HONOLULU, Hawaii- Gonzaga Baseball (1-3) lost on another walk-off to Hawaii (3-1) on Sunday night, coming up on the short side of a 4-3 scoreline.
The Zags struggled to get into an effective rhythm while batting against Liam O'Brien for the first five innings. The former Gonzaga pitcher was very effective while pitching for the Rainbow Warriors, allowing only one base runner per inning during the second through fifth innings.
Justin Feld was able to match him for the first four innings, also giving up only four baserunners in that time. Hawaii finally tagged him for a run in the fifth inning to open the scoring, taking advantage of two walks and a double to score two runs before Feld worked out of the jam.
The Bulldogs got a run back in the sixth inning as Noah Meffert got on base with a single and was then immediately driven in courtesy of a Mikey Bell double. Meffert was the most effective batter for GU in the series, going 8 for 19 with 10 total bases across the four games.
Joe Thornton looked solid in relief for the Zags, allowing no runs in three innings of work. He struck out four batters while giving up four hits to keep the game at a one run deficit.
Gonzaga took the lead in the eighth, opening with back to back hits by the top of the order to get Bo Shinkle and Meffert at the corners with no outs. Bell then hit a single to the right side for his second RBI of the day, and Ryder Young hit a hard line drive to score Meffert and give GU a 3-2 lead heading into the bottom of the eighth.
Garrett Gores appeared out of the bullpen in the eighth to get GU out of a tough situation with two runners on and only one out. He proceeded to get a strikeout and a ground ball to maintain the lead heading into the final frame. Gonzaga failed to score in the top of the ninth, setting up a one run lead heading into the bottom of the inning.
After recording an initial out, Hawaii had three straight singles, with Ben Ziegler Namoa getting a clutch hit up the middle to tie the game and advance the lead runner to third. Left handed pitcher Frank Willius was brought in to preserve the lead but he unfortunately tossed a wild pitch to the left of the batter, allowing Hawaii to take home and win on a walk off. This was the second game in the series that Hawaii won via walk off.
Gonzaga will look to get back on track as they get back on the road next weekend, taking on a future PAC-12 opponent in Texas State. The first game of the series is scheduled for 4pm (pacific time) on Friday.
