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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

No. 3 Stanford uses 3-run ninth to slip past Gonzaga

Nick Bellafronto singled with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the ninth inning to cap a three-run rally and lift the third-ranked Stanford Cardinal to an 11-10 victory over the Gonzaga Bulldogs in nonconference baseball action on Monday in Stanford, California.

The Bulldogs took a 10-6 lead into the eighth inning but couldn’t hold on.

Andrew Daschbach led off the bottom of the second inning with a home run off Gonzaga starter Michael Spellacy and Stanford (28-6) scored three more runs to take a 4-0 lead.

Jack Machtolf put the Bulldogs (19-17) on the scoreboard with an RBI groundout in the top of the third, but Bellafronto homered and Will Matthiessen added an RBI single to give the Cardinal a 6-1 lead through five innings.

But Gonzaga got going in the top of the sixth inning.

Ernie Yake and Guthrie Morrison had back-to-back singles with one out and Troy Johnston was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Jacob Palisch replaced Carson Rudd and promptly gave up an RBI single to Austin Pinorini. Morrison scored to make it 6-3 when Brett Harris reached base on an error. That set the stage for Nick Nyquist to cap the six-run rally with a grand slam for a 10-6 lead.

Stanford cut the deficit to 10-8 on Nick Brueser’s two-run home run off Gonzaga reliever Nick Trogrlic-Iverson (1-2), who allowed five runs on six hits and three walks in 1 2/3 innings.

Gonzaga hosts Washington State tonight at 6 p.m. GU returns to WCC play on Friday when it hosts San Francisco.