BLACKSBURG, Va. — Down 9-4 and facing elimination from the Blacksburg Regional, No. 2 seed Gonzaga mounted a dramatic comeback against No. 4 Wright State to win 11-9 and stave off elimination, with RHP Owen Wild entering the game and holding the Raiders (30-27, 20-9) scoreless for the final six as the Zags chipped away at the deficit before a four-run seventh took the lead for good
The Bulldogs (37-18, 20-7 WCC) stay alive for another day, set to face the loser of tonight's matchup between No. 3 seed Columbia and No. 1 seed Virginia Tech tomorrow at 10 a.m. PST.
"I was just telling our kids it's this time of year, a lot of weird things happen in a baseball game," said GU Head Coach Mark Machtolf. "Offenses heat up — we didn't get off to a great start, and we made some mistakes, but I was happy with the way they battled and stayed with it. And then obviously Owen came in and gave us a chance to fight back into it."
Wild's gutsy 7-strikeout performance over the final 6 â…“ frames of the game calmed down a Raiders lineup that exploded for six runs in the bottom of the third to take a commanding lead and knock RHP Will Kempner out of the game, walking six and being tagged for three hits but never letting any of them get to home plate.
"I think the biggest thing is just trusting each other and trusting that we were still in the game, even though we were down by a couple of runs when I came in," said Wild. "Obviously there are position players trusting me to try to keep us in the game, and then me trusting the position players that they're going to bring the game back where it needed to be. And they got that job done."
Savier Pinales' 3-for-5 outing produced 3 RBI and two runs to lead GU on offense, with Enzo Apodaca, Tyler Rando and Ezra Samperi each connecting on a pair of hits each and three other Zags picking up at least a base knock. The Zags outhit the Raiders 12-8, but only had 3 knocks going into the fifth frame.
"We basically just took every pitch at a time," said Apodaca. "We all put together great at-bats  —I thought we did a great job coming in as an offense and basically picking each other up when people were down, getting on base and doing what we do best."
The Action
After a three-and-out frame from the Zags to start the game, the Raiders got to Kempner early, plating three quick runs on a ground-rule double and a sac fly in the bottom of the first, but he settled in the next frame, generating a quick three outs of his own in the second.
Coballes drew a walk in the subsequent frame to get the first runner aboard for GU, and Samperi doubled to score him and get the Zags on the board with nobody out. A fly ball from Machtolf got him to third, and Apodaca was walked to get the tying run aboard with Pinales up to bat. Pinales kept the Zags rolling with a big single that plated run No. 2, and Rando cleared the bases with yet another wall-grazing double in the next at-bat to give the Zags their first lead of the tournament, 4-3.
Wright State responded in kind, plating six more runs off a pair of homers and a wild pitch that knocked Kempner out of the game and left the Zags to turn to Wild to end the frame with a K. Samperi drew a two-out walk and stole second to give the Zags some juice in the top of the fourth, and Jack Machtolf repeated the feat to turn the order over with a pair of runners on base, but Apodaca flew out to strand them both.
In his first full inning on the mound, Wild added another K and induced a pair of flyouts to cool down the Raiders' bats, and the Zags' bats started to pick up steam again in the fifth, scoring a pair of runs to cut the deficit to three.
Pinales was walked to start the frame, but was thrown out on a fielder's choice play that got Rando on first before another walk — this time from McGee — got him to second. Another fielder's choice from Kramer nabbed Rando at third for the second out before Sterling drew a five-pitch walk to load the bases. After two balls to Coballes in the next at-bat, Wright turned to RHP Alex Theis to take over on the mound. Coballes drew the walk anyways, churning out a run, and Samperi followed with an RBI single for run No. 6.Â
Wild kept rolling with another hitless frame that included two more K's, and the Zags got more traffic on the bases in the next frame. Apodaca led off the sixth with a single, and a grounder from Pinales got him to second to make it three innings in a row with a Zag runner in scoring position. Next up, Rando produced a blooper that got Apodaca home to cut the deficit to two and make it three unanswered runs with Rando getting all the way to second. Kramer drew the Zags' ninth walk in the next at-bat, but Sterling lined out to end the frame and strand two more runners.
Despite a walk, Wild fired his third straight scoreless frame to keep the deficit steady, and the Zags finally regained control with a four-spot in the seventh. After a fly out from Coballes Samperi was hit by a pitch and pushed all the way to third by a Machtolf single, threatening yet again with one out on the board. This time, the Zags made good on it, with Apodaca singling and Pinales doubling in succession to yield the first three and McGee picking up GU's third base knock of the inning to get Pinales — who stole third on a flyout — home for a two-run lead.
After a flyout, a single in the bottom of the frame became just the Raiders' third baserunner since Wild's entry into the game, but Wild responded with a routine grounder to first and another K to keep them off the board for the fourth consecutive frame. The Zags went scoreless for the first inning since the fourth after a double play stymied their opportunity, but so did the Raiders, with Coballes, Pinales and Kramer stitching a double play of their own before a flyout.
Pinales and Rando connected on back-to-back singles with two outs on the board in the ninth, but a ball in play struck by McGee led to a Pinales putout at third to keep the score knotted with three outs to go. A pair of walks complicated things in the bottom of the ninth, but Wild struck out two more to end the game, sealing one of the Zags' most epic tournament wins in recent memory.
Play of the Game
Up Next / Follow the Game
The No. 2 seed Zags are set to face the loser of tonight's matchup between No. 3 seed Columbia and No. 1 seed Virginia Tech tomorrow at 10 a.m. PST, with RHP
Trystan Vrieling as GU's probable starter on the mound. Tomorrow's game will be live streamed on the ACC Network via ESPN+. Live stats and streaming options are available on GoZags.com — follow @zagbaseball on Instagram and Twitter for live updates, highlights and more.
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