Oregon spoils Gonzaga baseball鈥檚 home opener
SPOKANE, Wash. (BVM) — After starting the season with 18 straight road games, the Gonzaga Bulldogs finally got to play in front of their home crowd on March 22, but they fell to the Oregon Ducks, 9-5.
Both Oregon and Gonzaga came into the game red hot. Gonzaga had just completed a sweep of the University of the Pacific and entered the game tied for first in the West Coast Conference (WCC) with a total record of 14-4. Oregon had just completed a sweep of the University of Utah and entered the game in first place of the Pac-12. In the Collegiate Baseball Poll, Oregon was ranked 21 and Gonzaga was ranked 24.
However, despite the common success, the teams are winning games in very different ways. Gonzaga has won off of their pitching with their stellar rotation which is headlined by Preseason First Team All-American Gabriel Hughes and Preseason Second Team All-American William Kempner. Meanwhile Oregon has been an offensive machine in 2022, which has given the team the fourth-best batting average in Division I.
The starting pitcher for the Zags, however, was not one of their normal top of the line arms, as they are saving them for the very important conference play. So the Zags put two-way player Cade McGee, their normal starting third-baseman, on the mound.
On the other side, Oregon started Jacob Hughes, the younger brother of Gonzaga star Gabriel Hughes, bringing a bit of a family rivalry aspect into the game.
Unfortunately for both young pitchers, they did not see the mound for very long. The game got off to a hot start in the first inning as both teams scored two as both pitchers struggled to find the strike zone. Oregon scored their pair with only one hit while Gonzaga tied it off of a double by Enzo Apodaca which took a crazy hop and bounced over the first baseman鈥檚 head. However, after a Tanner Smith solo home run in the second inning and an Anthony Hall sacrifice fly in the third inning, Oregon led the game by a score of 4-2.
In the fourth inning, it appeared as if things might get out of hand. With a runner on second and one out, Cade McGee was pulled from the game and replaced by left-hander Bradley Mullan. Mullan proceeded to give up four straight hits to the Ducks before settling in and recording the final two outs in the inning. Unfortunately for him and Gonzaga, the damage had already been done as Oregon had scored four in the inning, bringing the score to 8-2 in favor of the Ducks.
After the outburst of offense in the fourth, Oregon鈥檚 bats cooled off while the Zags began chipping away at the damage. Cade McGee began to get some retribution for his pitching outing as a hitter with an RBI single in the fourth and a solo home run in the seventh. In that same seventh inning, Shea Kramer scored on a wild pitch which brought the Zags deficit down to three for a score of 8-5.
The ninth inning brought a little more excitement than Oregon hoped for. Jacob Walsh hit a solo home run in the top of the inning to bring the score to 9-5 in favor of Oregon. The Ducks turned to their star closer Kolby Somers in the bottom of the inning to close out the game. The Zags would not go down easy, though, as they managed to get their first three base runners on. The next batter lined out to the shortstop for the first out of the inning which brought up a pinch hitter in Stephen Lund, the team鈥檚 usual DH. Lund hit a ground ball right back to the pitcher who threw the ball home to the catcher for the force at home and was able to turn a double play, ending the game. This was just one of many missed opportunities for the Zags who left a lot of runners on base in the game.
Head coach Mark Machtolf talked about the missed opportunities, but that he still comes away optimistic.
鈥淲e had some opportunities with runners in scoring position and just didn鈥檛 capitalize,鈥� Machtolf said. 鈥淓ven though it was a disappointing day, we battled back against their closer and brought the tying run to the plate, we gave ourselves some chances.鈥�
Machtolf鈥檚 optimism was not the only bright side for the Zags. Ezra Samperi had a nice game at the plate which included two singles to lead off innings, as well as a good defensive play to throw out a runner trying to take second base. Samperi, a transfer from Mt. Hood Community College, came into the game struggling a little bit, and gave some of the credit to his success to playing at home.
鈥淚 think it was just the environment,鈥� Samperi said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e played here so many times in the Fall, just getting to come out here with all the boys with some real fans was really exciting and made us all get going.鈥�
Despite the scrimmages in the fall, this was his first live game action at home in front of a Gonzaga crowd.
鈥淚t was nice,鈥� Samperi said. 鈥淪eeing how well they filled the stadium, hearing people cheer for us rather than yell at us, it was nice. It was definitely nice to hear the other team get some chirps from our fans too.鈥�
Coach Machtolf also mentioned how great it was to be back home after a string of consecutive road games.
鈥淚t was nice, it was a little different,鈥� Machtolf said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 things that you haven鈥檛 thought about in a month and a half, so it was nice to be home, and we look forward to getting back and playing a league series at home.鈥�
Samperi seems to buy into the short memory aspect of Machtolf鈥檚 coaching as well as taking some of his optimism.
鈥淲e swung the bat well, but things didn鈥檛 end up going our way,鈥� Samperi said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of unfortunate but that鈥檚 baseball.鈥�
The next series Gonzaga will play will be in Provo, Utah against BYU, one of Gonzaga鈥檚 biggest rivals, even if they are not necessarily known for their baseball program.
鈥淚t鈥檚 gonna be a dogfight, it always is with them,鈥� Machtolf said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e a good team, they鈥檙e really well coached, and we鈥檙e on the road again. It鈥檚 going to be very competitive and we鈥檝e got to be ready to play.鈥�
Despite the tough loss, the Zags move on to BYU feeling confident after a strong start to the season, one in which they hope to get back to the College World Series. Being able to return home and play a game gave them some energy no matter the outcome, and they hope to carry that for the rest of the season.
