Box Score SPOKANE, Wash. – Gonzaga Baseball jumped out to a 5-1 lead after plating runs in each of the first three innings of its second game with BYU on Friday at Coach Steve Hertz Field at Patterson Baseball Complex, but the Cougars responded with five unanswered of their own and a strikeout that ended the ninth with the tying and go-ahead runs aboard for a 5-6 setback for the Bulldogs (10-4, 6-2 WCC) that tied up the weekend series at a game apiece.
GU outhit BYU 11-10 thanks to multi-hit performances from
Brian Kalmer (2 H, 2 R),
Sam Stem (3 H, 1 R, 2 RBI),
Brock Bozett (2 H, 1 RBI) and
Tommy Eisenstat (2 H, 1 R), but was kept off the board for six consecutive frames as BYU starter Bryce Robison settled in.
LHP
Matthew Mueller held the Cougars to two earned runs on two hits in 3 ⅔ innings on the mound and struck out eight in that span, but struggled with free passes, walking six and allowing runners to reach scoring position in each of his last three innings on the mound. RHP
Everett Swaim (1.0 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 1 BB) and RHP
Jack Moffitt (4.1 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 4 K) threw the rest of the game, with Moffitt stanching BYU's late surge with two scoreless frames in the eighth and ninth to set up a potential Zags rally despite being tagged for the loss.
GU still has a chance for their third-consecutive WCC series win in Saturday's rubber match, set for 6 p.m.
THE ACTION
Mueller struck out two in the first, but surrendered a first-inning solo shot from Cole Gambill that gave BYU an early lead. Nonetheless, the Zags got on the board just as quickly in the next frame, with Kalmer, Stem and Bozett all producing two-out singles in succession to bring in the tying run before Pinales popped up to end the inning with Stem on third.
After Mueller worked his way out of two walks to start the second with his third and fourth K's of the day, GU plated two more in the bottom of the next frame. Eisenstat and Sterling connected on back-to-back doubles to put GU up 2-1, and Sterling reached third on a grounder from Sterling before scoring on a wild pitch to make it 3-1.
Mueller got out of trouble yet again in the third, with a single and a pair of walks juicing the bases with two outs before he struck out Jacob Wilk swinging for his seventh of the day. The Zags' bats kept providing him with run support, with Kalmer leading off the third with a double and Stem slamming his third homer of the year to bring them both in and make it three straight frames with runs on the board.
Swaim took over on the mound with runners on second and third, allowing a BYU run off of a wild pitch but inducing a popup to keep things moving. The Cougars kept making him pay in the fourth after a leadoff walk and three singles plated two more to cut the lead to one with two aboard and deuces wild, cueing Moffit's entry into the game. He struck out Safea Mauai swinging in his first at-bat to stop the threat.
Stem got the Zags rolling again in the fifth with a two-out double up the middle and Bozett pushed him to third with a single, but another Pinales groundout kept them from rebuilding the lead. Two more singles and two wild pitches got one back for BYU before Moffitt could regain control, stranding three on base with a fielder's choice and a grounder.
The Cougars took their first lead of the game thanks to Easton Jones, who doubled down the left field line to lead off the seventh before eventually reaching home on a grounder. Another double to the same spot from Anderson threatened more, but Moffitt responded with a K on Gambill to end the frame.
After GU was retired in order in the seventh, Moffitt returned the favor in the eighth with three groundouts and kept the Cougars off the board in the ninth.
With two outs left in the bottom of the ninth to make up some ground, Coballes was hit by a pitch to get the tying run aboard, and Apodaca replaced him at first with a fielder's choice knock that left GU with one out. Kalmer drew a walk to get the go-ahead aboard, but Stem couldn't rally back from an 0-2 hole, striking out to end the game.
UP NEXT / FOLLOW THE GAME
The Zags go for their third-straight WCC series win in tomorrow's rubber match, set for 6 p.m. first pitch. Live stats and streaming options are available on GoZags.com — follow @ZagBaseball on Instagram and Twitter for live updates, highlights and more.
