Box Score
PROVO, Utah – No. 19 Gonzaga baseball found its offensive groove in its second matchup with BYU Friday at Larry H. Miller Park, chasing Cougars starter Janzen Keisel in the second frame and continuing to build a lead behind solid performances on the mound from RHP Owen Wild and RHP Brody Jessee for a 6-3 win.

The win lifts the Zags to 15-6 and 4-1 in WCC play, with the series with BYU now tied at 1-1. Sunday's rubber match is set for noon tomorrow.

"Good response tonight," said GU Head Coach Mark Machtolf. "That was a well-fought game, and we were fortunate to be able to get a big win. 

"This isn't an easy place to play on the road — we need to come out tomorrow with a huge team effort and get this series."

Savier Pinales' 3-for-3 outing with one RBI led a Bulldogs lineup that racked up 11 hits, and Grayson Sterling (1 run, 1 RBI) and Connor Coballes (1 run) both added two knocks apiece in the winning effort.
In his third start of the year, Wild went 4 ⅓ innings on the mound, holding the Cougars to just one unearned run while striking out two and walking three. Jessee pitched the rest of the way, striking out four more to earn his third win while being tagged for two earned runs on six hits.

The Action
Enzo Apodaca (1 hit, 2 runs) got the Zags on the board early on a two-out passed ball in the top of the first before a single from Ryan Sepede in the bottom of the frame scored a run from Hayden Leatham, who was walked to tie the game up.

But GU retook the lead in the third with a two-run RBI double from McGee that scored Coballes and Apodaca for a 3-1 advantage, and three more RBI doubles in the fifth from Shea Kramer (1 hit, 1 run, 1 RBI), Sterling and Pinales extended the lead to 6-1.

A double from Austin Deming up the middle stopped the bleeding for the Cougars, but they didn't get another run on the board until Brock Watkins' RBI single in the bottom of the ninth cut the lead to 6-3 before a flyout ended the game.

Series at a Glance
With the win, Gonzaga is 26-21 against BYU all-time and 17-14 in conference games against the Cougars since they joined the WCC in 2012, but are 10-11 in matchups in Provo. Their last series was a 3-0 Zags sweep in Spokane in 2021.

Up Next/Follow the Game
The Zags have a chance to win their second WCC series tomorrow, with RHP Trystan Vrieling (2-1, 31.2 IP, 48 K, 2.84 ERA) seet to start on the mound against BYU righty Ryan Brady (1-1, 19.1 IP, 16 K, 4.29 ERA). Sunday's finale is set for a noon PST start. Live stats and streaming options are available on GoZags.com — follow @zagbaseball on Instagram and Twitter for live updates, highlights and more.