SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The Santa Clara University baseball team battled evenly all night long Friday with the West Coast Conference first-place team, but visiting Gonzaga used one big inning to pull away and earn a series-opening, 9-1 victory at Stephen Schott Stadium.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Friday's game was determined in one inning – a six-run, six-hit rally by the Bulldogs (16-14, 9-1 WCC) in the sixth inning. Six consecutive batters reached safely for Gonzaga after Ty Yukumoto led off the frame by striking out. The Bulldogs would send 11 batters to the plate during the rally, with RBI hits coming from Mikey Bell, Gage Mestas, Max Coupe and Yukumoto in his second at-bat of the inning. Four of the Bulldogs' hits in the frame were doubles – three of them driving in four of the rally's six runs.
   
• Santa Clara starter Brandon Gomez (3-5) had pitched extremely into the sixth, matching Gonzaga's starter, Finbar O'Brien (3-0), frame for frame. Gomez had only given up one run, struck out five and only allowed two hits through the game's first 5 1/3 innings. The only blemish being a leadoff solo homer by Bell in the second inning.
   
• The Broncos (13-17, 2-5 WCC) had just come back to tie the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the fifth, right before Gonzaga's go-ahead rally. Ben Cleary poked a two-out RBI single past Gonzaga's diving first baseman and down the right field line to score Hayden Jung-Goldberg from second. Cleary finished the night going 3 for 3 to tie for the game high in hits.
   
• Gonzaga got a dominant performance on the mound from O'Brien. The righty struck out a career-high 10 in seven innings, only allowing one run on four hits and two walks. He retired the last seven Broncos he faced (four on strikeouts) and nine of the last 10. Ryan Hernandez closed the door with two shutout innings of relief, tying a career high with three strikeouts and only allowing one hit.
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  The Bulldogs were led by their top four hitters who each logged multi-hit games with four doubles and drove in six of the nine runs. Bell and Hudson Shupe each had three hits to lead Gonzaga, with Bell missing hitting for the cycle only by a triple.

NOTABLE NUMBERS

• 4: Gonzaga's top four hitters totaled four multi-hit games Friday, going a combined 10 for 19 (.526). The bottom five in the order went a combined 2 for 18 (.111).
• 13: Santa Clara batters struck out 13 times Friday, their second-most this season. The Broncos are 3-5 in games this season when they strike out at least 10 times at the plate.

COMING UP

• Game two of the series is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday. The series finale is set for a noon start on Sunday. Fans can purchase tickets and find all live coverage links on SantaClaraBroncos.com.