Gonzaga drops rubber match of WCC series

Gonzaga got out to a quick start Saturday but couldn’t hang on in a 5-3 loss to No. 19 San Diego in the rubber match of a three-game West Coast Conference series in San Diego.

Clayton Eslick and Payden Cawley Lamb each hit RBI singles to give the Bulldogs a 2-0 first-inning lead. The Toreros tied the game at 2 in the bottom of the second and scored three more in the eighth.

The Bulldogs’ Brock Slavin hit a run-scoring single in the ninth, but Gonzaga’s rally fizzled.

Billy Moon (University HS) took the loss for GU. He allowed four earned runs and struck out five in seven innings.

With the loss, the Bulldogs fell to 20-9 and 3-3 in the WCC. San Diego improved to 25-8, 7-2.

Gonzaga will play at Washington on Monday and Tuesday.

• Seattle scored twice in the top of the eighth and beat Washington State 5-4 in a nonconference game in Pullman.

The Cougars scored three runs in the first two innings. Seattle responded and tied the game at 3 in the fifth.

Taylor Ard hit a solo home run – his fifth of the season – in the seventh to put WSU (15-13) ahead 4-3 before the Redhawks (15-12) got the winning runs in the eighth.

• Whitworth (17-10-1, 11-4) swept a Northwest Conference doubleheader with Lewis & Clark (6-28, 3-15) in Portland.

Dan Scheibe led the Pirates to a 6-2 win in the first game. Scheibe struck out 13 and gave up one run through seven innings.

In the second game, J.R. Jarrell hit a grand slam as the Pirates cruised to a 12-8 win. Gerhard Muelheims, Paul Miller and Erik Nikssarian each added two RBIs for Whitworth.

• Community Colleges of Spokane (11-11, 3-3) and Treasure Valley (12-11, 5-3) split a NWAACC doubleheader in Ontario, Ore.

The Chukars put up three runs in the first inning and won the opener 5-2.

The CCS offense stayed quiet through most of the nightcap, and then came alive late in an 8-2 win. The Sasquatch scored six runs in the top of the ninth. Austin Bartleson had three hits, including a home run, and drove in two runs to lead CCS.

• After letting Washington (17-11, 4-5) back into the game, No. 6 Stanford (19-7, 4-5) scored two unusual runs in the bottom of the ninth to beat the Huskies 8-6 in a Pac-12 game at Husky Ballpark in Seattle.

In the ninth, the Cardinal’s Tyler Gaffney was caught in a rundown between third base and home plate. Gaffney was eventually tagged out, but Stanford was awarded the run because UW catcher B.K. Santy made contact with Gaffney.

The Cardinal later added a second run on a double steal.