SPOKANE -- Gonzaga University used a big day from Drew Heid and a solid pitching performance from Ryan Carpenter to post a 5-3 victory over Loyola Marymount University at the Patterson Baseball Complex and Washington Trust Field Saturday afternoon. Heid finished with the day 3-for-3 with a pair of RBI and runs scored including his eighth homer of the season to back Carpenter’s six strong innings to lead the Zags (19-32, 7-10 WCC) to their fourth consecutive win and clinch the series against the Lions (22-28, 4-13 WCC). Heid gave the Bulldogs an early 1-0 lead with his second lead-off homer of the season, the first coming in the series opener at Centenary College March 5. The left-handed hitting centerfielder fouled off a number of pitches before driving a 3-2 pitch over the left centerfield fence. Carpenter looked good early, working around a first inning bunt single and third inning failed pickoff attempt that put a runner on third that he left stranded by getting an inning-ending groundout. With rain coming down in the fourth, LMU was able to take advantage of some sloppy play by the Zags that may have come along with the wet conditions. The Lions scored a pair of runs in the inning on a passed ball and a wild pitch to take a 2-1 lead. The Bulldog offense answered back in the fifth as Royce Bolinger lined a ball into the left centerfield gap that saw him cruise in second for a double but the LMU centerfielder was unable to corral the ball cleanly, allowing Bolinger to move up to third. Ernesto Ortiz then worked a walk before Heid laced a line drive single back up the middle to drive in Bolinger and tie it at 2-2. Steven Halcomb followed Heid with an RBI-single of his own, pulling a ball through the left side to score Ortiz. Mark Castellitto then walked to load the bases for Andy Hunter who brought home Heid with a sacrifice fly to left for the inning’s third run and push the Zags lead to 4-2. The Lions pulled within one after bringing a run across in the sixth but Carpenter again worked out of jam, retiring the final two hitters of the inning with runners on second and third to preserve the 4-3 Gonzaga advantage. The Bulldogs went to the bullpen after Carpenter escaped the sixth, calling upon Andrew Danner who fired a scoreless seventh. Gonzaga later added an insurance run in the eighth as Cameron Edman led off the frame with his 15th double of the season. He later moved up on Clayton Eslick’s infield single that glanced off of a leaping LMU pitcher’s glove to put runners on first and third. LMU reliever Xavier Esquivel got Bolinger to hit into a 6-4-3 double play but the damage was done as Bolinger’s ground ball brought Edman across to make it a 5-3 ball game.
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