SPOKANE, Wash. — Clutch two-out hits and plenty of late-inning runs gave host Gonzaga a big West Coast Conference series-opening victory Friday night over the University of San Francisco baseball team, as the Bulldogs posted a 15-8 win in game one at the Patterson Baseball Complex in a game that was televised live on national television on ESPNU.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Gonzaga (21-17, 13-6 WCC) lived in the two-out scenario on Friday. Four of its first five runs and seven of its 15 on the night came with two outs already recorded in the inning. Trailing 2-0 in the bottom of the first, Troy Johnston hit a two-out solo home run to the opposite field to cut the deficit in half. An inning later, a two-out rally that included a two-out single, a wild pitch and an RBI single from Isaac Barrera tied the game at 2-2.
   
• The Bulldogs would take the lead for good in the fourth with three runs, two with two outs. A ball that got lost in the night sky turned into an RBI triple for Daniel Fredrickson, making it 3-2. He looked to be stranded there after USF starter Riley Ornido (5-5) recorded two outs, but Guthrie Morrison came through with a two-out, two-run single to make it 5-2.
   
• Jonathan Allen had put the Dons (24-18, 12-7 WCC) up early with a two-run home run in the first inning. Jack Winkler drew a one-out walk, and when Allen came to bat with two outs, he swung at the first pitch he saw and drove it to the opposite field over the left field wall. It was his third consecutive opposite-field home run after hitting two over the left field wall at Pacific on Saturday.
   
• Gonzaga put the game away with a six-run sixth. Four consecutive batters reached with one-out base hits, knocking Ornido out of the game with a two-run double from Johnston and tacking on another run with an RBI single from Austin Pinorini. Three more unearned runs came in to score after a throwing error extended the inning, and when all was said and done, it was 12-3 Gonzaga.
   
• But San Francisco was not quite finished. The Dons batted around in the eighth inning, scoring five runs to pull within six after trailing by as much as 11 at 14-3. A two-run double from Jacob Munoz, two-run single from Nick Yovetich and RBI single from Winkler composed USF's rally. Allen came to the plate with two on and two out, having already homered in the game and with a chance to make it a three-run contest, but he flew out for the second time in the inning to end the rally.

NOTABLE NUMBERS

• 1st: Friday's game marked the first time this season the Dons lost when scoring at least eight runs. Before Friday, USF was 9-0 in 2019 when scoring eight or more. The last time San Francisco lost a game in which it scored at least eight runs was on Feb. 17, 2015, at San Jose State (11-8).
• 27: USF and Gonzaga combined for 27 hits Friday. It was tied for the second-most combined hits in a game this season for the Dons. They also combined with Pacific for 27 hits on April 18, and four days later would combined for 38 hits at UC Davis.

COMING UP

• Game two of the series is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Saturday. San Francisco lefty Scott Parker will face Gonzaga left-hander Mac Lardner. Fans can find all live coverage links on USFDons.com.