SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Russell Grant II, Keegan McCarville and Eric Lex combined on a four-hit shutout, and Andre Nnebe smashed a three-run homer to lead Santa Clara baseball to a 4-0 series-opening win over Gonzaga on Thursday.
Jake MacNichols and Tony Boetto each had two hits for the Broncos (8-27, 2-11 West Coast Conference), but it was Nnebe's blast in the eighth inning that provided the cushion to snap the team's four-game skid.
Grant II (2-3), a junior left-hander making his sixth start of the season, surrendered just three hits while striking out five and walking two Gonzaga (17-16, 10-6) batters in 6 2/3 innings.
McCarville yielded just one hit in 1 1/2 innings of relief and Lex didn't allow a hit in the ninth.
It appeared Dawson's Brigman's third-inning RBI single might be enough of offensive, but Gonzaga's Mason Wells walked two of the first three batters in the eighth to set the table for Nnebe who launched his third home run of the season over the left center field wall.
Wells (1-2) suffered the loss, surrendering all four runs on seven hits and four walks in his eight innings.
Gonzaga, which entered the series having won four of their last five games, had runners in scoring position in four of the last five innings, but never had one advance to third base in the game. The Bulldogs went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position.
INTERVIEW/HIGHLIGHTS | Winning pitcher Russell Grant talks tonight's shutout victory over Gonzaga! #StampedeTogether #SCUBroncos pic.twitter.com/0rs2IXgrbJ
— Santa Clara Baseball (@SCU_Baseball) April 19, 2019