March 20, 2009
Box Score
Spokane, Wash. - In the first game on the road against West Coast Conference opponent Gonzaga, the Pacific baseball team fell 8-3 on Friday, March 20.
With the loss, the Tigers dropped to 7-10 overall as Gonzaga recorded its sixth-straight win to improve to 12-5 on the year.
Senior LHP Joey Centanni (San Diego, Calif.) took the loss for Pacific, dropping to 2-2 on the year, while Matt Fields earned his second win of the year, before A.J. Proszek tallied his first save in 2009.
Centanni (2.20 ERA) went 4.2 innings from the mound, allowing six runs to score, but only four were earned. He started off the game allowing three earned runs to score after the Tigers went scoreless into the bottom of the first inning.
Pacific tried to come back and chip away at the Bulldogs' lead, when senior Joe Oliveira (San Diego, Calif.) became the first base runner to reach with no outs on the board in the top of the third frame. He grounded over to the third baseman Jason Chatwood who threw off line to first and recorded the first error of the game, allowing Oliveira to reach safely. After the first out was credited in the next at-bat, sophomore Nick Longmire (San Diego, Calif.) drove a one-out double to left center field to put both himself and Oliveira into scoring position at second and third base. Senior Mike McKeever (San Diego, Calif.) (.327 average, 1-for-3, 1 RBI) kept things rolling and recorded Pacific's first RBI of the game when he grounded out to the shortstop but allowed for Oliveira to score from third.
With two down, sophomore J.B. Brown (Alvin, Texas) (.369 average, 1-for-4) kept the inning and his current hitting streak alive by singling up the middle to score Longmire (.293 average, 2-for-5, 1 run) and cut the deficit at 3-2. That was all the rally the Tigers could muster in the top of the third. Gonzaga, however, responded one inning later, plating two more in the bottom of the fourth to take a 5-2 lead. The Bulldogs put up another run in the fifth, going up 6-2 on the board.
Pacific had enough of its scoreless innings from the plate and came into the top of the sixth with a lead off single from senior Kurt Wideman (Fallbrook, Calif.). Sophomore Brian Martin (Livermore, Calif.) then reached in the next at-bat on a fielder's choice that recorded the first out of the inning on Wideman (.351 average, 1-for-4) over at second base. Junior Mike Walker (Marysville, Calif.) (.306 average, 3-for-4) then had his shot to start something with one out and kept Pacific's hopes alive with a single to left field to put Martin on second base. Junior Ben Gorang (Turlock, Calif.) (.293 average, 1-for-4) next recorded Pacific's second-consecutive hit and third of the inning when he singled to load the bases.
Oliveira then came to the plate to keep up his offensive production in the game and notched a sacrifice fly out to right field. The shot was deep enough to score Martin from third and draw the RBI for Oliveira. However, that was the final run the Tigers would score, as they came within three of Gonzaga at 6-3.
As the Bulldogs' bullpen kept the Tigers down, so did their bats in the final innings of the game. Gonzaga put up two more runs, one in the bottom of the sixth and one final run in the seventh inning to win 8-3.
Both teams will return to action for Game 2 of the series at 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 21.
