Box Score FULLERTON, Calif. — Gonzaga baseball put together one of its most complete showings of the season on both sides of the ball in its series opener against Cal State-Fullerton Friday evening, with another dominant start from RHP Gabriel Hughes keeping the Titans' bats at bay while three RBI and a three-for-five night from Tyler Rando led a Zags (4-2) offense that put runs on the board in five consecutive frames en route to a 12-3 win.
Hughes (1-0) struck out nine in six innings of work on the mound for his first win of the season, holding CSUF (1-3) to one run on three hits while walking three in that span. Of his 103 pitches, 62 were strikes.
RHP Nico Zeglin took over in the seventh, tossing three scoreless frames with three strikeouts and one walk, and RHP Kai Francis closed out the final frame.
GU's lineup connected on double-digit hits for the fifth straight game, with Rando (three-for-five, three RBI, one run) and Cade McGee (three-for-five, two runs, one RBI) pacing an 15-hit night that saw the entire lineup pick up at least one base knock and eight batters get an RBI. Only two Bulldog batters struck out all night, with GU scoring a run in seven of nine frames.
"Good all around performance tonight from the guys," said GU head coach Mark Machtolf. "Hughes gave us a great start, and lots of production offensively up and down the lineup. Great opportunity to match that effort tomorrow and try and win a series on the road."
The Action
Hughes got into a jam in the first after CSUF's Cameron White got on base with a single and Caden Connor drew a walk to move him to second, but struck out Brendan Bobo and put out Damone Hale at first to end the inning without any further advance.
Shea Kramer (two hits, one RBI, one run) connected on his fifth double of the season to get the Zags' first extra base hit, and Jack Machtolf (one RBI) drew a walk to get a second runner on with just one out on the board. Kramer stole third and scored the Zags' first run of the game off a sac fly from Mason Marenco (two runs, one hit, one RBI) to take a 1-0 lead before a popup from McGee ended the inning with Machtolf stranded.
Hughes maintained the Zags' momentum in the bottom of the frame, opening with two consecutive strikeouts before J.J. Cruz flied out to end the inning without a hit from the Titans.
The Zags' advance continued in the third with Connor Coballes (three runs, two hits, one RBI) getting on board after being hit by a pitch and moving to second before a single from Stephen Lund (one hit, one RBI) made it two consecutive innings with a runner on third and just an out on the board. Rando struck the first pitch that came his way in the ensuing at-bat to score Coballes and double the Zags' lead, but CSUF starter Cameron Repetti struck out Grayson Sterling (one hit, one run) and a deep drive to left field from Kramer was collected in the next two at-bats to strand another baserunner.
A groundout, a putout at first and Hughes' fifth strikeout of the game made it eight straight retired batters in the bottom of the inning to preserve GU's lead
After a single from Marenco, McGee became the fifth GU player with a hit on the night after battling back from down 0-2 and singling. Coballes split the gap with another RBI single to get Marenco across for the third consecutive frame with a run, and a drive from Lund generated a Titans error that got McGee across for a 4-0 lead.
Another sac fly — this time from Machtolf — scored GU's fifth run in the fifth inning after Sterling singled and then advanced all the way to third on consecutive wild pitches. The Titans got their first run on the board off a two-out fielder's choice that got white across, but Marenco stitched a double play to end the inning without any further damage, tagging White on his way to second before Kramer put out Zach Lew at first.
Enzo Apodaca (two runs, one hit, one RBI) became the third Zag batter to be hit by a pitch in the sixth, loading the bases with no outs on the board to create another opportunity to get runs on the board. Up next, Rando came through again, driving in two more runs with a chopper up the middle for his second and third RBI of the day in his first game of the season.
Two Titans batters picked up hits off Zeglin in the seventh, but he struck out two and induced a popup from White to get out of the jam with the score unchanged.
A double to left field got Apodaca his first hit of the game to start the eighth before he stole third to pave the way for a sac fly from Lund that scored run No. 8. After Rando connected on his third hit of the night — a single to right field — Kramer followed up with his first RBI of the night to score him and stretch the lead to 9-1.
Zeglin generated three quick outs in the bottom of the frame, striking out Lew swinging for his third K of the night before inducing consecutive flies from Caden Connor and Bobo. GU got its tenth run on an RBI double from Cade McGee — the freshman's fourth extra base hit of the season — that scored Marenco. Pinch hitting for Rando, freshman Sam Canton got his first career RBI in the next at-bat, driving Coballes home for a 12-1 advantage heading into the final frame.
The Titans got two back in the final frame off a fielder's choice and an error, but a flyout from Tristan Gomez and a lineout from Lew ended the game before CSUF could get anything else across.
Series at a Glance
With the win, the Zags are 2-3 against the Titans all-time, falling 2-1 in a three-game series the last time they squared off in 2017. That series, each game was won by one run – GU won 1-0 in the opener, and CSUF won the next two by scores of 3-4 and 2-3. The Titans went on to make the College World Series that season, their 26th-straight tournament appearance at the time. All five games between the two teams have been played at Titan Stadium in Fullerton.
Play of the Game
Gabriel Hughes strikes out Zach Lew to end the inning with his fifth K of the night and eighth straight retired batter.
Up Next
GU's three-game series with the Titans continues on Saturday, with RHP William Kempner (0-1, 6.23 ERA) set to take the mound against Titans LHP Tyler Stultz (1-0, 0.00). GU can take the series with a win tomorrow.
Follow the Game
Saturday's game two is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start, with Sunday's at noon (all times PST). Live stats and streaming options are available on GoZags.com — follow @zagbaseball on Instagram and Twitter for live updates, highlights and more.
