SPOKANE, Wash – Gonzaga Baseball pulled away in the sixth inning of its West Coast Conference series opener with BYU at Hertz Field at Patterson Baseball Complex Thursday night behind a dominant seven-frame start from RHP Owen Wild and a timely four-spot, winning 5-1.

The Bulldogs (10-13, 6-1 WCC) have won nine of their last 11, with a chance to clinch their third consecutive WCC series win in tomorrow's matchup.

Wild held the Cougars (8-15, 2-5 WCC) to just one earned run – a solo homer from Ryan Sepede that tied things up in the top of the sixth – and came one strikeout short of a career-high in seven frames on the mound, tagged for just four hits and three walks in that span.

After BYU tied things up, GU's lineup took care of the rest, picking up five of the Bulldogs' eight hits in the sixth in response to yield four runs and change the complexion of the game entirely. After Brian Kalmer singled to lead off the inning, Sam Stem connected on his third triple of the season to bring him home and Brock Bozett followed with a single to put GU up two. Savier Pinales kept things rolling with a double to put runners at second and third, and Donovan Ratfield cashed them both in with another single to put GU up four.

All in all, Kalmer (1 R) and Connor Coballes (1 R) led an eight-hit Zags effort with a pair of two-hit performances, with Pinales, Ratfield, Bozett and Stem rounding it out with a hit each. 

Wild kept things difficult over his final inning on the mound, walking the leadoff batter but striking out the next three he faced, and LHP Bradley Mullan earned his first save of the season with two innings of scoreless relief, only allowing one hit while striking out two.

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The Zags look to clinch their third consecutive series win in tomorrow's game two, with LHP Matthew Mueller set to get the start on the bump against BYU RHP Bryce Robison (4.83 ERA, 2-1, 31.2 IP, 26 K). Live stats and streaming options are available on GoZags.com — follow @ZagBaseball on Instagram and Twitter for live updates, highlights and more.