GU baseball: Big eighth inning pushes BYU past Gonzaga

Zack Peterson’s run-scoring single sparked a six-run eighth that carried BYU to a 7-1 victory over Gonzaga in the season-opening Sanderson Ford College Baseball Classic in Surprise, Arizona.

Gonzaga’s Mac Lardner struck out nine and exited the team’s season opener after six scoreless innings.

Hayden Leatham hit a solo homer off GU reliever Daniel Naughton in the seventh for a 1-0 lead, but the Bulldogs answered in the bottom half of the inning with Mason Marenco’s base hit to drive in Alex Brenner with the tying run.

Tyler Rando had two of GU’s five hits. The Bulldogs continue in the tournament against Oregon State today at noon.