Box Score LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Gonzaga baseball fell to top-seed San Diego, 10-7 on day two of the West Coast Conference Tournament at Las Vegas Ballpark. The Zags could not keep pace with the Torero offense, falling into the losers' bracket and facing elimination on Friday at noon.
Gonzaga (20-31) was first to strike on Thursday, taking a 1-0 lead on a
Hudson Shupe sacrifice fly. San Diego (38-13) was quick to respond in the bottom half of the inning as Jakob Christian, the 2024 West Coast Conference Player of the Year, skied a two-run home run to give the Toreros a 2-1 lead.
Donovan Ratfield knotted the score at two in the top of the fourth on a double that short-hopped the left field wall, scoring
Tommy Eisenstat all the way from first base. USD answered once again with two runs in the bottom of the fourth on a two-run single from Angelo Peraza, taking a 4-2 lead.
Gonzaga starter
Liam Paddack (L, 3-7) worked five strong innings before running into some trouble in the sixth. After two quick outs, San Diego opened a two-out rally with a single, a hit-by-pitch, and a walk before three straight hits broke open a 9-3 Torero lead.
Finbar O'Brien entered for Paddack, allowing those three hits before ending the inning, despite the latter being charged with the runs.
The Zags chipped away with one in the seventh, but San Diego got it back in the eighth to make it 10-4 as GU came up for their last chance in the ninth. Two straight singles opened the Gonzaga rally before a sacrifice fly from Eisenstat and a two-run blast from
Jordan Hamberg closed the gap, but USD would hang on for the 10-7 win.
GU posted 11 hits on the afternoon despite making hard contact right at San Diego defenders throughout the game.
Josh Hankins, Hamberg,
Payton Knowles, and
Tyler Griggs each notched multi-hit efforts in the loss. For USD, Peraza and Ariel Armas each recorded three hits and two runs batted in to lead the Torero offense.
UP NEXT
Gonzaga will face either the loser of 2-seed Portland and 3-seed Saint Mary's on Friday at noon. The Zags will have to win four straight games to continue their season. Follow @ZagBaseball on social media for all the latest updates, and check gozags.com for results and streaming information.
