EUGENE, Ore. — No. 10 Gonzaga held Oregon off the board in every inning but the first and ninth in its midweek matchup Tuesday night at PK Park, but ultimately 5-4 on a ninth-inning walkoff double after seizing the lead for the first time in the eighth.
The Bulldogs (31-14, 18-6 WCC) stranded nine runners on base and put runners in scoring position in five of the last seven innings, but were ultimately downed late despite retaking the lead in the top of the eighth on a three-run homer by Shea Kramer.
Grayson Sterling (one run) and Savier Pinales both finished with two hits apiece to lead an eight-hit night for GU, with Kramer driving in all four of the Zags' runs and Tyler Rando drawing three walks and connecting on a base hit to lead four Zags who got at least a knock apiece.
LHP Bradley Mullan was solid for five innings in the start despite a three-run spurt in the first frame, striking out six and holding the Ducks (32-21, 15-12 Pac-12) hitless through the rest of his time on the mound. Nico Zeglin (1 IP) and Brody Jessee (2 IP) both continued the scoreless streak while tossing a strikeout apiece, but Gomez was tagged with the loss for the Ducks' final-frame game winner.
The Action
The Ducks jumped Mullan early with three runs on three hits — all with two outs — in the bottom of the first, with Tanner Smith stealing home from third and Josh Kasevich belting a two-run homer to add insurance.
But the Zags mustered a response just as quickly — a walk from Connor Coballes and a double from Dylan Johnson put the tying run at the plate with runners in scoring position and just one out on the board. Kramer got one back for the Zags with an RBI grounder that pushed Coballes across, but Samperi struck out in the next at-bat to strand the other runners.
But Mullan bounced back quickly after the early three-spot, cooling off the Ducks' bats with 1-2-3 inning that ended with consecutive strikeouts, repeating the feat in the third with a pair of groundouts and a flyout in the third after Pinales was stranded in scoring position in the top of the frame after Mullan reached six strikeouts after yet another blank frame, Pinales broke up a streak of seven Zag batters retired in a row with a scorcher to center and Sterling followed up with another outfield single to threaten yet again. Pinales got to third on a wild pitch with McGee at the plate, but McGee flew out to keep runs off yet again.
The Ducks broke their own nine-batter streak of outs with a walk from Gavin Grant in the bottom of the frame, but Mullan notched his sixth K of the day to end his fourth straight scoreless inning.
Sterling was the seventh runner stranded after reaching scoring position in the top of the seventh, but after Zeglin entered the game and retired six of his next eight to close out the sixth and seventh, he singled for the third consecutive at-bat to kickstart the Zags' equalizing eighth.
Coballes was hit by a pitch to follow up and move him to scoring position yet again with one out on the board — and this time GU would not be denied. Kramer's clutch three-run bomb to left gave GU the lead back with two outs on the board, only his second no-doubter of the year.
Jessee took over in the bottom, keeping the Zags' lead intact with an inning-ending K despite runners on third and second just a base hit away from scoring. Rando drew his third walk of the game in the ninth, but a strikeout from McGee kept it at a one-run game going into a decisive bottom of the ninth, when Kasevich and Sam Novitske got aboard on a single and a walk before Jacob Walsh's RBI double ended the game.
Up Next / Follow the Game
Gonzaga has a chance to clinch a regular-season West Coast Conference championship with a road trip to second-place San Diego (31-16, 16-8) this weekend. Friday's start is set for a 6 p.m. start, with a doubleheader Saturday set to kick off at noon. Live stats and streaming options are available on GoZags.com — follow @zagbaseball on Instagram and Twitter for live updates, highlights and more.
