Box Score Stockton, Calif. – The Pacific bats fell silent against Gonzaga tonight in a 6-0 loss. The Tigers managed just four hits in the game and none after the third inning to drop to 3-4 in the WCC and 9-14 overall. The loss was just the fourth at Klein Family Field all year by the Tigers. Gonzaga moves to 14-9 overall now and 4-3 in conference.
Will Lydon, coming off his second career complete game, went 5.2 innings in the game but came away with the loss thanks to six unearned runs charged against him. Lydon has now allowed just three earned runs in his last 13.2 innings of work but drops to 0-6 on the year.
Jordon Gonzalez came on in relief of Lydon and retired all four men he faced. Shelby Lackey also looked solid in relief with two innings of shutout ball and a new career high in strikeouts with three.
Brandon Bailey was on fire for Gonzaga and shut down Pacific all game. The junior, who entered the game third in the WCC in ERA and second in strikeouts, went eight innings and didn't allow a man past first in his last five. Bailey also struck out 13 Tigers to move to 4-1.
Lydon got into trouble in the first with a walk and a single after striking out the first man he faced. The walk was only Lydon's second in WCC play. The junior racked up another strikeout and forced an easy fielder's choice to end the inning.
Kevin Sandri blasted a double off the leftfield wall to start things off offensively, putting a man in scoring position just three pitches into the game. The Tigers were unable to capitalize, with Gio Brusa's blast to the right-center warning track ending the inning. Pacific would put the leadoff man on in the first three innings.
J.J. Wagner singled in the second, giving him hits in eight of nine games. In that time, Wagner has hit .378 with eight runs.
A run scored for Gonzaga in the third on a sacrifice fly, though Jimmy Boras' diving effort did well to keep from letting the ball fall in. J.P. Yakel gunned down a baserunner trying to steal after that for his 12th caught stealing of the year. Yakel has allowed teams to be successful stealing just 60% of the time.
The Tigers made it 3-for-3 leading off innings when Sandri doubled again, this time sending a low liner down the leftfield line. The freshman moved to third on a flyout but was stranded again as Pacific was 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position in the first three innings and put just two more runners on base the rest of the game, via walk and HBP. Sandri had just two extra-base hits entering the game before doubling twice tonight.
The Zags managed two more runs in the fifth as another Pacific error put Lydon in a tough spot out of the gate. Lydon did his best to work out of the jam but a double over Louis Mejia's head made it 3-0 Gonzaga.
Danny Mayer nearly ended the inning with a great throw to the plate to try and get the runner after a Gonzaga single. The ball took a high hop on Yakel, however, and the runner was able to score before Yakel could control the ball. The Gonzaga hitter took second on the throw but Lydon threw fire past the next man for his fourth strikeout.
Two more unearned runs went on the board in the sixth as Gonzaga extended their lead. The first run came home after a swinging strikeout ended with a passed ball. After that, a single bounced out of the reach of a hustling Mejia to reach the outfield and score the runner on second, making it 6-0.
The Tiger offense couldn't solve Bailey to get back into the game, as the junior righthander retired 13 straight after walking Mejia in the fourth before being relieved for the ninth. Pacific did not have a hit after Sandri led off the third with a double and had just seven baserunners all game.
Two more games against Gonzaga are on deck for Pacific. Tomorrow's game will be the United Way United We Stand game, starting at 7:00 pm. Sunday will be Dads and Daughters Day at 1:00 pm. Tickets for both games are available online.
Make sure to follow Pacific baseball on Twitter with the username @PacificBaseball and on Instagram at pacificbaseball.
