SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Solid pitching and timely hitting lifted Gonzaga to a 5-2 win over Santa Clara baseball in the series finale on Sunday.
Three Gonzaga (11-8, 3-0) hurlers combined to hold Santa Clara (6-12, 0-3) to two runs on four hits and did not issue a walk while eight Bulldog hitters collected 11 hits.
Andrew Orzel drove in multiple runs in each game of the series including two on Sunday and Stephen Lund hit a solo home run. Ryan Sullivan had a game-high three hits in four at-bats along with one RBI.
Gonzaga starter Bradley Mulland (2-1) scattered two hits and an unearned run over 5 2/3 innings to pick up the win. The left-handed pitcher was relieved in favor of Trystan Vrieling with a 3-1 lead courtesy of Lund's home run in the fourth and Orzel's two-out RBI single in the fifth.
The Broncos got on the board in the sixth on Jason Dicochea's RBI single to plate Austin Reyes to make it 3-1 but the Bulldogs pushed the lead out to 4-1 on Orzel's RBI sacrifice following a leadoff double by Brett Harris and a single by Tyler Rando.
Ryan McCarthy got Santa Clara to within two runs with a leadoff solo homer in the bottom of the seventh but the Broncos could muster just one hit the rest of the way against Vreiling and Alek Jacob.
Jacob set down the SCU lineup in order in the ninth to pick up his second save of the series.
Dicochea went 2-for-4 with an RBI.
Brandon Buckley (1-1) took the loss giving up two runs on four hits and two walks over four frames.
NEXT UP
The Broncos travel out of state for the first and only time this regular season heading up to play at Oregon State on Tuesday and Wednesday.
