STOCKTON, Calif. — No. 10 Gonzaga battled late into extra innings in a back-and-forth game against No. 3 seed San Diego in a West Coast Conference Tournament elimination game Saturday at Banner Island Ballpark, but a pair of homers in the 11th lifted the Toreros (36-18, 17-10 WCC) to a 15-12 win and a Tournament Championship.

The Bulldogs (36-17, 20-7 WCC) outhit USD 18-12 and led 10-7 going into the eighth, but a late rally undid one of the Zags' most explosive offensive outings of the season even after they battled to tie it up in the ninth and force extras.

A surefire at-large team in next week's NCAA Tournament, GU now awaits its seedingand region in Monday's Selection Show.

"Congratulations to USD on winning the tournament," said GU Head Coach Mark Machtolf. "That was a great battle, not necessarily the cleanest game but I'm really proud of how hard our guys fought and battled. Ready to get home for a couple days and find out Monday where we will get sent for regionals." 

Grayson Sterling (3 RBI, 3 runs) and Savier Pinales (one run) led GU with three knocks apiece, and Enzo Apodaca (one RBI, one run), Shea Kramer (2 runs), Connor Coballes (one RBI, one run) and Ezra Samperi (3 RBI) all picked up two each. Four other Zags got at least one hit to round out the effort.

RHP Trystan Vrieling struck out five over 4 ⅔ frames on the mound in the start, but was tagged for six runs on five hits — only four of which were earned. RHP Alec Gomez (2 ⅔ IP, 2 K, 6 ER) and RHP Nico Zeglin (3 ⅔ IP, 5 K, 3 ER) threw the rest of the game, with Zeglin tagged for the loss despite keeping USD off the board in crucial ninth and tenth frames.

Post-game, three Zags were named to the WCC All-Tournament Team — RHP Owen Wild, RHP William Kempner, and First Baseman Shea Kramer.

The Action

San Diego appeared to take control early with a pair of two-out knocks converting to runs in the first for a quick 2-0 lead, but GU's bats exploded even more quickly in the bottom of the frame, picking up three straight hits to knock Toreros starter Gabe Maya out of the game without any outs before Sterling blasted a three-run homer off of to give the Zags their first lead of the game. Maya's replacement Drake Frize struck out Apodaca to end the frame, but not before GU had already picked up seven hits.

But the Toreros punched back in the top of the second, plating three in response to tie it up and snagging three fly balls in the bottom of the inning to keep GU off the board. 

GU bounced back in the third after getting runners in the corners, with a groundout from Samperi and a single from Apodaca getting Sterling and Jack Machtolf across for a 7-5 lead. Pinales singled in the next at-bat, but was thrown out at second to end the inning in a call that was challenged but upheld.

Gomez took the mound midway through the fifth and calmed down a chaotic ballgame with two scoreless frames, and the Zags put the momentum to use in the bottom of the seventh to build a lead.

After back-to-back singles from Kramer and Sterling gave GU some momentum in the bottom of the seventh, Coballes stung an offering from RHP Jack Hyde up the middle to give Kramer time to reach home and put GU back up by two with two aboard and one out on the board. Jack Machtolf made it four straight hits to plate run No. 9 and cue another pitching change, this time to RHP Morgan Lunceford. A sac lineout from Samperi — his third RBI of the game — added run No. 10 before Apodaca grounded out to end the frame.

But the Toreros had an answer, pushing five runs across to knock Gomez out of the game and leave the Bulldogs to turn to Zeglin to keep the game within reach. USD got one more across on a groundout to go up by two and put GU in a do-or-die situation with six outs left.

After two quick outs to start the bottom of the frame, McGee gave the Zags some life with his tenth homer of the year — a solo shot over the left field corner that cut the lead to one. Zeglin struck out the side in the ninth to set the Zags up for a big final frame, and they found the run they needed with an RBI single from Samperi to force extra innings.

After a scoreless tenth that saw 1-2-3 innings from both sides, USD generated three runs on a pair of homers from Jack Costello and Cody Jefferis to take the first lead of extra innings and leave the Bulldogs with three outs to mount a comeback. Kramer led off the bottom of the inning with a walk and reached second on a wild pitch, but three consecutive strikeouts ended the game.

Up Next

The Zags await their NCAA Tournament seeding and region in Monday's NCAA Selection Show, set for a 9 p.m. start.