SPOKANE, Wash. – Gonzaga's bullpen completed 3 2/3 innings of no-hit baseball to hold off a Santa Clara rally as the Zags took game one of a three-game series Friday night at Patterson Baseball Complex and Coach Steve Hertz Field.
With the win, Gonzaga (8-18, 5-2 WCC) improves to 6-1 at home and 5-2 in West Coast Conference play.
Santa Clara (15-12, 3-4 WCC) was on the board quickly in the first as Coleman Brigman homered with one out on a ball that snuck around the left field foul pole. The Zags responded in the bottom of the frame when Payton Knowles connected for his first home run of the season, a two-run shot that cleared the wall in right center.
Later in the inning, Sam Stem lined a ball off the scoreboard in right for his second home run of the season.
The score would hold at 3-1 until the fourth when Knowles snuck a single into left field, scoring Donovan Ratfield who motored around third on the play. Santa Clara chased Gonzaga starter Justin Feld in the sixth after a two-run single and a pair of walks. The Broncos would add two unearned runs on a Bulldog error to take a 5-4 lead.
Tommy Eisenstat led off the bottom of the sixth with a solo home run to bring the score to a 5-5 tie, and GU never looked back. A run in the seventh gave the Zags a 6-5 lead, and an insurance run in the eighth set the stage for Erik Hoffberg (S, 2), who completed a four-out save to shut the door on the game one win.
Michael Cunneely (W, 2-2) earned the win for Gonzaga after relieving Feld in the sixth. The Zags took the lead in the seventh, while Cunneely made it into the eighth before running into some traffic. Erik Hoffberg tagged in for Cunneely and ended the inning with a strikeout to keep Santa Clara off the board.
Hoffberg allowed a walk in the ninth, but a strikeout and two popups later sent Gonzaga home with the 7-5 win. Knowles finished 3-for-4 with three RBIs and a run scored to lead the GU offense.
UP NEXT
Gonzaga and Santa Clara will square off in game two Saturday evening at 6pm. Follow @ZagBaseball on social media for all the latest updates, and check gozags.com for results and streaming information.
