SPOKANE, Wash. – In its second game with UC Irvine, Gonzaga Baseball got its first complete game since 2021 from RHP
Jacob Rutherford and some clutch two-out hitting from
Sam Stem and
Dylan Johnson to retake the lead late for a 3-2 win at Patterson Baseball Complex on Sunday.
Rutherford posted career highs for the second-consecutive start, holding an Anteaters lineup that was averaging 11.1 runs and 11.7 hits per game over its last seven to just two earned runs on six hits while setting a new career-high in strikeouts with seven. The 6-1 righty threw 120 pitches, but ended the game with six consecutive scoreless frames to move to 2-0 on the season.
This is the second straight game that Rutherford has posted career-highs in innings pitched and strikeouts after striking out six in a six-inning start against No. 3 Tennessee last week. He tossed four innings that ended without a UCI runner getting on base.
The Zags hadn't gotten a nine-inning start from a pitcher since 2021, when RHP
Alek Jacob pitched a complete game shutout against LSU in the NCAA Tournament.
GU plated the first run of the game but fell behind 2-1 and didn't lead again until the eighth. After Stem hit his first career homer to tie things up in the seventh, Johnson provided the go-ahead knock with two outs in the bottom of the eighth – his only at-bat of the game – to give the Zags a lead they wouldn't relinquish.
Connor Coballes went 2-for-4 to lead a seven-hit outing for the Zags, with
Enzo Apodaca and
Brian Kalmer also picking up a hit apiece along with Stem and Johnson.
With the win, the Bulldogs (2-12) split the two-game swing with the Anteaters (11-3). They'll head to Minneapolis, Minn. next week for a pair of games with Minnesota before opening up WCC play at home against San Francisco March 19-21.
The Action
In his second career start after posting career numbers last weekend at Tennessee, Rutherford worked out of a leadoff triple from UCI's Jo Oyama to hold the Anteaters scoreless in the first, inducing a grounder before striking out two swinging back-to-back.
The Zags got to work in the bottom of the frame, with Apodaca singling and Kalmer doubling to give GU two runners in scoring position with one out on the board. Another well-struck ball from Eisenstat in the next at-bat led to a UCI error that pushed across a run, but LHP Nick Pinto managed to strand the other two runners with a K and a grounder.
Rutherford only needed seven pitches to get through a scoreless second, and Pinales kept the momentum going with a leadoff single – his seventh hit over a five-game streak after going 0-for-16 to start the season – but a flyout and a grounder into a double play kept GU from capitalizing.
Irvine finally got to Rutherford in the third, plating two runs on a pair of two-out knocks before Coballes threw Caden Kendle out at third to minimize the damage. The righty settled back in quickly, tossing four consecutive scoreless innings with four 1-2-3 frames, and the Zags finally found an equalizer thanks to Stem's solo shot in the bottom of the seventh.
GU got to work again in the eighth – after Coballes sprayed a leadoff single up the middle, a sac bunt from Apodaca moved him to scoring position, but Kalmer struck out to give the Zags just one out to work with.
Nonetheless, Johnson delivered, entering the game as a pinch hitter and slashing an RBI single through the gaps that gave the Bulldog the run they needed. Rutherford walked his second batter of the day in the top of the ninth, but induced three outs with balls in play to keep GU in front and wrap things up.
Play of the Game
Up Next / Follow the Game
Gonzaga hits the road again this week, with a pair of games against Minnesota (2-14) at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minn. on March 14-15. Live stats and streaming options are available on GoZags.com — follow @ZagBaseball on Instagram and Twitter for live updates, highlights and more.
