Gonzaga sweeps WCC series, extends winning streak to 10 games | College baseball roundup
Gonzaga's baseball team is rolling through April and establishing itself as the front-runner in the West Coast Conference.
The Zags extended their winning streak to 10 games and took a two-game lead in the WCC standings, beating conference foe Saint Mary's 6-5 on Sunday to complete a series sweep at Louis Guisto Field in Moraga, California.
GU (23-14, 12-3 WCC) cruised past the Gaels (22-17, 8-7) in the first two games, winning 7-2 on Friday and 14-4 by run rule on Saturday. The Bulldogs built a 5-0 lead in the third inning of Sunday's finale, but the Gaels answered with five runs in the bottom of the third.
In the fifth inning, Gonzaga got a lift from its breakout star, designated hitter Maddox Haley, who belted a solo home run to extend his hitting streak to 25 games. The junior juco transfer hit two homers over the weekend and has a team-high nine on the year. He's batting .429 this season.
The Zags' bullpen shut down SMC after Haley's go-ahead shot. Joe Thornton (1-0, 2.63 ERA), a sophomore lefty who has emerged as perhaps GU's most reliable reliever, struck out five Gaels batters over 3 1/3 innings, allowing one hit and no walks. Landon Hood earned his second save, giving up one hit over the final 1 1/3 innings. Hood, the standout true freshman righty from Arizona, has settled nicely into a relief role, pitching 5 1/3 scoreless innings over his last three outings.
Coming into Sunday, the Zag lineup was averaging just under 14 hits per game over the last nine games. GU was held to six hits - its fewest since the team's last loss, on April 2 against Pepperdine - but managed enough offense, getting a two-run double from Hudson Shupe during a four-run third and a second-inning solo shot from Noah Meffert, who also made a spectacular leaping grab to rob a SMC homer in the fifth.
Zags star third baseman Mikey Bell tacked on a double. He added four doubles this weekend to his team-leading total of 18. The reigning WCC Player of the Year is batting .338 with six homers for the season - he is 23-for-47 (.489) with nine RBIs and nine doubles during GU's winning streak. Outfielder Ryder Young logged six RBIs over the first two games of the series (he hit a three-run homer in Game 1), and leads the team with 38 RBIs.
Senior starter Justin Feld improved to 5-0 with a seven-inning, two-run effort in Friday's win. Karsten Sweum is 5-1 after pitching 6 1/3 innings, allowing four runs with seven strikeouts, in Saturday's victory.
Cougars take MWC series at UNLV
Washington State squandered a six-run cushion, but retook the lead in the top of the ninth inning and held on for a 9-8 Mountain West Conference win against UNLV on Sunday at Earl E. Wilson Stadium in Paradise, Nevada.
The Cougars (21-19, 9-6 MWC) took two of three games in the series and sit in a tie for third place in the conference standings.
WSU built a 7-1 lead in the fourth, but the Rebels (23-17, 6-9) rallied with six runs over the next two frames. WSU loaded the bases in the seventh and got an RBI sacrifice fly to tie it, then claimed the lead in the top of the ninth on Ryan Skjonsby's leadoff home run - the senior first baseman also hit a solo shot in the fourth. Skjonsby is on a nine-game hitting streak, with multiple hits in six of those games. He leads the team with six homers and 35 RBIs on the year.
Outfielder Dustin Robinson added a second-inning solo homer for WSU, which was outhit 16-12 but capitalized on its chances. Senior outfielder Max Hartman had an RBI triple and an RBI double. Hartman is batting .303 this year with a team-high seven triples, plus 10 doubles. Senior second baseman Gavin Roy went 3-for-5 with two RBIs, boosting his team-best average to .370.
Cougs starter Luke Meyers allowed four runs on eight hits with four strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings. Reliever August Richie earned the win, working 3 1/3 scoreless innings.
The Cougars used a well-rounded effort to win the series opener 13-2, recording 11 hits and nine walks and getting a gem from sophomore lefty Nick Lewis (5-2), who struck out nine and gave up one run over seven innings. WSU starter Griffin Smith (3-4) had a tough outing Saturday and WSU's offense was quiet in a 12-3 loss.
Pirates win NWC series at PLU
Whitworth swept Sunday's doubleheader to win the Northwest Conference series at Pacific Lutheran and take a four-game lead atop the conference standings.
The Pirates eked out a 5-4 win in Sunday's opener, then cruised past the Lutes 13-6 in Parkland, Washington.
Whitworth star Kyle Memarian, the reigning NWC MVP, was a single short of hitting for the cycle in Game 1 on Sunday. The senior outfielder hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the top of the ninth and opened the scoring with an RBI triple in the third. Memarian collected seven hits, six RBIs, three doubles and two homers over the weekend. His .374 average on the year is tied with fellow outfielder Nate Gray Jr.
Gray went 3-for-4 with a triple in the opener to cap his seven-hit weekend. The Pirates got a quality start from Nathaniel Kurano, who gave up one run on four hits in six innings.
In Sunday's finale, Yash Gupta hit his first homer of the year and Tommy Lamb drove in four runs on two triples for Whitworth, which jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the second before the Lutes (10-19, 8-10) rallied to cut it to 7-6 in the fifth. The Pirates closed the door with a four-run ninth. Reliever Zach Wright (1-1) got the win with two scoreless innings.
Led by starter Dillon Hartman (7-1), who struck out eight over six scoreless innings, the Pirates cruised to an 8-1 win in the opener of Saturday's doubleheader. But Whitworth's pitching staff struggled in Game 2, a 15-9 loss, surrendering 18 hits.
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