected a popup to keep the game tied.
 
Andrew Orzel's single in the fifth broke the stalemate, getting Morrison his second run while moving Harris to third with one out on the board. In the next at-bat, Mason Marenco cleaned up with a game-changing three-run homer — his first of the season and first since 2019 — to push the lead to four.
 
After Marenco went yard, the Zags never lost momentum again on either side of the ball.


Jacob stifled hopes of a response with three straight outs in the top of the sixth, and GU kept generating offense in the bottom of the inning. Yake reached third after dodging a putout attempt halfway to the base, and Rando split the gaps in the outfield to bring him in for run No. 6.
 
With two outs and two runners on base, Orzel made contact and reached first on an error, giving Harris time to score yet another run. Marenco followed with a single to load the bases and threaten another complexion-shifting drive, and Jack Machtolf delivered, hitting three deep foul balls before connecting on an RBI double that grazed the right field wall and was dropped for another three-run play.


But the Zags weren't done just yet. Grayson Sterling slammed a solo homer in the first at-bat of the seventh, and Harris nearly replicated the feat with a deep drive to left field that hit the wall and scored Morrison's third run to make it a 12-1 ball game.


RHP Jacob Rutherford took the mound in the final frame with plenty of room for a save, striking out Gambill looking before Chase Taylor and Bitner Workman grounded out to end the game half an inning early.


Harris' HBP Streak Continues


Brett Harris was hit by a pitch for the third straight game Thursday evening. The Zags third baseman ranks second in the nation in that category with 18, and leads the GU lineup in at-bats (139), runs (42), hits (53), and doubles (14).


Up Next
 
With a 1-0 series lead in hand, GU is set for another evening matchup with the Cougars on Friday. Zags RHP Gabriel Hughes (3-3, 55.0 IP, 62 strikeouts, 3.44 ERA) will make his seventh start of the year against a yet-to-be-announced starter for BYU.
 
Follow the Game


Friday and Saturday's matchups are both tentatively scheduled for 6 p.m. starts, with live streaming available via the WCC Network on Friday and Saturday's game broadcast on SWX.