SPOKANE, Washington—Gonzaga took a 9-0 lead through three innings on Thursday to defeat No. 18 BYU baseball, 10-2, and secure a spot in the upcoming West Coast Conference Tournament.

A victory was all either BYU or Gonzaga needed in the three-game series, but the Cougars are still looking for that elusive win which would give them a first-ever outright WCC title. The first-place Cougars are 20-5, with the 18-7 Zags moving out of a second-place tie.

Bulldog Eli Morgan handcuffed BYU with 10 strikeouts, the first eight swinging, none more important than recording his third “K” to end the second inning when the bases were loaded with a 3-0 lead. Morgan threw 130 pitches through 7.2 innings to improve his record to 9-2.

Brock Hale belted a pair of leadoff home runs in the fourth and eighth innings off Morgan, both to left field to provide the Cougars their first two runs of the game.

A great leaping pirouette by BYU shortstop Daniel Schneemann up the middle recorded the first out of initial inning before that 3-0 lead came later in the frame.

A long, high single by Colton Shaver bounced out of the glove of the left fielder at the wall, preventing Hale from advancing any further than second base in the second inning. Nate Favero drew a two-out walk, but the Cougars left the bases loaded, trailing 3-0 in the second.

Buffo rebounded in the second to put the Bulldogs down in order, ending that frame as he did in the first with a swinging strikeout. Then Buffo surrendered six runs in the third inning and was relieved by Jordan Wood who started the fourth frame, trailing 9-0.

BYU, now 33-16 overall, readies for game two on Friday evening against Gonzaga, now 29-17.

At least share of first place in the West Coast Conference is guaranteed for BYU baseball’s team that remains ranked No. 18 prior to hosting Utah Valley University on Tuesday night.

The Cougars (32-15 and 20-4 in the WCC) can win their first outright league title with one win in the three-game series at Gonzaga. But first BYU needs to finish out the home season against UVU (16-32) in the UCCU Crosstown Clash with Jordan Wood (4-0, 6.12) starting for the Cougars.

Gonzaga (28-17 and 17-7) is tied for second in the WCC with Loyola Marymount and could create a co- or tri- championship title with a sweep by either or both of these teams this week.

Currently the Cougars are seeded no worse than third for the WCC Tournament in two weeks at Stockton, California. A win by either Gonzaga or LMU would fill two of the remaining three spots for the tourney. San Diego and Saint Mary’s are still in contention for the fourth spot.

For the second week in a row, BYU is ranked No. 18 in the nation by Collegiate Baseball magazine. However, Cougar first baseman Tanner Chauncey dropped to No. 2 in the NCAA in the category toughest to strike out (now eight times in 194 at bats).

Sophomore Brock Hale became the second Cougar to earn Rawlings WCC Player of the Week honors, joining Keaton Kringlen. Hale has led the team in batting average since the end of February and had nine RBI last week, including home runs against Utah to start the week and in the final game against Portland.

At Gonzaga, the Cougars will continue with their three-man pitching rotation of Maverik Buffo (6-5, 5.37), Brady Corless (6-0, 4.91) and Hayden Rogers (7-1, 3.46). Saturday’s final game of the BYU-Gonzaga series will be televised nationally at 7:30 p.m. PDT by ESPNU with Roxy Bernstein and Wes Chandler as the announcers. The games on Thursday and Friday will start at 6 p.m. PDT. Friday’s game will be streamed on theW.tv with George Devine and Alex Jensen calling the action.

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