SPOKANE, Wash.- Gonzaga Baseball (19-14, 8-3 WCC) had another fantastic night of hitting to extend their winning streak with an 11-3 victory over Portland (20-12, 6-5 WCC)
The Zags won their sixth game in a row, collecting 12 hits to also make this their the sixth straight game with double digit hit totals. Bo Shinkle was great at the plate, going 3 for 4 while scoring three runs and driving in another two. Shinkle hit his first home run of the year, taking a ball to deep left centerfield in his first at bat of the day.
Gonzaga had already scored two runs in the same inning of that home run, with Noah Meffert and Hudson Shupe getting on base with a single and a double before coming around to score in the bottom of the second. Tommy Eisenstat hit a single before Shinkle's home run drove him in to bring the GU total to four runs in the second inning. Gonzaga has scored the winning runs before the fifth innings in both of the games of the series.
Gonzaga starter Karsten Sweum had another quality start tonight, striking out a career high 11 batters. Sweum allowed only three runs on five hits while throwing for 6.1 innings. He tossed a career high 119 pitches. Portland scored two runs in the fifth inning to cut into the deficit, using back to back doubles to score the runs. They scored their lone extra run in the seventh inning on Sweum's final surrendered hit of the night.
The Zags had another huge inning in the seventh, jumping on Portland relief pitcher Ky Hoskin for five runs. A double by Shinkle opened the inning, while Ricky Sanchez hustled out a dropped third strike to extend the inning. A single by Maddox Haley scored both runners, while a double by Noah Meffert put both baserunners in position to score later in the inning on back to back wild pitches. GU tacked another two runs on the reliever when Mikey Bell had a two RBI double to again drive in Eisenstat and Shinkle.
GU has now scored 23 runs across 16 innings of batting against Portland. Prior to the series the Pilots had the fourth lowest team ERA in the NCAA. Gonzaga is currently tied for first in the WCC. They have out hit their opponent in 21 of the last 25 games and scored more than five runs in 18 of the last 22 games. The Zags are in the midst of a 15-3 steak, having secured a series win in each of their last five weekend series.
Patterson Baseball Complex will host the final game of the series at 1pm on Sunday, with the Zags looking to complete a series sweep. Gonzaga is currently tied for first atop the WCC standings.
