LONG BEACH, Calif. — No. 15 Gonzaga baseball struck early and maintained offensive pressure throughout its series opener with Long Beach State on Friday evening at Blair Field behind another solid start from RHP Gabriel Hughes, coming away with a 7-1 win.

GU's victory is its ninth-straight, improving the Bulldogs' record to 11-2 and keeping the nation's longest road winning streak intact at eight games.

A two-run homer from Stephen Lund got it started in the first, and the Zags got five more across over the next five frames while Hughes and RHP Daniel Naughton held the Dirtbags to just two runs on a combined eight hits.

Hughes struck out six in 6 frames on the mound, holding Beach to just one unearned run in that span for his third straight win in a start. Naughton struck out four more in three frames of relief while holding the Dirtbags to one earned run without any walks to get his first save of the season.

Lund's three-RBI night paced a Bulldogs offense that finished with eight total hits, with Enzo Apodaca (2 runs), Shea Kramer (2 runs) and Cade McGee all finishing with two hits each. Connor Coballes added a pair of RBI, and  Sam Canton (1 run) and Savier PInales (1 hit) both drove in a run apiece in the winning effort.

"Very nice win to start a tough series on the road," said GU Head Coach Mark Machtolf. "The guys are playing with a lot of confidence right now. Great to see Stephen Lund continue to swing a hot bat after all he went through last year — just a really great story so far!"

The Action

Lund's second homer of the year brought in two runs in the first to get the Zags an early lead — the sixth time in the last seven games that GU has put the first run on the board. 

Hughes held the Dirtbags to just two hits through the first four frames while GU continued to build a lead,with the Zags putting up two more runs in the third and fourth off sacrifice plays. Lund drove in his third run of the night with a sac fly that scored Apodaca, who doubled and then advanced to third on a passed ball in the two at-bats previous. Kramer and McGee picked up base knocks in consecutive at-bats to start the fourth and abruptly chase 'Bags RHP Luis Ramirez from the game after Coballes picked up an RBI on a sac bunt that got Kramer across to push the lead to 4-0.

The Dirtbags got their first run in the bottom of the frame on a fielder's choice, with LBSU's Eddie Saldivar scoring on a throwing error but Rocco Peppi put out at home by Rando. With Tyler Porter still in scoring position, Hughes induced a flyout from Alex Pimentel to hold Beach to just the one run in the frame.

LBSU's Chase Luttrell reached third in the bottom of the fifth and advanced to third on a wild pitch to threaten another run with two outs on the board, but Hughes struck out Saldivar swinging  — his sixth K of the night — to keep the 'Bags off the board.

The Zags pushed three more runs across in the sixth to put the game further out of reach, with Canton, Coballes and Pinales all picking up RBIs. A walk from Sterling and a single from Kramer to start the sixth cued another pitching change for Beach — this time to RHP Ray Cebulski — before McGee reached on a fielder's choice to load the bases without any outs on the board. Two consecutive fielder's choice plays scored Sterling and Kramer, and Pinales singled to right field to bring in a third from Canton before being caught stealing to end the inning.

After Beach's Jonathon Long was walked to start the bottom of the frame, Porter connected on his second hit of the night — a single to left field — to push a runner to scoring position for the third consecutive inning. A flyout from Jimenez got Long to third, but Coballes stitched the Zags 14th double play of the season to end another inning with a runner on third.

Naughton took the mound in relief to start the seventh, generating a foulout and a pair of groundouts in that frame before striking out three straight to get out of the eighth. He added his fourth K in the final frame, where LBSU got one more across on consecutive singles from Peyton Schulze and Luttrell before a groundout ended the game.

Series at a Glance

This weekend's series marked the ninth, tenth, and eleventh games between the two programs but first time they have met in a weekend series. This series is also the first time the Zags and Dirtbags have met since 1998. LBSU is 1-1 in those two games with a 7-3 loss in 1996 and a 15-8 win in 1998.

Up Next

The Zags return to Blair Field Saturday with a chance to clinch the series in game two, with RHP William Kempner (0-1, 16 IP, 12 K, 1.69 ERA) set to take the mound against RHP Jack Noble (2-0, 15.1 IP, 16 K, 1.17 ERA).

Follow the Game

Saturday's matchup is set for a 3 p.m. PST start. Live streaming will be unavailable due to the late addition to the schedule, but live stats will be available via GoZags.com. Follow @Zagbaseball on Twitter and Instagram for game updates, highlights and more.