Gonzaga baseball hits five homers, routs Loyola Marymount to open WCC Tournament

Top-seeded Gonzaga clubbed five home runs in a 16-2 drubbing of No. 5 seed Loyola Marymount in the first round of the West Coast Conference Baseball Tournament in Stockton, California, on Thursday.

The Bulldogs (35-15) will play Portland or San Diego – two teams that played late Thursday – at 3:30 p.m. on Friday. The winner will advance to Saturday’s championship round.

GU pitcher Owen Wild scattered eight hits, struck out six and walked two over 72/3 innings. He held the Lions (20-33-1) scoreless through seven innings before they broke through for two runs in the eighth.

The 10th-ranked Bulldogs’ power display at the plate bolstered Wild’s steady performance on the mound.

Enzo Apodaca’s three-run homer gave Gonzaga a 4-0 lead in the second inning. Shea Kramer added a two-run blast in the third, and Cade McGee hit a solo shot in the fifth. Savier Pinales and Tyler Rando hit back-to-back home runs in the seventh..

Apocada finished 3 for 5 with a pair of doubles and four RBIs. McGee, Kramer and Ezra Samperi each had three hits.