So much has happened in Gonzaga Athletics in [roughly] the last 48 hours. The Lady Zags’ basketball team avenged a 30 point loss to BYU with a 17 point victory and their eighth straight WCC regular season title; GU’s men had a nail-biter game in San Diego—in which the Bulldogs got the win; the baseball team won four games to capture a 7-0 start to the season; all of which were positives. Yet, the one thing that no Zag was involved in was the most devastating to the school—St. Mary’s beat San Francisco in men’s basketball to earn the outright regular season West Coast Conference title.

It had been 11 straight years of success. The only program with a longer streak in NCAA men’s basketball: UCLA with 13 straight league championships under the legendary coach, John Wooden. We were so close, yet it doesn’t really matter now because as soon as you let go of controlling your own destiny, there is no hand in the outcome, which is likely to be detrimental.

Some may want to blame USF for not pulling through with an upset over the Gaels Saturday night, but the reality is, if Gonzaga had taken care of the ball better and beat the Dons last week, none of it would have mattered. The sudden emotion of the streak ending is challenging to deal with—for as long as I can remember Gonzaga controlled the WCC—now that era is over.

There are two ways to deal with the outcome of the regular season; first is to be completely angry and make excuses for failing to execute when needed during conference play. The second approach is to reflect on having one of the most remarkable runs in college basketball and be grateful to have been a part and a witness to the mark in history Zags Basketball has made. It truly is impressive to see where Gonzaga, the West Coast Conference, and the basketball program have progressed to over the last 12 years all because of that first championship that started a decade of excellence.

It may take a while to move to that second phase, but by the time the post season ends, I have a feeling the devastating state of ending the streak will fade and appreciation will remain for a lifetime. I hope anyway.

Winning is what it means to be a Zag

However, while one run ended, another remained intact. The women have continued the trend of capturing conference titles in Spokane, and did it for the eighth straight time Saturday afternoon. As the Kennel said goodbye to five seniors in their final regular season game, the Zags said goodbye to BYU and their aspirations of taking the crown from the queens of Spokane and the WCC.

Katelan Redmon showed she was going to be the hometown hero in her final home game at the MAC (if the team makes the NCAA tournament she will have a shot a few more, however). Redmon racked up 28 points for the Bulldogs. Fellow senior Kayla Standish tallied 15 points—all of which came in the second half. Standish sat the majority of the first half due to two early fouls; yet she took control of the paint when she started the second.

Underclassmen may not have been glorified, but junior point guard Taelor Karr scored in double digits with 11 points and dished out six assists. Sophomore guard, Jazmine Redmon, who comes off the bench, gave out seven assists and scored five. GU won the game 77-60.

On the men’s side, a fiery San Diego squad hosted the Zags and made it interesting, and nerve wrecking for the Zag fans. No one, except for Guy Landry Edi had a good game. Edi capitalized on great shooting with a perfect 4-4 from the field; six of those points came from behind the arc. He also was 3-5 from the free throw lined to end the night with 13 points and no turnovers.

Unlike Edi, the rest of the team combined for 13 turnovers (unfortunately that is significantly lower than most recent games for this team) and struggled to shoot well. Rob Sacre and Kevin Pangos each grabbed 11 points; seven of those for Sacre were from the line. Pangos had a decent night from the three, netting three of four attempts—yet that is where nine of his points came from—the other two were free throws. The common theme: not much inside from either of them. They also turned the ball over three times each.

Elias Harris, who was by far the most athletic and explosive athlete on the court, only managed seven points; however he did grab 12 boards. He needs to take over games and teams like the Toreros, not allow them to control his play. Gonzaga pulled it out 65-57, despite trailing the majority of the second half.

On the baseball field in little Beaumont, Texas, the Zags played host school Lamar and fellow visitor Illinois in two double headers; one on Friday and the other on Saturday. All four games ended in the Bulldogs’ favor, including the final game of the weekend that stretched to 12 innings. Gonzaga is now 7-0 for the year and is looking like a solid team.

In the first game Friday, GU knocked off Illinois 13-3 with Marco Gonzales tossing eight innings with seven K’s and only giving up one run. Offensively, seniors Eric Lane and Andy Hunter drove in two runs a piece, as did junior transfer Alex Bonczyk.

Game two on Friday was a 6-1 W over Lamar with junior Billy Moon pitching eight solid innings for GU. He too had seven strikeouts and gave up one earned run. Senior outfielder Royce Bolinger collected three RBI’s, while junior short-stop Steven Halcomb knocked in two runs.

Saturday’s noon game against the Illini was a 7-3 win, as Andy Hunter pitched a complete game for the Bulldogs. Once again, seven strikeouts were recorded and only one earned run was given up. Junior designated hitter Clayton Eslick batted in two teammates, while Gonzales played first and drove in two runs as well.

After a long and condensed weekend of baseball, GU was set to face Lamar again Saturday evening. The Bulldogs gave up an early lead, but fought back to tie the game. After 12 innings of baseball it was Halcomb who brought home the winning run in the 6-5 victory. Tyler Olson started on the mound and through six and a third innings recorded, what do you know, seven K’s. Gonzales brought his offense for the second straight game collecting two more RBI’s for Gonzaga.

It was a weekend of winning for the Bulldogs. It is pretty impressive at how successful the Zags were this weekend all around the nation. Let the victorious attitude prevail in the next week as basketball heads to Vegas for the conference tournament and the baseball team returns to Texas for three games in San Antonio.

Gonzaga's season came to an end with a 4-2 loss to USF in the WCC championship game Sunday.

So close, yet so far. That was the feeling that filled the Gonzaga baseball community Sunday after a 4-2 loss to San Francisco.

In a must win West Coast Conference championship game at the Patterson Baseball Complex, the Bulldogs attempted to make their final home game the best one yet. Unfortunately, the loss not only gave the WCC title to the Dons, but also the bid to the NCAA tournament—thus ending the Zags’ great season.

It didn’t take long for USF to take control of the game. In the second inning, they scored three runs—started by a leadoff homerun. That lead was never relinquished.

Gonzaga got on the board with an RBI by Tyler Chism in the bottom of the third.

After six and a third innings on the mound, GU’s Tyler Olson was replaced by Cody Martin, and then the 3-1 score changed.The Don’s managed an unearned run in the top of the seventh to make the score 4-1.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Zags had the bases loaded with one out. This was the Bulldog’s chance to comeback!

Yet, Chism and Billy Moon, the next two batters, both struck out swinging—stranding all three base runners.

One inning later, Gonzaga had the same opportunity. Bases were loaded and there was only one out.

Once again, the chance to score was wasted, as Marco Gonzales flied out, and Steven Halcomb struck out looking.

Despite the lack of scoring in the seventh and eighth innings, in the bottom of the ninth the Bulldog’s started a rally.

Thomas Henderson came in late in the game and his addition into the lineup started off the final inning of the 2011 season. He was walked, followed by Chism taking a base after getting hit by a pitch.

Moon was the next Zag batter and reached first base, moving Henderson to third—Chism was out a second on a fielder’s choice.

With runners on the corners, Cameron Edman came up to bat, and did his job. An RBI single to the left field gap allowed Henderson to score making it 4-2.

There was one out, runners on first and second, and the air filled with hope in Spokane. Disappointment followed though, as the next two batters, Eric Lane (flied out) and Andy Hunter (grounded out) were unable to move their teammates forward.

Just like that, everything was over. The aspirations of the season all came crashing down with the final out. No WCC championship. No post season. Nothing but memories resulted from this season.

Gonzaga finished the 2011 season with an impressive 32-19-1 record. They were second in the WCC at 15-6.

It was a fun and successful four months for the Zag baseball program. Congratulations  on a great season gentlemen!

Freshman starting pitcher Marco Gonzales had 12 strikeouts in the Zags win Saturday.

In baseball, this is what you call a “do or die” situation. If the Zags won, their title hopes would remain alive. A loss would give the WCC crown to the USF Dons.

The Saturday game in Spokane proved to be the most pivotal game of the season. USF managed a 4-2 win Friday evening to gain a one game advantage in the conference standings over the Bulldogs. The overall winner of the series will become the West Coast Conference Champions—and earn the automatic bid to the NCAA post season tournament.

Since the game was a must win for Gonzaga, the coaches made a very wise decision in starting Marco Gonzales as the pitcher. Typically, Gonzales pitches the final day of three game series. He has been a lights out pitcher this season compiling a 10-2 starting record.

Tyler Olson, the typical game-two starter for the Zags, has struggled with consistency this season, and has not been the most reliable as of late. Coach Machtolf and his staff definitely demonstrated their coaching talent by adjusting the starting rotation. Starting Gonzales instead of Olson was the best bet for a win.

Obviously the Zags wanted the win Saturday, but the necessity of victory was due to the loss Friday night.  Ryan Carpenter started the game on the mound for the Bulldogs. In six and a third innings he gave up three earned runs and struck-out seven batters.

Andy Hunter finished the pitching for the Zags, as he notched four strikeouts and gave up one earned run.

Five Bulldogs earned hits, with Keegan Acker going 2-3 at the plate; he also drove in a run. Tyler Chism had the other RBI and a hit for the Zags. Gonzales, Billy Moon, and Steven Halcomb were the other Gonzaga batters to collect a single hit.

Saturday afternoon started exactly how the Zags would have dreamt it would. Gonzales struck out the first three batters in the first inning—talk about a perfect start!

The second inning, well, it wasn’t so perfect. An early run and then a double with runners on first and second gave the Dons a 3-0 lead.

In the bottom of the second, Gonzaga got one run on the board with three consecutive singles. Clayton Eslick scored after he, Andy Hunter, and Halcomb all connected for base hits.

Acker tripled and then scored on a sac fly by Chism to make the score 3-2 Dons in the bottom of the fifth inning.

In the top of the seventh, a leadoff home run by USF’s Jason Mahood put the Don’s up 4-2. The seventh inning stretch must have really boosted the Zags though, because the boys came out and rallied in the bottom of the seventh inning!

Chism singled to start things off for the Zags. Moon doubled, and then Cameron Edman followed with a double—tying the ball game at 4.

An RBI single by Eric Lane gave the Bulldogs a 5-4 edge. Three more consecutive singles by Royce Bolinger, Eslick, and Hunter resulted in two more runs and 7-4 lead heading into the top of the eighth.

Gonzales pitched one and two thirds shutout innings before Cody Martin came into the game for the final out.  Marco also finished the game with a career high 12 K’s.

One run scored making it 7-5. Then the bases were loaded. (Let’s just say I was freaking out a lot at this point.)

Martin did his job though. With a 2-2 count and 2 outs, Moon caught the pop up to left field and the game was over. Zags won!

Now, it really all comes down to one game. The conference title and bid for the road to Omaha are on the line in the WCC finale. Gonzaga will host San Francisco at 1pm Sunday.

The Oregon Ducks shut out the Bulldogs in the midweek matchup

Billy Moon has a 10 game hit streak going for the Zags. Some freshmen got some quality field time for the Bulldogs.

And that’s about all you need to know about the final two non-conference games Gonzaga played Tuesday and Wednesday.

At the University of Oregon, the Ducks blanked the Zags 6-0 Tuesday and 9-0 Wednesday.

In the first game, three Bulldogs notched hits: Billy Moon, Steven Halcomb, and Maxx Garrett. Starting pitcher Andy Hunter recorded five strikeouts in his four innings on the mound. He gave up only one run.

Wednesday’s afternoon contest was a little more productive in the hitting category for the Zags; yet scoring appeared to be unattainable.

As a team, they tallied seven hits. Moon rallied for two, as did Eric Lane. Freshmen Marco Gonzales and Payden Cawley Lamb each earned a hit. Sophomore Clayton Eslick collected the other Zag hit.

Gonzaga’s pitching crew showed their inexperience in the loss. Freshman Aaron Brooks started his first game of the season and gave up five earned runs in five innings.

There were two rare appearances on the mound for the Zags as redshirt sophomore Ryan Leahy and redshirt freshman Karl Myers filled in as relievers for two innings. Each gave up an earned run.

Senior Cody Martin closed the game for the Zags tossing the ninth inning.

Gonzaga closes out their 13 game road trip at Pepperdine this weekend. As the Bulldogs resume conference play against the Waves, their race for first place in the WCC resumes as well.

Freshman Marco Gonzales is extremely dynamic on offense and defense for the Zags.

He has been called the protégée. He is the freshman phenom from Ft. Collins, Colorado. Marco Gonzales is valuable and versatile for the Bulldogs, and proved it against Portland this weekend.

Gonzales produced plenty of offense and provided the necessary defense for the Zags to clinch the three game sweep at Portland.

The Bulldogs faced the Pilots Friday night, Saturday afternoon, and Monday. Sunday’s scheduled game was rained out forcing the unusual Monday matchup.

The first game of the series was yet another solid opening performance by starting pitcher Ryan Carpenter. He threw eight innings notching nine strikeouts.

His defensive efforts were complimented by a balanced offensive production by the majority of the hitting rotation.

Billy Moon and Gonzales each tallied an RBI for the Zags. Gonzales, Eric Lane, and Royce Bolinger had multi-hit games with two apiece. The nine hit effort by the Bulldogs boosted the team to a 3-2 victory.

Saturday’s matinee provided a bit more of an offensive showdown as the starting pitching was not all that reliable. Gonzaga’s Tyler Olson gave up four earned runs in three and two-thirds innings on the mound.

Reliever, Mark Phillips, pitched four shutout innings for the Zags.

Cody Martin, the consistent closer for the Bulldogs, finished the ninth inning up for the second straight game securing the Zags victory again.

On the offensive side of things, Gonzales continued his dynamic play with a three for four outing and two RBI’s.

Cameron Edman drove in three runs for the Zags and notched two hits. Moon had the other run batted in, as well as two hits in the game. All together, Gonzaga rallied for 12 team hits in the 7-5 win.

Monday, Gonzales took his talents from first base to the mound, where he pitched his fourth complete game of the season. The freshman not only struck out seven batters in his nine innings, but was two for two at the plate. He entered the batting order in the eighth to spark the much needed offense.

The Zags compiled three team hits prior to the eighth inning. Once Gonzales entered the batting order, the team racked in six hits, and produced their first runs of the game. All of the Bulldogs’ scoring happened in the eighth, as five Zags crossed home plate.

Andy Hunter’s lone hit of the game led off the eighth inning, followed by Gonzales’ single and solid bunt single by Steven Halcomb to load the bases. Eric Lane was walked after a Portland pitching change, and the Zags were finally on the board—trailing 2-1.

Tyler Chism came to the plate and belted a two run double to give the Bulldogs a 3-2 lead that would never be relinquished. Moon doubled following Chism’s at bat, driving in two more runs. That solidified the final score of 5-2; Gonzaga over Portland.

The series sweep gave Gonzaga the highest conference winning percentage in the WCC at .800. However, because USF (.778) has played one more conference games than the Zags, they sit atop the standings.

The Zags head to Eugene, Oregon for a mid-week, nonconference two game series against the University of Oregon Tuesday and Wednesday.

Friday, Gonzaga will resume WCC play at Pepperdine, kicking off the three game series against the Waves.

Cameron Edman had three home-runs and six RBI's against BYU Monday afternoon.

Cameron Edman is very familiar with home plate; he’s the catcher for the Bulldogs, so he is always protecting the plate on defense. In Monday’s game at BYU, Edman became comfortable attacking home plate as he drove in three home-runs for the Zags in the 12-5 Gonzaga victory.

He had a standout game, going 5-5 at the plate, collecting six RBI’s, and the three home-runs gave him a season total and team high nine. His stellar offensive effort moved him into first on the roster with a .371 batting average. Edman’s slugging percentage of .700 is the highest in the WCC.

Edman seems to be racking up all the attention for Gonzaga’s baseball team, as this week he also earned a spot on the Capital One Academic All-District 8 team.  The red-shirt senior is working on his master’s degree in Organizational Leadership and has a current GPA of 3.92.

Defensively against the Cougars, freshman pitcher Marco Gonzales notched eight strikeouts and gave up only one hit in his scoreless five innings on the mound. Junior Tyler Olson pitched three innings for the Zags giving up the five earned runs. Rookie sophomore Kenny Smith had a solid ninth inning as he struck out two in his stint on the mound.

On top of Edman’s impressive performance, the Bulldogs tallied a total of 17 hits and 11 runs batted in. Leadoff hitter Eric Lane went 4-6 and drove in one run, while right fielder Tyler Chism notched 3 RBI’s in his 3-6 outing at the plate.

The Bulldogs will face the Cougars for the second game of their two game series Tuesday at 5pm Pacific in Provo.

Gonzaga's weekend pitching staff at Santa Clara (from top left) Ryan Carpenter, Tyler Olson, Marco Gonzales, and Cody Martin.

They may not have thrown perfect games, but Gonzaga’s pitching staff was darn near perfect in their efforts this past weekend at Santa Clara.

WCC Rawlings Pitcher of the Week, Ryan Carpenter threw a complete game shutout Friday night as the Bulldogs took down the Broncos 8-0. This was the second straight start Carpenter finished an entire game, showing his dominance in the WCC. Offensively, Billy Moon tallied 3 hits and an RBI. Tyler Chism and Cameron Edman were the other Zags to have multi-hit games Friday, notching two hits and driving in one run a piece.

Saturday, was similar to Friday as the Bulldogs won 9-0 behind another complete game effort, this time by Tyler Olson. He had six strike outs on the mound and gave up only five hits the shutout. Moon and Chism continued their offensive production collecting two RBI’s each. Steven Halcomb also drove in two runs, and leadoff hitter Eric Lane went 3-4 on the day. As a team, the Zags collected 15 hits to guarantee the series win.

Freshman Marco Gonzales showed his tremendous potential on the mound Sunday, as he became the first pitcher in Gonzaga baseball history to record seven wins in a season. His six innings in the game consisted of two earned runs and five strike-outs. Cody Martin came into the game for the save. Not only did the senior closer, Martin, shutout Santa Clara, but he recorded his first ever college hit with a double to lead off the ninth inning. (He also “retired” a bird in the bullpen earlier in the day as he warmed up for the game—the poor animal never knew sitting on a fence at a baseball game would be the end to its life.)

Gonzaga rallied for 15 hits again as a team, sweeping the Broncos 8-3. Chism went 4-5 with two RBI’s and designated hitter Chris Sturdivant did his job driving in two runs while going 3-4. The Bulldogs are now 9-3 in WCC play and sit one game behind USF.

Next Monday and Tuesday, the Zags will travel to Provo, Utah to face BYU. The Cougars will be joining the WCC next season, so this two game series is a chance for the Bulldogs to see what their competition will be in the future. Gonzaga will return to WCC play May 13^th-15^th in Portland.

Not the typical outing for the Zags in their 12-1 loss to St. Mary's Friday night.

If  you could just take out the third inning of the Friday night game when the Zags hosted St. Mary’s, the score would have been Gaels 1, Bulldogs 0.

Well unfortunately, the third inning was part of the game, so the St. Mary’s Gaels won the game 12-1.

It was awful. It was cold. It was sunny (that doesn’t happen at GU home games). And it was awful, oh wait I already said that, well it was.

Starting pitcher for the Bulldogs, Tyler Olson, had what was thought to be a fluke outing in San Diego last weekend, giving up nine earned runs. Apparently it wasn’t as fluke as Zag fans were hoping because the third inning in Friday’s game was unkind to the junior from Spokane. Olson gave up seven runs before leaving the inning with the bases loaded and only one out. He takes the blame for eight of the nine earned runs, and is at fault for ten of the runs scored. He now has an ERA of 4.01. Hopefully he can put these past two outings behind him and return to his old self, the lefty that had under a two run ERA.

In the bottom of the third, Gonzaga scored its lone run of the game. Steven Halcomb, the sophomore short-stop for the Zags, kicked off the inning with a double. He advanced to third off of a single by Keegan Acker. Halcomb then scored as the next batter, Eric Lane, hit into a double play. That was the GU offense for the night.

St. Mary’s got their 12^th run in the top of the eighth. A rare pitching appearance by Sean Santschi for the Zags led to a shaky inning, in which thankfully only one run was given up.

While the Bulldogs did notch eight hits in the game, their usually solid and often flawless defense was not in tact today. Six errors in the game proved to only add salt to the wounds of the game. In the dreadful third inning alone, the defense committed three errors, plus a wild pitch allowing a run.

Lane had the only multi-hit outing for the Zags, tallying two hits in four at bats. The closing pitching staff, Kenny Smith and Mark Phillips, were solid on the mound. Smith retired the three batters in the eighth inning in a perfect 1-2-3 order. Phillips tossed only 11 pitches to close out the ninth inning, recording two strike outs in the process.

Saturday afternoon, the Zags will have the opportunity to take the series against the Gaels at 1pm. Hopefully the offense can get their act together, considering five starters are batting over .300. It would also be nice to have an errorless game, like a typical Zag game this season. Freshman standout Marco Gonzales is expected to start on the mound for the Bulldogs.

The Zags dropped their first WCC game of the season at LMU Saturday in a 9-4 decision.

Starting pitcher for Gonzaga, Tyler Olson, gave up all nine earned runs.

In the second inning, LMU found a knack for hitting doubles. Three back to back to back doubles gave the Lions a 3-0 lead early on. The fourth inning was even better for them as they scored five runs. A two run homer and two more RBI doubles gave LMU an 8-1 lead.

While the home team was hitting doubles, the Zags were hitting into double plays. Gonzaga hit into three double plays over the course of the game. That was only part of the issue as the Zags left nine runners on base in the loss.

What is terribly frustrating is that despite the five run loss, Gonzaga had 14 hits in the game, the same number of hits as LMU. Not only did the Zags keep up with the hit total, but played an errorless game; LMU even recorded one error.

When offense produces hits, and defense doesn’t commit mistakes, it is ultimately two things that can cause a loss like that—pitching and bad luck. Olson, prior to the game, had the lowest ERA of Gonzaga’s starting pitchers. He is now second at 2.74. In his 49.1 innings pitched, Olson has given up eight doubles, five came in Saturday’s game. It was just not his game. Despite the struggles in the second and fourth innings, Olson still completed six full innings on 105 pitches.

Bad luck wasn’t just part of Olson’s game, but also a few of Gonzaga’s hitters as well. When you end three of the last four innings with double plays, including the fifth inning with the bases loaded, there just really isn’t much chance of scoring.

Billy Moon and Cameron Edman tallied the only two RBI’s for the Bulldogs. Tyler Chism and Eric Lane both earned three hits for the Zags.

LMU and Gonzaga face off Sunday at 1pm to fight for sole possession of first place in the WCC.

Gonzaga's senior catcher Cameron Edman went 4-5 Tuesday against WSU.

Tuesday night the No. 24 ranked Zags baseball team dropped their first home game of the season to Washington State in an 11-6 decision.

While Gonzaga’s pitchers struggled to find a consistent rhythm, the umpires couldn’t get their act together either.

A very controversial three run homer was given to the Cougs in the top of the fifth inning that really shifted the momentum of the game.

Significant winds the entire game caused batters to struggle to keep their hits inside the poles. With two outs in the top of the fifth, WSU’s short stop Cody Bartlett drove the ball to left field. Winds carried the ball, and to the Gonzaga crowd, it looked like the ball clearly curved outside of the left field pole prior to clearing the fence.

The home plate umpire didn’t see it that way. He ruled the ball fair and three more runs were on the scoreboard for the Cougars.  It was 10-3 going into the bottom of the fifth.

A seven run deficit is rather difficult to see as surmountable when you are past the half way point of the ball game. It is even harder to overcome when the team is struggling to find a pitcher that can get you through the game. Now, if those three runs hadn’t counted, it would have only been 7-3, not such a daunting task.

Gonzaga went through five pitchers in their final game before starting conference play. Sophomore Billy Moon started the game for the Bulldogs, but after giving up six runs in three innings, senior Mark Phillips came to the mound.

Phillips started off great, earning a “K” for the final out of the third inning. He then retired the first three batters of the fourth inning. However, the fifth inning rolled around and four runs later Phillips didn’t look so good. After a leadoff double in the sixth, freshman Aaron Brooks came in to pitch.

Brooks gave up a sacrifice RBI in his one and a third innings on the mound.

Junior Andy Hunter came in the game to start the eighth inning. Despite two walks Hunter got out of the inning without giving up a run.

Senior ace Cody Martin came in to close out the game for the Bulldogs. He struck out the first two batters, and the third grounded out. Gonzaga headed into the bottom of the ninth down 11-4.

Despite the deficit, the Zags pulled out some offense in their final at bats. Junior Royce Bolinger singled to get things started for the Bulldog’s desperate offense. After stealing second, Bolinger scored off an RBI double by Freshman Marco Gonzales. Right after that, Cameron Edman, the senior catcher for GU, doubled to drive in Gonzales.

The controversy that lies with Edman’s at bat is that he had a so-called “foul ball” in left field that many in the crowd believed looked a lot like the hit in the fifth inning by WSU. The umpire ruled it a foul ball, but had it been declared fair like Bartlett’s earlier three run homer, the Zags would have been down 11-7 with only one out. However, Edman’s at bat ended up in an RBI double, and the score was 11-6.

Maxx Garrett struck out swinging in the next at bat.

With two outs looming, sophomore Clayton Eslick reached first on a fielding error to keep the Bulldog’s hopes alive. Edman advanced to third, and sophomore short stop Steven Halcomb came to the plate.

Halcomb was walked and the bases were loaded. Optimism was all the Zags could hold on to.

Lead-off hitter Eric Lane was up. Lane grounded out, and the game ended. The final score 11-6.

Despite the frustrations of pitching inconsistencies and leaving runners on base all throughout the game, the controversial calls made by the blues really changed the pace of the game.

Had WSU not received the three runs in the fifth, they would have only had eight runs in the ninth. If Edman’s hit deemed outside the left field post were called fair, Gonzaga would have tallied seven runs in the ninth. A much closer score and much less momentum for the Cougars could have really helped the Bulldogs’ rally.

Gonzaga (16-9-1) will host University of San Diego (7-19) this weekend in the WCC opener. The first pitch is scheduled for Friday at 6pm.