SPOKANE, Wash. – Gonzaga picked up a big win over San Diego on Saturday at Patterson Baseball Complex & Coach Steve Hertz Field. After dropping the opener on Friday, the Bulldogs bounced back in a big way with an 11-4 win over the Toreros, setting the stage for a crucial rubber match on Sunday.
 
Unlike Friday, neither Gonzaga (19-20, 11-3 WCC) nor San Diego (16-25, 10-4 WCC) scored in the first two frames. The Bulldogs took a 2-0 lead on a two-out, two-run double from Gage Mestas in the bottom of the third on Saturday.
 
USD got one of those runs back in the top of the fourth, but GU added four in the bottom half to open a 6-1 lead. Sam Stem brought a run in on an RBI single, then Jacob Wrubleski clubbed his first home run of the season, a three-run shot into the net above the left field wall.
 
The Toreros plated two in the fifth to bring the score within three, as Miles Gosztola (W, 5-5) labored in the fifth and sixth. The left-handed sophomore returned for one batter in the seventh, throwing a season-high 121 pitches, striking out eight over his 6.1 innings of work.
 
USD and GU traded runs in the seventh, as Mestas picked up his third RBI on a fielder's choice to make it 7-4. Then in the eighth, Wrubleski tagged San Diego again for his second home run of the night on a line drive off the foul pole.
 
The Bulldogs continued to pile on insurance runs, adding three more to make it 11-4. Hudson Shupe and Mikey Bell notched RBI singles in the four-run frame.
 
Out of the Zag bullpen, Garrett Gores relieved Gosztola in the seventh, pitching an inning and two-thirds and allowing just one run on two hits, striking out two. Ryan Hernandez entered in the ninth, completing a scoreless inning to seal the win and even the series at one apiece.
 
Five Gonzaga batters recorded multiple hits on Saturday led by Wrubleski's two-homer night. Shupe, Bell, Stem, and Max Coupe each collected a pair of knocks in the 13-hit onslaught from the Bulldogs.
 
UP NEXT
Gonzaga will look to secure the series win on Sunday at 1 p.m., as Justin Feld takes the mound on ESPN+. The winner will earn the advantage of a potential tiebreaker as West Coast Conference play begins to wind down and the WCC tournament begins to loom.