SPOKANE, Wash. – Gonzaga Baseball opened up West Coast Conference play with a win at Coach Steve Hertz Field at Patterson Baseball Complex Friday evening, leaning on a career-high eight-frame start from RHP
Owen Wild and plating six unanswered runs in the seventh and eighth frames to take control late.
Wild struck out 12 during his time on the mound to pick up his first win for the Bulldogs (4-12, 1-0 WCC), holding the Dons (9-5, 0-1 WCC) to four runs on nine hits with just one walk in that span. Wild stifled a late surge from USF, posting three consecutive scoreless innings after the Dons tied things up at 4-all in the top of the fifth.
LHP
Bradley Mullan kept USF off the board in the final inning while holding the Dons hitless, picking up a strikeout in the process.
Savier Pinales went 4-for-5 and
Brock Bozett went 3-for-4 to pace an 18-hit night for the Bulldogs – the most hits they've recorded in a single game so far this season – with Pinales scoring two runs with a pair of RBI and Bozett scoring three runs with one driven in. Pinales is batting .353 in his last eight games since returning to the lineup, with 12 hits in that span.
Brian Kalmer (1 R, 1 RBI),
Tommy Eisenstat (1 R) and
Sam Stem (3 RBI) all picked up two hits each, with five other Zags getting a knock apiece. Stem picked up hits in his first two at-bats, with his 3 RBI as a new career-high.
"Good start to the conference season," said GU Head Coach
Mark Machtolf. "I thought Owen really competed hard and gave us a good chance to win. Offensively that was one of our more complete efforts of the season -- lots of big contributions but a big night from Savi and Stem. "
With the win, Gonzaga is 25-11 against teams from the state of California at home since 2019, and 19-8 the past two seasons. GU has won its last seven WCC-opening series, and its last three at home.
GU has a chance to pick up its first WCC series win in Saturday's Game Two, set for 6 p.m.
The Action
Wild retired the first three batters he faced in the first, but the Dons got their first runs of the game in the second thanks to a two-run homer from Michael Campagna. The 6'1" righty responded with three consecutive strikeouts to get up to four on the day, and the Zags' bats got to work in the bottom of the frame just as quickly. Bozett and Pinales both came up with one-out singles, and Stem got them both home with a high-arcing triple – his first of the season – to tie things up.
Stem came through again in the fourth, knocking in his third RBI of the game with a well-struck single that scored Bozett – who doubled in his second at-bat – from third. With nobody out, the Dons turned to RHP Matt McConnell to take the mound. Samperi laid down a well-executed bunt to push runners to second and third in exchange for the first out, and a foulout from Coballes gave Pinales time to reach home after tagging up to extend the lead to two.
The Dons threatened in the top of the fifth, pushing across a run on a single from back-to-back one-out singles from Tyler Martinez and Harris Williams III and tying it up on a double from Ryan Martinez that tied things up before Tyler Martinez was put out at home plate to end the frame.
Kalmer led off the bottom of the frame with a single – the second straight leadoff knock for the Zags – and Sterling followed up with a base knock of his own, but a grounder from Pinales kept them off the board.
Wild had to keep fighting off a Dons rally in the next frame, weathering two more singles before inducing a grounder and striking his way out of the frame. He repeated the feat in the seventh after a leadoff single threatened again, generating a pair of outs with balls in play – a shallow popup to center and a short grounder to first – before a foulout kept the score unchanged.
It wasn't until the seventh that the Zags found their way back on the board, when Eisenstat smacked a scorching double to left field with two outs on the board and Bozett drew a walk to and stole second with Pinales at the plate. The senior second baseman delivered the knock the Zags needed – his third of the day – to bring both home and put GU back up by two.
Taking the mound for a career-high eighth frame, Wild kept the momentum going with a 1-2-3 inning, ending it with his 11th and 12th strikeouts of the day.
GU maintained pressure in the bottom of the inning, thanks to some speedy plays from Coballes, who stole second and then third in succession to put the Zags in position to capitalize with one out on the board. Apodaca drew a walk next, bringing up Kalmer, who connected on RBI single opened the floodgates for a momentum-swinging two-out rally that put four more runs on the board.
Dylan Johnson came through with another big pinch-hit at-bat after providing the winning run against UC Irvine on Sunday, slashing down the left field line to bring in two more, and Bozett picked up his third hit of the day to put GU up 10-4.
Mullan took the mound for the final frame, allowing one runner aboard on a walk but striking out one more while keeping USF off the board to end the game. Mullan has thrown seven consecutive scoreless innings of relief dating back to his last appearance against Minnesota on March 14.
Play of the Game
Up Next / Follow the Game
The Bulldogs have a chance for a series win to open up WCC play in game two, with RHP
Jacob Rutherford (23.1 IP, 2-0, 4.63 ERA, 19 K) set to take the mound against USF RHP Adam Shew (18 IP, 2-1, 2.50 ERA, 23 K). Live stats and streaming options are available on GoZags.com — follow @ZagBaseball on Instagram and Twitter for live updates, highlights and more.
