OMAHA, Neb. (Interstat) — In a tense pitchers’ duel defined by two solo home runs, the Creighton Bluejays edged the Gonzaga Bulldogs 2-1 in the first game of a Saturday doubleheader at Sapp Fieldhouse.

The game turned on a fourth-inning blast from Creighton shortstop Ben North, whose homer to left center broke a 1-1 tie and proved to be the decisive run. The victory evened the season series for both teams, moving Creighton to 4-7 overall while Gonzaga fell to 4-8.

The most important sequence of the game unfolded in the middle innings, a direct clash of the contest’s standout performers. Gonzaga starter Zachary Bowman was nearly untouchable, carrying a no-hit bid into the fourth inning. However, with two outs in that frame, North sent a 2-0 offering from Bowman over the wall. That one swing negated Bowman’s otherwise masterful outing, in which he allowed just two earned runs on four hits with six strikeouts over eight complete innings.

Bowman’s counterpart, Creighton’s Jack Pineau, was equally dominant. The Bluejays’ top star rebounded sharply from a rough outing on Feb. 27 against Tarleton State, where he allowed four earned runs without recording a hit. On Saturday, he stifled the Bulldogs’ offense for six scoreless innings, scattering four hits and striking out six to earn the win.

Creighton opened the scoring in the second inning without the benefit of a hit. North led off with a triple to left center and later scored on Connor Capece’s sacrifice fly to center field, tying the game after Gonzaga had taken an early lead.

The Bulldogs’ lone run came in the eighth inning off reliever Jimmy Burke. Left fielder Ryder Young launched a solo homer to left center, cutting the deficit to one. Burke, who took over for Pineau to start the seventh, closed the door from there, pitching three innings of relief and allowing just the one run on two hits with three strikeouts to secure the save.

Gonzaga out-hit Creighton 6-4, with Tommy Eisenstat collecting two of those hits, but repeatedly failed to capitalize with runners on base. The Bulldogs left five men stranded and had a runner thrown out at second on a caught stealing in the seventh inning.

Following Young’s homer in the eighth, Creighton mounted its most serious threat in the bottom half of the inning. After two quick outs, Tate Baillargeon and Nolan Rice delivered back-to-back singles, putting runners on second and third. Bowman escaped the jam by inducing a groundout to the mound from Teddy Deters.

Burke then retired Gonzaga in order in the ninth, sealing the narrow victory for the Bluejays, who were projected as 66.2% favorites by Interstat’s ELO system.

The two teams met again for the second game of the doubleheader later Saturday. Gonzaga is scheduled to play at Minnesota on Tuesday, while Creighton will travel to face LSU on the same day.