Gaels pound Bulldogs in rubber game of WCC series

Jack Murphy hit a grand slam in the fifth inning and JC Santini, Joe Vranesh and Kevin Milam all homered in the seventh to propel the Saint Mary’s Gaels (27-18, 12-9) to a 17-3 romp over the Gonzaga Bulldogs (25-19, 16-8) in West Coast Conference baseball action on Sunday at the Patterson Baseball Complex.

In losing the rubber game of the three-game series, the Bulldogs dropped a half-game behind idle BYU (15-6) in the race for the WCC title.

Brett Harris had two hits and knocked in a run for Gonzaga. Austin Pinorini added an RBI double.

Gonzaga will host Washington State in a nonconference game on Monday at 6 p.m. The game will be broadcast on SWX.

The Bulldogs host the Lamar Cardinals for a three-game nonconference series next weekend. Gonzaga will travel to Eugene to play a nonconference game against the Oregon Ducks on May 14 before closing out the WCC regular with a three-game series against the third-place Loyola Marymount Lions (14-10) in Los Angeles on May 17-19.