PULLMAN, Wash. — Gonzaga jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in its third and final non conference matchup with Washington State Tuesday at Bailey-Brayton Field, but the Cougars (26-17, 7-13 Pac-12) put up a combined nine runs over the seventh and eighth innings and halted a ninth-frame rally with a double play to hand the Bulldogs (17-25, 13-8 WCC) a 9-6 loss.

RHP Kai Francis was shutdown in a career-high five frames of work in his first start, holding the Cougars scoreless on three hits in that span while striking out five and only walking one. But the Cougars jumped on GU's relievers, plying all nine of their runs on LHP Matthew Mueller (1.0 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 3 K) and LHP Bradley Mullan (1.2 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 2 K) over the next two innings to nullify a three-spot from the Zags in the eighth that gave GU a 6-5 lead. WSU scored on throwing errors four times in that span.

Connor Coballes went a season-best 4-for-5 with two RBI and Ezra Samperi stayed hot with a 3-for-4 outing that included two doubles to lead a 12-hit night for GU, with Savier Pinales homering and scoring two runs to lead five other Zags that picked up at least a hit each.

Coballes drove in the first two runs of the game for GU with a bases-loaded single in the top of the second, with Pinales ' solo shot as the only further advance until Wazzu's five-run seventh. Samperi cut the deficit to one with an RBI double and Apodaca followed with a two-run single to retake the lead in the top of the eighth, but GU didn't score again after a ninth-frame double play nullified a leadoff single from Coballes and a base on balls from McGee.

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The Zags return home for their final home WCC series of the season this weekend, playing host to sixth-place Saint Mary's (18-21, 11-10) at Hertz Field and Patterson Baseball Complex May 5-7. Live stats and streaming options are available via GoZags.com — follow @zagbaseball for up-to-date game day information, highlights, behind-the-scenes content and more.