Kyle Manzardo leads Cougars to 9-5 win over Bulldogs

Kyle Manzardo went 4 for 5 with a double, driving in two runs and scoring twice to guide the Washington State Cougars (10-33-1) to a 9-5 victory over the Gonzaga Bulldogs (25-20) in nonconference baseball action on Monday night at the Patterson Baseball Complex.

WSU picked up back-to-back wins for the third time this season.

The Cougars grabbed a 1-0 lead in the second inning on Garrett Gouldsmith’s double-play grounder.

The Bulldogs answered with two runs in their half of the inning. Brett Harris singled and Nick Nyquist scored when Collin Montez misplayed the ball in left field. Mason Marenco tripled in Harris to give Gonzaga a 2-1 lead.

WSU chased GU starter Daniel Naughton (1-2) with a three-run third. Dillon Plew had a two-run single and Tyson Guerrero singled in a run for a 4-2 lead.

GU pulled within a run on Nyquist’s RBI single, but Danny Sinatro tripled in a run and Manzardo delivered an RBI single to put the Cougars up 6-3 after four innings.

Harris’ sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fifth cut the Zags deficit to 6-4.

Plew and Manzardo added run-scoring singles in the top of the sixth for an 8-4 advantage and WSU capped its scoring with an unearned run in the ninth.

Austin Pinorini drove in Gonzaga’s final run with a single in the ninth.

Connor Barison (1-2) got the win with 1 2/3 innings of shutout relief.