SPOKANE, Wash. – Enzo Apodaca scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth to walk off Pacific in Gonzaga's West Coast Conference series finale with Pacific on Sunday at Hertz Field and Patterson Baseball Complex, with the Bulldogs winning 9-8 to secure their second series sweep of the season.
The sweep moves GU into a tie for third place in the league standings with Portland (24-18, 13-8) and within two games of second-place San Diego (20-20-1, 13-7) and first-place LMU (21-20, 14-6).
Seven different Zags drew walks and five finished with multiple hits to round out an 11-hit outing for GU, with
Brian Kalmer (1 R),
Enzo Apodaca (1 R),
Tommy Eisenstat (2 R, 1 RBI),
Savier Pinales (2 R, 1 RBI) and
Ezra Samperi (1 R, 2 RBI) all picking up two each and
Hank Dunn adding another hit and an RBI. Apodaca and Eisenstat singled in succession in the bottom of the ninth to cue the go-ahead play.
RHP
Jacob Rutherford worked his way out of trouble to keep the Tigers from capitalizing on eight hits over his seven innings on the mound, striking out six and holding Pacific to four runs in that span. RHP
Kai Francis (0.2 IP, 1 ER) and RHP
Jack Moffitt (0.1 IP, 2 ER) combined to pitch the eighth, when Pacific tied things up late with three runs on four hits and LHP
Bradley Mullan (1.0 IP, 0 ER) earned the win with a scoreless ninth before the Zags ended the game on a walkoff.
GU heads to Pullman Tuesday for their third and final meeting with Washington State before returning home for another WCC series with Saint Mary's May 5-7.
ALL-TIME SERIES AT A GLANCE
With the sweep, the Bulldogs are 25-6 against the Tigers since 2000 and 21-3 against them in conference matchups, having won eight straight in a streak that dates back to 2019. GU has swept three consecutive series against Pacific, two of which were at home.
THE ACTION
Rutherford opened his time on the mound with back-to-back strikeouts, but ran into trouble after following with back-to-back walks and a single from Chaz Myers that gave Pacific an early 1-0 advantage. But the redshirt junior righty kept things tight in the next inning despite a leadoff single, inducing a pair of grounders and ending the frame with another punchout. A double from Samperi and an RBI grounder from Dunn in the bottom of the frame tied things up, but Pacific jumped on Rutherford with a two-run double – the Tigers' only hit of the inning – in the top of the next frame to take a 3-1 lead.
McGee and Kalmer drew back-to-back walks to lead off the bottom of the frame before a strikeout from Stem and a grounder from Apodaca, with the latter advancing both to third and second.Eisenstat cashed in the first run with a bunt single and Pinales followed with a hustle double through the gaps that brought in the tying run, with Samperi clearing the bases with a third consecutive knock to give GU a 5-3 lead.
The Tigers got one back on a double play groundout in the next frame, but Rutherford closed with his fifth strikeout of the outing to minimize the damage.
GU plated two more runs in the sixth thanks to more deft baserunning from Pinales and some miscues from Pacific. After Pinales dropped a single in center and swiped second, Samperi got aboard on a drive that forced an error and allowed Pinales to motor home, and a sac fly from Coballes got another run across to extend GU's lead to 7-4.
Rutherford kept GU rolling with another clean inning despite a leadoff double down the left field, including an athletic jumping tag from Kalmer for the second out and a deep flyout to Dunn in center.
Francis took the mound for the eighth, giving up a solo shot that cut the lead to two on a full count in his first at-bat but induced a pair of grounders for the first two outs before he was replaced by Moffitt. The Tigers tied things up with a pair of singles off Moffitt, but Jacob Weiss was put out at third to end the inning without any further damage.
With GU suddenly needing more run support, Dunn nearly reached the wall on a flyout before Coballes drew a walk to cue another Pacific pitching change. The Gonzaga threat ended with two quick groundouts.
Mullan entered in the ninth, hoping to keep the Pacific bats at bay. Two quick flyouts and a groundout brought the Zags back into the dugout with a chance to walk it off. Apodaca got the rally started with a one-out single, and Eisenstat followed with a single of his own, sending Apodaca to third as the winning run. With Pinales up to bat, a wild pitch allowed Apodaca the opportunity to break for home and score, securing the Zags' sweep.
PLAY OF THE GAME
UP NEXT / FOLLOW THE ACTION
GU heads to Bailey-Brayton Field in Pullman for the Zags' third and final meeting with in-state rival Washington State on May 2 – the two teams split the first two matchups, both in Spokane. Live stats and streaming options are available on GoZags.com — follow @ZagBaseball on Instagram and Twitter for live updates, highlights and more.
