SPOKANE, Wash. – Gonzaga completed the three-game sweep of San Francisco on Sunday and moved into sole possession of first place in the West Coast Conference, rallying from a four-run deficit to earn the 6-4 win at Patterson Baseball Complex and Coach Steve Hertz Field.
 
Gonzaga (15-14, 8-1 WCC) is now off to their best start in West Coast Conference play in program history. Their 8-1 record through the first three series outranks four consecutive 7-2 starts from 2021-2024. The Bulldogs are over the .500 mark for the first time since opening day and have won 13 out of their last 15 games.
 
San Francisco (14-18, 4-5 WCC) took the lead two batters into the game on Sunday, with Kenny DeCelle blasting a two-run home run in the first. Eddison Esquivel doubled the USF lead in the fourth, clubbing a 431-foot homer to straightaway center field to make it 4-0 Dons.
 
Slowly but surely, Gonzaga began to chip away at the San Francisco lead, plating single runs in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings. Then in the seventh, Hudson Shupe singled to knot the score at four and Mikey Bell followed up with a single to give the Zags a 5-4 lead. Luca DiPaolo would provide an insurance run in the eighth on a ball that was inches from clearing the wall in right center field, instead settling for an RBI double.
 
Erik Hoffberg (W, 2-2) relieved Gonzaga starter Justin Feld (ND) in the fourth inning, beginning what would become a career-high outing for the sophomore. Hoffberg rattled off ten strikeouts over five and a third innings, allowing just two hits without surrendering a run.
 
After a one-out walk in the ninth, Garrett Gores (S, 3) entered to get the final out and earn his third save of the season as the Bulldogs completed their second straight West Coast Conference sweep.
 
Gonzaga extended its streak of games with 10+ hits to eight on Sunday, led by a 3-for-3 performance from Bell who brought GU within one in the top of the sixth with a solo shot to left field.
 
Shupe extended his hit streak to 16 games with a 2-for-4 outing, while DiPaolo (2-for-4, R, RBI) and Gage Mestas (2-for-3, R, RBI) added two hits of their own in the win.
 
For the series, Bell finished 7-for-9 with five runs batted in, five runs scored, adding a double and a home run and tallying an OPS of 2.068. As a team, the Bulldogs hit .392 and combined for a 1.002 team OPS.
 
On the mound, Gonzaga pitching compiled a 3.60 team ERA for the series, striking out 31 across 25.0 IP and adding a 1.28 WHIP.
 
UP NEXT
GU will hit the road with momentum next weekend to face Santa Clara in another crucial West Coast Conference series. The Bulldogs will then have a bye from WCC play, instead facing Big Ten foe Southern California April 17-19 in Irvine, Calif.