SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Mason Marenco and Connor Coballes both hit their first homers of the season in the same inning to give Gonzaga Baseball a 4-1 lead and the Bulldogs (18-31, 14-11 WCC kept Santa Clara off the board for six straight innings in their West Coast Conference series opener at Stephen Schott Stadium on Thursday, but Broncos (29-18, 15-10) rallied to score four runs in the bottom of the ninth for a 5-4 walk-off win.

GU, which has already clinched a spot in the WCC Tournament in Las Vegas May 24-27, has a chance to tie up the series in tomorrow's Game Two, set for a 6 p.m. start.

Along with Marenco and Coballes' fifth-frame no-doubters, the Zags picked up eight hits, with Sam Stem (1 R) and Dylan Johnson (1 RBI) leading the way with two apiece.

RHP Owen Wild held SCU to just one run on four hits in six frames on the mound, striking out five and walking just one. RHP Jack Moffitt retired six of the eight batters he faced without giving up a hit, but was tagged for a run after a leadoff walk in the ninth after RHP Ty Buckner (0.2 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 K) entered the game.

Wild and Moffitt combined to throw four 1-2-3 innings and only allowed more than one Santa Clara runner aboard once, but the Zags' bats were retired in order six times – including the final four innings of the game thanks to a pair of frame-ending double plays in the sixth and seventh – to keep things tight, but the Broncos doubled their hitting output in one inning to produce the tying and go-ahead runs with two outs on the board.

THE ACTION
After a three-and-out in the top of the first and a 1-2-3 inning from Wild to get things started, the back half of GU's lineup plated the first run of the game thanks to Stem – who singled in leadoff and reached scoring position on a wild pitch – and Johnson – who slapped a single into left field to bring him home for a 1-0 advantage.

But the Broncos equalized in the bottom of the frame just as quickly with a one-out solo homer from Coleman Brigman – the Broncos' first hit of the game. Wild struck out the next two he faced and induced a fielder's choice play that ended the inning with the score still tied after SCU's Malcolm Williams reached first on a wild pitch after being rung up.

Wild kept things tied up over the next two frames despite only one Zag getting aboard in that span, striking his way out of a bases-loaded jam bottom of the third and throwing just eight pitches in a 1-2-3 fourth before GU's three-spot in the top of the fifth.

After a leadoff single from Ezra Samperi, Marenco and Coballes both hit their first homers of the year – Coballes' with deuces wild – to cash in three runs and put GU back up 4-1, and Wild retired six of the next seven he faced to close out his time on the mound with the lead still in hand.

Inning-ending double plays in the sixth and seventh nullified singles in each to keep the Zags' offense from advancing further, with Moffitt taking the mound to start the seventh. He induced a first-pitch groundout and retired the side in order on just eight pitches total for the Zags' fourth 1-2-3 frame of the day, but GU went down in order just as quickly in the top of the eighth.

A leadoff walk on a full count complicated things for Moffitt, who returned with minimal rest after GU went down in order in the top of the frame, but th 6-7 righty responded with a strikeout before inducing two more outs with balls in play to keep SCU off the board for the sixth straight frame.

After Moffitt walked the leadoff batter again with three outs left to go, Buckner entered the game to close, generating a fielder's choice knock for the first out but giving up the first run since the second inning on back-to-back singles. With two on and the lead cut to one after a walk and another single, Buckner managed to pick up the second out after striking out Dawson Brigman, but a single up the middle in the next at-bat from Michael O'Hara yielded the tying and go-ahead runs to end the game.

UP NEXT / FOLLOW THE ACTION
With a chance to tie the series at one apiece, RHP Jacob Rutherford (4.90 ERA, 5-2, 71.2 IP, 68 K) is set to get the start on the bump for the Zags in Friday's Game Two, with RHP Cade Pilchard (4.15 ERA, 3-1, 43.1 IP, 40 K) for the Broncos. Live stats and streaming options are available on GoZags.com — follow @ZagBaseball on Instagram and Twitter for live updates, highlights and more.