SPOKANE, Wash. – After a ten-run offensive performance on Thursday, BYU followed up with 13 runs on Friday while tallying 16 hits, earning the series win over Gonzaga with a 13-6 victory at Patterson Baseball Complex.
 
Gonzaga (2-6) had not surrendered a first-inning run this season until Friday, when BYU (6-4) took advantage of a leadoff walk to open the scoring early. The Zags responded in the bottom of the second on an RBI single from Payton Knowles to knot the score at one.
 
BYU and GU traded two-run innings in the third, but the Cougars eventually opened things up by posting ten total runs in the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth innings. The Bulldogs were able to score one in the eighth and two in the ninth, capped by a two-run double from Knowles to complete his 3-for-5 afternoon, but it wouldn't be enough on Friday.
 
Justis Reiser (W, 1-0) was the winning pitcher after three and one-third innings in relief, entering for Cougar starter Jaden Harris (ND) in the bottom of the third. Miles Gostzola (L, 0-3) was tabbed with the loss, allowing six runs on seven hits in four and one-third innings.
 
Despite fewer walks allowed from GU pitching on Friday, BYU bats came alive in the middle game led by a 5-for-5 outing from 1B Cooper Vest, who drove in three and scored three times. OF Luke Anderson was 4-for-5 right underneath Vest, adding an RBI and a run scored.
 
Mikey Bell (2-for-4, 2 R), Knowles (3-for-5, 3 RBI, R, 2 2B), and Max Coupe (2-for-2, RBI, BB) were the three Zags with multiple hits on Friday. Kale Hammer made his GU debut, pitching one and one-third perfect innings on just 17 pitches while striking out two in late relief.
 
UP NEXT
Gonzaga turns the calendar over to March, facing BYU in the series finale on Saturday at 1 p.m. The game will stream on ESPN+, and tickets are available at www.gozags.com/tickets.