SPOKANE, Wash. – Gonzaga Baseball led 5-3 headed into the eighth in its Home Opener against UC Irvine, but the Anteaters plated a pair of runs to tie it up in the ninth and exploded for seven more in the 11th before GU could respond to hand the Zags (1-11) a 12-7 loss.

RHP Owen Wild went five frames in his fourth start of the season, holding the Anteaters to three earned runs on five hits while striking out three. LHP Bradley Mullan (3.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R/1 ER), RHP Payton Graham (2 IP, 7 H, 7 ER) and RHP Nate Weeldreyer (0.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R) pitched the rest of the game after a late rally from UCI forced extra innings.

"Tough way to start our home opener," said GU Head Coach Mark Machtolf. "We did some good things today, but couldn't hold on in the 9th. Then let it get away from us in extra innings. We need to keep learning and stick together. Ready to come out and give our best shot tomorrow again."

Tommy Eisenstat went 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI and Savier Pinales went 2-for-3 with an RBI of his own to lead a seven-hit night for GU, with seven different Zags scoring runs and Sam Stem, Donovan Ratfield, Connor Coballes, Enzo Apodaca and Brian Kalmer all getting a knock apiece.

GU and UCI will rematch for their second and final game at Patterson tomorrow at 1 p.m.

The Action
UC Irvine struck first with a two-out solo homer  in the first frame before Wild could induce a fly ball to end the frame. The righty kept UCI off the board in the second, and the Zags took their first lead in the bottom of the frame after squeezing out a pair of runs on a rally that began with a triple from Tommy Eisenstat.

After Eisenstat's big knock – his 10th in the last six games and first career triple – Grayson Sterling drew a walk and Pinales singled to push across the tying run. Pinales has picked up a hit in four consecutive games, with multiple hits in his last two.

Stem loaded the bases with another single, and a sac fly from Ratfield brought in the second run before a grounder ended the frame.

The Anteaters plated runs in the fourth and fifth frames off an RBI grounder and a single, but singles from Ratfield and Coballes and a walk from Eisenstat juiced the bases for GU with two outs in the bottom of the frame. After a pitching change, Eisenstat and Sterling drew walks in succession and Kalmer scored on a wild pitch to put GU up two before a strikeout ended the frame.

But the Anteaters cut the deficit to one with another sac fly in the eighth and tied things up on a well-struck ball into center field that generated a GU error. Taking the mound for the ninth after UCI tied things up, Graham managed to strike his way out of the frame without any further damage and tossed another scoreless frame in the tenth, but was tagged for seven runs in an explosive 11th inning that put the game out of reach.

With their backs against the wall in the bottom of the frame, GU plated two more runs off an RBI single from Kalmer and another wild pitch, but couldn't close the gap before running out of outs.

Up Next / Follow the Game
Tomorrow's Game Two is set for a 1 p.m. start, with RHP Jacob Rutherford (14.1 IP, 1-0, 6.28 ERA) set to get the start on the mound vs. LHP Nick Pinto (1-0, 2.25 ERA). Live stats and streaming options are available on GoZags.com — follow @ZagBaseball on Instagram and Twitter for live updates, highlights and more.