STOCKTON, Calif. — No. 10 Gonzaga wasted no time in setting the tone in their West Coast Conference Tournament opener against Loyola Marymount, slamming a season-high five homers and putting up eight runs in the bottom of the seventh en route to a 16-2 win.
The No. 1 seed Bulldogs (35-15, 20-7 WCC) will now face the winner of tonight's game between No. 2 seed Portland and No. 3 seed San Diego tomorrow at 3:30 p.m.
The Zags' five no-doubters are the second-most in a single game in program history, and their 16 runs are the most they've scored in a game this year. GU put up runs in every frame but two in the winning effort, racking up a season-high 18 hits in the process.
Shea Kramer (3-for-3, 3 RBI, 2 R), Enzo Apodaca (3-for-5, 4 RBI, 2 R), Savier Pinales (1 H, 2 RBI, 2 R), Tyler Rando (2 H, 2 RBI, 2 R) and Cade McGee (3-for-5, 2 R, 1 RBI) all went yard to lead the Bulldogs on offense, with Ezra Samperi (2 RBI, 2 R) providing 3 knocks of his own to lead four other Zags who picked up at least a base hit.
Wild struck out six while holding the Lions to just two earned runs on eight hits over his career-high 7 ⅔ frames on the mound, throwing 109 pitches — 79 of which were strikes. RHP Daniel Naughton held the Lions hitless over the final 1 ⅓ frames, adding a K of his own to slam the door on LMU after they got two back in the bottom of the eighth. The Zags have won the last ten games that Wild has started.
"Great way to start the tournament," said GU Head Coach Mark Machtolf. "Complete effort from our whole team. Obviously a relentless effort offensively — Enzo came through with a huge home run to start us off in the 2nd. Owen Wild was phenomenal, gave us a great start on a really offensive day at the stadium. Quickly turning the page to our next opportunity tomorrow."
The Action
Wild was hyper-efficient from the game's onset, generating three outs on just four pitches in the first frame — and the Zags got to work immediately on offense. Pinales reached second on a high-arcing drive that evaded the second baseman's glove and stole third to put the Zags in ideal position with just one out on the board, and Rando grounded out to plate him for GU's first run of the game. Coballes and Samperi both got aboard successfully to start the bottom of the second, and Apodaca blasted his third homer of the year to keep the Zags rolling and extend the lead to 4-0.
Wild continued his efficient ways with a 1-2-3 inning on eight pitches, picking up his third strikeout of the day to end the frame. And the Zags kept producing in the bottom of the frame, with Kramer going yard for two more runs to make it three straight frames with runs on the board and two in a row with multi-run homers.
Liam Critchett drew a walk and Cole Roberts singled to occupy first and third in the top of the fifth and put Wild in his first pinch of the game with two outs, but he induced a fly ball to center field to end his fifth straight scoreless frame.
McGee put the Zags on the board for the fourth time in the bottom of the fifth with his team-leading seventh homer of the season and the Zags' third of the game, a towering solo shot to right that extended the lead to 7-0. Wild got in a jam again after consecutive singles from LMU to open the top of the sixth, but he got all three outs in succession, inducing a fly ball to center and getting his fifth and sixth strikeouts of the game to end yet another blank frame.
The Zags put up the most runs they've scored in a single inning this season in the bottom of the seventh, connecting on six extra base hits in the process. After Rando singled and McGee doubled for the second time of the game to lead off the frame, a sac fly from Kramer and a double from Dylan Johnson scored them both in succession, but even with two outs on the board, GU wasn't even close to done. Coballes singled and reached scoring position on a passed ball to push Johnson to third, and a deep triple from Samperi brought them both in before Apodaca doubled to make it five runs in the frame. Back-to-back slams from Pinales and Rando yielded three more to completely turn the game on its head before a flyout from McGee ended the frame.
LMU got two back to start the top of the eighth, cueing Naughton's entry into the game to close it out. He picked up a strikeout over 1 ⅓ frames of hitless ball, helping seal the Zags' advance to the next round in emphatic fashion.
Play of the Game
Up Next/ Follow the Game
The No. 1 seed Bulldogs (35-15, 20-7 WCC) will now face the winner of tonight's game between No. 2 seed Portland and No. 3 seed San Diego at 3:30 p.m. tomorrow, with starting pitchers to be determined. Live stats and streaming options are available on GoZags.com — follow @zagbaseball on Instagram and Twitter for live updates, highlights and more.
