SPOKANE, Wash. — The University of San Francisco baseball team jumped out to an early lead in Friday's pivotal West Coast Conference opener at first-place and nationally ranked Gonzaga, but missed opportunities by the Dons and opportunities capitalized on by the Bulldogs led to a narrow 3-2 victory by the host Bulldogs at Patterson Baseball Complex.
The Dons (22-26, 15-10 WCC) grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first inning, backed by the first of two extra-base hits on the night from
Jordan Vujovich. He led off the game with a double and came home on
Luke Keaschall's RBI single. But the Dons would leave two runners in scoring position, with Keaschall stranded at third and
Harris Williams left at second base.
That would come back to bite them when Gonzaga (31-14, 18-4 WCC) scored three runs in the bottom half of the first. A leadoff homer by Ernie Yake tied the game at 1-1. Brett Harris moved to second on a groundout and stole third base after his single, then scored on Andrew Orzel's RBI single to make it 2-1. Grayson Sterling did the same, nitpicking around the base paths to score an important insurance run for the Bulldogs. He reached on a fielder's choice, stole second base and advance to third on a wild pitch before scoring on a clutch two-out RBI single by Guthrie Morrison.
Those were all the runs Gonzaga would score on the night, but were all the runs they would need. Alek Jacob (6-1) retired 13 straight from the end of the first through the fifth inning, including four consecutive 1-2-3 innings. Trystan Vrieling earned his second save of the year by throwing two perfect, scoreless innings of relief, striking out three, walking none and not allowing a hit.
Vujovich was left stranded in scoring position in the sixth after he led off the inning with a hit-by-pitch. And the Dons left two more runners in scoring position in the seventh with only one out. Vujovich hit his team-leading eighth home run of the season in the eighth inning to bring the Dons within one, and Keaschall followed him with a single to chase Jacob out of the game. But that was the last scoring opportunity USF would have before Vrieling came in to shut things down for Gonzaga.
Game two of the series is scheduled for 6 p.m. Saturday. Right-hander
Jesse Barron is slated to throw for USF against Gonzaga righty William Kempner. Fans can find all live coverage links on USFDons.com.
