Box Score SPOKANE, Wash. — After sweating out the final frame in a series-clinching win on Friday night, Gonzaga's bats left little room for doubt in its third West Coast Conference matchup with BYU at Patterson Baseball Complex and Coach Steve Hertz Field. The Bulldogs (26-13, 14-4) built a lead early and led wire to wire for a 7-3 win that puts them two games ahead of second-place San Diego in the WCC standings.
 
"Big sweep," said Head Coach Mark Machtolf. "Nine-game pennant race left, and it feels good to be in the drivers' seat. Go Zags!"
 
In his first start on the mound since 2019, RHP Michael Spellacy got plenty of run support from a lineup looking to bounce back from a five-hit outing on Friday night — but he pitched as if the margin for error was razor-thin. GU scored one run in the first, three in the second and two more in the third to jump out to an early 6-1 lead, while Spellacy struck out five and held BYU to three hits in five innings of work.
 
Ernie Yake (2-for-4, one run, two RBI) and Grayson Sterling (2-for-3, two runs) led the Bulldogs' eight-hit effort. Brett Harris (one hit) generated the only other RBI for GU, and Jack Machtolf and Gabriel Hughes both scored two runs.
 
The Action
 
With damp conditions from morning rain still lingering as the game began, Spellacy threw two innings without a walk or hit to give the Zags a momentum boost early. BYU starter Boston Mabeus only gave up one hit in a little over an inning of work, but GU put four runs on the board in that span.
 
In GU's first at-bat of the game, Yake outsped a throw to reach first and proceeded to do it twice more — stealing third on a wild pitch, then getting home on a passed ball when Morrison was walked for the Bulldogs' first run. Harris was walked next to make it two runners on base without an out on the board.
 
Mabeus struck out Rando and Orzel consecutively in the next two at-bats as Morrison and Harris stole third and second respectively, but a flyout from Mason Marenco stranded them both.
 
The second brought more of the same opportunistic offense to the tune of four more runs. Jack Machtolf and Gabe Hughes picked up two more walks to start the frame, spurring a pitching change that brought in RHP Carter Smith. But Grayson Sterling laid down a bunt that led to a throwing error, scoring Machtolf and putting runners on second without any outs yet again — this time with the top of the lineup up to bat.
 
Yake was walked to load the bases and Morrison hit into a double play that drove in a run from Hughes. Yet another error by the BYU infield got Harris to first and gave Sterling time to score GU's fourth run, and Rando singled to push Harris to scoring position to halt
 
In the top of the third, Brock Watkins connected on the Cougars' first base hit and BYU finally found some traction on offense. Machtolf snagged a deep ball just over the top of the left field fence to rob Chase Taylor of what would have likely been a two-run homer. Two walks, a single and a wild pitch earned a run from Watkins and loaded the bases with two outs, but Sterling collected a high-arching fly to right field to close the inning without any further damage.
 
BYU went errorless in the bottom of the third, but the Zags lineup picked up four hits and two more runs regardless in a frame that looked at times like a carbon copy of the one previous.
 
Machtolf and Hughes both got on base in the first two at-bats for the second inning in a row — this time with back-to-back singles — and Sterling singled to load the bases. Yake and Morrison followed up with two drives that scored Machtolf and Hughes, but BYU collected a groundout from Harris to strand two more runners.
 
After a scoreless fourth that didn't see a hit from either team, Sterling broke through with a double that careened over the right field line and was brought home by another single from Yake.
 
RHP Trystan Vrieling took the mound in relief in the sixth, blanking the Cougars for two more innings before Cole Gambill tripled to score Peyton Cole and reached home on a flyout to give BYU more than one run for the first time in the series. 
 
In the final frame, Taylor flew out and Vrieling put Bryan Call out at first and struck Mitch McIntyre out swinging to match Spellacy with five K's of his own and end the game.
 
Inside the Series
 
With the three-game sweep, Gonzaga is 25-20 against BYU all-time and 16-13 in conference games against the Cougars since they joined the WCC in 2012. Their last matchup before this spring was a non-conference neutral site loss in the Sanderson Ford Baseball Classic in Surprise, Ariz.
 
Next Up
 
Gonzaga's home stand continues with a rematch against Washington State at Patterson Baseball Complex and Coach Steve Hertz Field on Tuesday, April 27. In their last meeting on April 13, GU won 9-0 in a five-inning game shortened by injury.
 
Follow the Game
 
Tuesday's game is set for a 6 p.m. first pitch and will be broadcast on SWX, with out-of-market live streaming available via the WCC Network, Check GoZags.com for game day updates, live stats and more.