Gonzaga 6 UW 4

SEATTLE - Gonzaga scored two runs in the seventh inning to build on a 4-3 lead and went on to beat Washington 6-4 in the opener of a brief two game non-conference series at Husky Ballpark on a balmy Monday evening.

The seventh inning began with Husky reliever Mac Acker retiring Payden Cawley Lamb on a grounder to short for the first out of the inning. Royce Bolinger then walked and Clayton Eslick singled. Alex Stanford lined a single to right center field that would have loaded the bases, but right fielder Caleb Brown booted the ball for an error, allowing Bolinger to score and Eslick to take third.

The Huskies brought in Adam Cimber for Acker and the first batter he faced, Andy Hunter, drove in Eslick with a sacrifice fly to right to give the Bulldogs (21-9) a 6-3 lead.

Washington (17-12) tried to rally against reliever Derek Peterson in the last of the ninth. Will Sparks, pinch hitting for Erik Forgione to lead off the inning, reached base on an infield single. He then stole second and with one out took third on a groundout by Joe Meggs.

Chase Anselment then came to the plate and, despite facing an 0-2 count, came through with a line single to right to score Sparks and make it 6-4 Gonzaga. Brown then came up to bat representing the tying run, but grounded out to short to end the game.

Peterson earned his second save of the season with three and two thirds innings of stellar relief. He allowed one run on two hits, did not walk a batter and struck out two. Kenny Smith (2-0) got the win for the Bulldogs, giving up three runs on seven hits in five and a thirds innings. He walked two and struck out two.

The Huskies got to Smith for two runs and a 2-0 lead in the bottom the second. Jacob Lamb led off with a single to right and took second when right fielder Cawley Lamb bobbled the ball for an error. After Branden Berry grounded out and Robert Pehl struck out, Andrew Ely walked and Forgione drove in two runs with a triple to center.

The Huskies scored another run in the bottom of the fifth when Jayce Ray scored on a groundout by Brown, but that run only made the score 4-3 in favor of Gonzaga.

The Bulldogs took a 3-2 lead against Steven Swift (0-1) with three runs in the top of the third. With one out Cawley Lamb singled and scored on a double by Bolinger. Eslick singled to send Bolinger to third, but when Brown bobbled the ball for an error, Bolinger scored to tie the game at 2. Stanford then doubled to put runners at second and third and Hunter drew an intentional walk. Steven Halcomb drove in Eslick with the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly to right.

Gonzaga made it 4-2 in the fourth when Eric Lane led off with a single and scored on a line double off Husky center fielder Ray's glove by Cawley Lamb.

Swift (0-1) suffered the loss for the Huskies, allowing four runs on eight hits and one walk in three and two thirds innings. He struck out three.

The two teams conclude the series at 1 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon. Then the Huskies resume Pac-12 play and return to the road when they face the California Bears in Berkeley April 13-15.