Gonzaga baseball shakes off loss, reaches West Coast Conference title game
May 27, 2022 Updated Fri., May 27, 2022 at 11:21 p.m.
Gonzaga took the long route to the championship round of the West Coast Conference Baseball Tournament on Friday.
Forced to play a second game after losing to San Diego earlier in the day, the top-seeded Bulldogs defeated No. 2 seed Portland 7-0 and clinched their place in Saturday’s title round in Stockton, California.
GU (36-16) will play San Diego at 3 p.m. The Bulldogs must win that game to earn a spot in a winner-take-all showdown at 7. The Toreros (35-18), thanks to their 5-3 win over Gonzaga in Friday’s semifinals, must win one game to claim the WCC Tournament crown.
Gonzaga pitcher Will Kempner shut down Portland (32-23) over his 5 2/3 innings. He struck out 14, gave up three hits and walked one.
Grayson Sterling finished 2 for 4 with three RBIs, including a solo homer and a double. Tyler Rando and Shea Kramer each added two hits and drove in a run.
In GU’s early game, San Diego’s Caleb Ricketts hit two home runs, including a game-tying, three-run homer against Bulldogs ace Gabriel Hughes in the fourth inning.
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