Senior infielder Ian Sagdal did his best Marshawn Lynch impersonation on Tuesday as he went into beast mode, collecting a season-high four hits including a booming home run in the fifth inning. But it still was not enough as Washington State fell to Gonzaga 5-4 on the road.

Despite notching 10 hits on the day, the Cougars could not stop the Bulldogs, as they relied on timely hitting to get the win. The game started off shaky for freshman pitcher Nick Leonard, who gave up two runs in the bottom of the first. He finished the day going four innings and allowing one hit, two runs, four walks and one strikeout.

Gonzaga benefitted from back to back walks in their first two at bats and made the Cougars pay when freshman outfielder Calvin LeBrun hit an RBI double to right field. The Bulldogs picked up another score when junior pitcher Taylor Jones reached on a fielder’s choice, sending senior infielder Mitchell Gunsolus home on the play and making it 2-0 Gonzaga.

Leonard responded by settling down and throwing two solid innings where he allowed no hits. The defense backed up its pitcher by grabbing everything that came their way and making the outs. This gave the Cougars the chance to tie the game in the fourth, when Sagdal led off the inning with a single through the right side.

Sophomore outfielder Wes Leow and senior outfielder Wes Hatten followed with two more singles, sending Sagdal home for the score. WSU picked up another run in the frame when Leow scored off of an RBI by freshman catcher J.J. Hancock.

Sagdal put the Cougars on top in the fifth when he pelted the one-out home run, his first homer of the season. But Gonzaga quickly regained the lead in the bottom of the sixth when Jones hit a two-run home run to left off of freshman reliever Scotty Sunitsch. The home team added another run in the inning to stretch its lead to 5-3.

WSU’s offense went quiet until the ninth inning when a two-out RBI single by Sagdal cut Gonzaga’s lead to one. The Cougars’ last ditch effort to tie the game was silenced when senior pitcher David Bigelow struck out Leow, picking up the save and ending the game 5-4.

The Cougars are now in the midst of a nine game losing streak, but will try to avoid reaching a double-digit losing skid when they travel to Berkeley to face Cal on Thursday, April 2. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m.

WSU vs. California

The Cougar baseball team continues its run through the Pac-12 gauntlet as they face another tough test on the road this Thursday, taking on No.12 California in a three game series.

The Golden Bears enter this week’s games with a 20-7 overall record and a 7-2 conference record, placing them tied for second in the Pac-12. This will be the fourth consecutive Pac-12 opponent ranked in the Collegiate Baseball top-30 at the time the Cougars have faced them this season. WSU dropped each series against USC, ranked No. 6 at the time, No. 18 Oregon State and No. 4 UCLA.

The Bears are led offensively by sophomore Lucas Erceg, who is first on the club in a variety of stats – batting average at .383, slugging percentage at .692, hits with 41, home runs with 8, RBIs with 27, and total bases with 74. On Monday, March 23, Erceg was named Collegiate Baseball’s National Player of the Week as well as Pac-12 Player of the Week by the conference office.

Erceg is the third Bear to receive national honors in as many weeks. Junior outfielder Brian Celsi was named Collegiate Baseball’s National Player of the Week on March 9, and senior first baseman Chris Paul was named Pac-12 Player of the Week on March 16.

Cal is 5-2 over its last seven games, including a series sweep against Washington and a 2-1 series win over Utah. They scored 47 runs during that stretch, with double-digit scoring performances against Washington and Utah.

WSU can expect to face freshman pitcher Jeff Bain, junior Ryan Mason, and freshman Matt Ladrech over the weekend. Ladrech leads the group in ERA at 2.08, followed by Bain at 2.23 and Mason at 2.74. All three have pitched 30 or more innings this season, with Ladrech and Mason leading their club with over 40 innings. Each has thrown double-digit strikeouts, and have walked less than 10 batters.

With such a talented lineup of pitchers, WSU will need to bring it offensively to stay in these games. Senior infielder Ian Sagdal is coming off of a big day against Gonzaga where he notched four hits and a home run. Sagdal leads the team in batting average at .309, RBIs with 17, and total bases with 41.

But with the team batting average sitting at an .210, Sagdal may not be enough to keep the Cougars alive against a talented Golden Bears team. Hitters such as freshman Jack Strunc, freshman Shane Matheny, sophomore Cameron Frost and senior P.J. Jones all have over 70 at bats this season, but have not produced much meaningful offense.

Jones has the highest batting average of the group at .238, while Frost sits at the bottom of the pack with a batting average of .155. These players have been given plenty of opportunities to produce, but they need to step up before it is too late.

WSU will bring out two of its best pitchers on Thursday and Friday to test the Bears. Senior Sean Hartnett will get the start in their first game, and senior Joe Pistorese will take the mound the next day. These two lead the team in innings pitched with 41.1 for Pistorese and 35 for Hartnett. The two have a combined 3.69 ERA, a number that will need to decrease for the Cougars to have a chance to compete this weekend.

First pitch against Cal in Berkeley is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 2.

Reporting by Steffen Stroup