EUGENE, Ore. – Trailing 11-0 at #16 Oregon, the Zags scored two runs in the fifth inning and seven in the seventh to bring the score within two, but the Ducks added three to hang on to a 14-9 midweek win on Tuesday at PK Park.
Oregon (26-10) snaps a seven-game win streak for Gonzaga (14-19), who wrapped up their four-game road trip on Tuesday. The Bulldogs will have to shake it off before welcoming the current West Coast Conference leading Portland Pilots to Patterson Baseball Complex on Friday. Gonzaga (10-2 WCC) and Portland (8-1) will battle for the conference lead in a three-game stint as the Zags look to build on a 9-1 home record this season.
Oregon was first to strike in Tuesday's matinee action, plating two in the first inning after a few balls bounced in favor of the Ducks off Gonzaga starting pitcher
Nate DeSchryver (L, 1-2). After a scoreless second, Oregon went back to work in the third when they chased DeSchryver and plated seven runs, including three home runs. Another two runs in the fourth put Gonzaga in a 11-0 hole.
The Zags battled late, getting two runs back in the fifth on an RBI single from
Peyton Miller and RBI fielder's choice from
Payton Knowles. Then in the seventh,
Sam Stem led off a seven-run Gonzaga inning with a solo homer to left-center field, his third of the season. RBI singles from
Hudson Shupe and
Jace Phelan, and RBI doubles from
Tommy Eisenstat and
Kevin Spear highlighted the GU rally to cut the deficit to two, now 11-9 Oregon.
The Ducks responded after the stretch with Jacob Walsh's second home run of the game, a solo smash to center field. A home run and an RBI single added insurance in the eighth to extend Oregon's lead back to five. A one-out single in the ninth for Eisenstat extended his multi-hit game streak to five, but the Ducks extinguished the Zags' late rally to hang on for the 14-9 victory.
Despite the loss, Gonzaga is 7-3 in their last ten games and is the lone team in the West Coast Conference with ten WCC wins.
UP NEXT
First pitch for Friday's series opener against Portland is set for 6pm. Follow @ZagBaseball on social media for all the latest updates, and check gozags.com for results and streaming information.
