BLACKSBURG, Va. — No. 2 seed Gonzaga baseball kept it close early in its NCAA Regional opener with No. 3 seed Columbia, but a late offensive outburst from the Lions (31-16, 17-4 Ivy League) shook up an otherwise-dominant start from RHP Gabriel Hughes for a 8-2 win that sent the Bulldogs (36-18, 20-7 WCC) to the elimination bracket.
They'll play at 10 a.m. (PST) tomorrow in a win-or-go home game against the loser of tonight's matchup between No. 1 seed Virginia Tech and No. 4 seed Wright State.
Hughes retired 15 of the first 20 batters he faced through the first five frames, striking out seven in total, but a five-run fifth on six hits gave Columbia a lead they wouldn't relinquish. LHP Bradley Mullan, 1 IP, 2 K, 1 ER), RHP Jacob Rutherford (1 IP, 1 ER) and RHP Daniel Naughton (1 IP, 0 ER) closed out the rest of the game.
Connor Coballes led the Zags' lineup with a 3-for-3 outing to go with a walk, and Tyler Rando (1 R), Shea Kramer (1 R), Cade McGee and Jack Machtolf all added a hit apiece.
The Action
The Lions put up the first run of the game on a pair of singles followed by an RBI double with one out on the board, but Hughes struck out two batters in succession to end the frame with minimal damage and strand two runners. GU went three-and-out with a pair of grounders to first and a foulout from Rando in the bottom of the frame, but Hughes settled in soon after, striking out his third and fourth batters in a row before Pinales made a difficult catch to throw the final out at first.
Kramer picked up the Zags' first hit of the game in the bottom of that frame, reaching scoring position with two outs on a failed pickoff attempt with Coballes at the plate. Coballes singled to center to bring him home and tie the ballgame at 1-all before Dylan Johnson grounded out to end the frame.
Hughes got some help from Apodaca — who robbed a home run from Andy Blake with a snag over the wall — in the top of the third en route to another 1-2-3 frame, with Hughes recording his fifth K of the day to seal the deal.
After two more hitless frames from Hughes, Coballes led off the fifth with a scorcher of a double to reach scoring position with nobody out. Jack Machtolf followed up with a single to push him to third, but a pair of strikeouts kept both off the board.
The Lions finally got to Hughes in the sixth, plating five runs on six hits — including a three-run blast from Hayden Schott — to surge ahead 6-1 and leave the Bulldogs with plenty of work to do at the plate over their final 12 outs.
Leading off the bottom of the frame, Rando obliged, slamming a solo shot to center to score the Zags' first run since the second. LHP Bradley Mullan took the mound to begin the seventh, striking out Blake and Tyler MacGregor to start the frame before Weston Eberly homered to left to bump the Lions' lead back up to five and a grounder ended the frame. After Rutherford took over in the eighth, Columbia plated another in the eighth despite a double play, with Joshua Solomon grounding out to produce a run from Anton Lazits. They wouldn't score again after a scoreless ninth from Naughton, but the Zags ran out of outs to get back into the game despite another single from Coballes.
Play of the Game
Up Next / Follow the Game
The No. 2 seed Zags will face the loser of No. 1 seed Virginia Tech and No. 4 seed Wright State tomorrow at 10 a.m. PST. A win keeps GU alive for another game — a loss means the Bulldogs' season is over. Live stats and streaming options are available on GoZags.com — follow @zagbaseball on Instagram and Twitter for live updates, highlights and more.
