SPOKANE, Wash. – RHP Jacob Rutherford pitched a complete game shutout – his second CG outing of the season – and Sam Stem drove in all three runs on a pair of clutch two-out singles to cue a 3-0 win in Gonzaga Baseball's West Coast Conference series finale with Saint Mary's Sunday afternoon at Coach Steve Hertz Field and Patterson Baseball Complex.

Rutherford struck out 10 – one short of a career-high set against Portland two weeks prior – and only walked one during his time on the mound, throwing 121 total pitches in the process.

The redshirt junior righty is the first Zags pitcher to record a nine-inning shutout and first with multiple complete-game outings in the same season since Alek Jacob in 2021. He now moves to 4-0 on the year in games of record – the only GU starting pitcher who has yet to be tagged for a loss in 2023 – and has pitched three games of eight or more innings this season.

Stem's 2-for-4 outing produced all the run support Rutherford needed, plating Connor Coballes (3-for-4, 1 BB) with a bases-loaded single in the third and bringing in Coballes again along with Hank Dunn (1 H) to extend the lead to three in the seventh. Brian Kalmer drew a season-high three walks and Dylan Johnson reached base twice and added a knock of his own to round out a seven-hit outing for GU.

GU put the first run on the board in the third, when Coballes deposited a one-out single in center field and reached scoring position on a passed ball. After Kalmer drew his first base on balls of the day, Stem came through with a base knock that got Coballes home from second and pushed Kalmer to third before a popup kept things moving.

The Bulldogs finally strung together the at-bats they needed with a seventh-frame rally, loading the bases after Johnson and Coballes connected on back-to-back base knocks and Kalmer was intentionally walked with two outs. Up next, Stem dropped a single up the middle to extend GU's lead with a pair of much-needed insurance runs, and Samperi juiced the bases yet again with a walk before a deep drive to the right field wall from Eisenstat was caught to strand all three.

With a three-run lead in hand, Rutherford retired six of the next seven batters he faced – including his ninth and 10th K's of the outing – to slam the door on a Gaels comeback and put the finishing touches on yet another career outing.

UP NEXT / FOLLOW THE ACTION
The Zags take a weekend off from WCC action next weekend, playing host to 2022 College World Series Runner-Up Oklahoma (26-22, 11-11 Big 12) at Patterson Baseball Complex on May 12-14 in the first meeting between the two teams since 2014 and first in Spokane. Live stats and streaming options are available on GoZags.com — follow @ZagBaseball on Instagram and Twitter for live updates, highlights and more.