The Cougs welcomed Gonzaga to the Palouse Tuesday night, and things did not go as planned. When the dust settled, the Zags walked away with a 16-8 win and continued their win streak to 11 games.
After the first four innings, you would not have guessed that the Cougs would get blown out. WSU struck early in the first, when freshman Mason Pirello crushed a hustle triple into right field to clear the bases and snatch a 2-0 lead.
WSU Outfielder Mason Pirello runs the bases against Gonzaga University, April 21, 2026.
Gonzaga stood their ground in the second, posting four hits and three runs to take the lead. It was not until the third that WSU strung together a trio of hits to score senior Max Hartman and tie the game.
The Cougs put their foot on the gas in the fourth, crowding the base paths and eventually scoring on a passed ball to take back the lead. Up by one run, Hartman decided to extend the lead when he teed up a ball to right field and sailed it over the right field fence.
The two-run home run was Hartman’s fourth of the year and gave WSU a 6-3 lead midway through the matchup. After that, the wheels fell off.
In the fifth, redshirt junior Mikey Bell copied Hartman’s home run to right field, cutting the lead to only one. Then, a single, walk, wild pitch and an error spun Gonzaga around the bases to tie it up 6-6.
The Zags were not done quite yet, when junior Jacob Wrubleski cleared the table with a two-run double to give Gonzaga the lead.
WSU managed to scrape two more runs across with one in the seventh and one in the eighth, but it was dwarfed by Gonzaga’s eight runs that they tacked on in the second half.
On the mound for WSU, it was Brock Blatter who got the start. In just his sixth appearance of the year, the redshirt junior from Billings, Montana, went 3 ⅓ innings giving up just three runs.
WSU Right-handed Pitcher Brock Blatter makes a throw against Gonzaga University, April 21, 2026.
After Blatter, the Cougs called seven different pitchers in to stop the bleeding. Taber Fast, Trevor Stowe, Rylan Haider, Erik Rodriguez, Dillon O’neil, Kaden Wickersham and Brock Cross each combined for 13 runs, four walks, five hit by pitches and 13 hits.
Peering over at Gonzaga’s side of the rubber, the story was very different. Junior Zach Bowman got the start but was chased out after 3 ⅓ and four runs given up.
After Bowman, it was sophomore Mickey McClaskey who locked down the Cougar bats and was credited with the win. His 3 ⅔ innings and three runs given up allowed Gonzaga’s offense to cruise past the Cougs midway through the game.
Looking at the autopsy, you see the Cougs gave up 20 hits, four doubles, one home run, seven walks, five hit by pitches and two errors. The free passes made it easy for Gonzaga to blow out the Cougs on the Palouse and secure their 11th straight win.
WSU stays at home this weekend, taking on New Mexico for three games of Mountain West Conference play. Game one is April 24 and the series wraps up April 26 at Bailey-Brayton Field.
