STOCKTON, Calif. – In what started out as a back-and-forth affair between Gonzaga and Pacific on Friday evening at Klein Family Field, the Zags would outlast the Tigers after scoring three runs in three consecutive innings, hanging on for the 11-7 win.
 
Gonzaga (18-24, 13-6 WCC) has now clinched a spot in the West Coast Conference Tournament in Las Vegas, but has their eyes set on more than just that with two games left at Pacific (8-37, 3-13 WCC) and three-games at home against Pepperdine to close out the regular season. The Bulldogs are currently in second place in the WCC standings, and a top two finish gives them a first round bye at the WCC Tournament at the end of May.
 
GU opened the scoring in the first inning when Vincent Temesvary launched his seventh home run of the season, a solo shot to left field. Pacific's Gabe Camacho answered with a two-run homer in the bottom of the first as the Tigers took a 2-1 lead. Donovan Ratfield plated Max Coupe with an RBI double in the second to tie the game at two, but Pacific responded once again with one of their own to retake a 3-2 lead.
 
Jordan Hamberg was the highlight of the fifth inning for Gonzaga, blasting a three-run home run to right center field to put the Zags on top 5-3. Yet again, Pacific would answer with two runs to knot the score at five after five complete innings.
 
The Bulldogs went right back to work in the sixth, as two RBI groundouts sandwiched a Temesvary RBI double that glanced off the top of the wall in what would've been his second homer of the game. With Gonzaga now leading 8-5, Camacho struck again for Pacific in the bottom of the sixth with his second home run of the evening, a solo shot to cut GU's lead to two, but that's all they would get in the inning.
 
The Zags extended their lead further in the top of the seventh. Hudson Shupe laced a two-run double down the right field line, and Payton Knowles brought home Tyler Griggs on a sacrifice fly to make it 11-6 in favor of Gonzaga. A lone run in the bottom of the seventh for Pacific rounded out the scoring as the Zags hung on for the 11-7 win to open the series.
 
Treyson Peters (W, 1-0) earned his first career win after three innings of work out of the bullpen, allowing two runs on four hits while striking out three. Erik Hoffberg shut the door on Pacific in the final two innings, sitting down all six batters he faced in just 26 pitches while picking up a pair of strikeouts.
 
UP NEXT
Gonzaga and Pacific will square off in game two on Saturday at 5pm as the Zags look to earn the series win. Follow @ZagBaseball on social media for all the latest updates, and check gozags.com for results and streaming information.