Gonzaga eliminated at WCC baseball

The Gonzaga Bulldogs lived to play another game, but not another day.

Loyola Marymount defeated Gonzaga 7-2in a semifinal game at the West Coast Conference baseball tournament on Friday at Stockton, California. LMU will play Pepperdine today in the championship round. Pepperdine will win the tournament with one win; LMU would need to win twice to take the title.

In Gonzaga’s first game Friday, Payden Cawley Lamb had a two-RBI single in a four-run sixth inning to usher the Bulldogs past Santa Clara 8-6 at Banner Island Ballpark.

Gonzaga’s (26-29) win eliminated Santa Clara (26-30) from the tournament. The Bulldogs advanced to the night game to face the LMU, a 4-1 loser to No. 1 seed Pepperdine.

The Bulldogs tied the game twice before taking the lead in the top of the sixth inning. Gonzaga’s first three batters reached to start the rally. Mitchell Gunsolus brought in the first run on a single before Caleb Wood walked on four pitches for another. Lamb then came through with his single to right to give GU a 7-4 edge.

Santa Clara cut the lead to one in the bottom of the sixth. Gonzaga starter Andrew Sopko’s day finished in the inning as David Bigelow replaced him and ended the Santa Clara threat.

Sopko was credited with the win, going five innings and striking out a career-high 10 batters. He was responsible for five of the Broncos runs on eight hits.