SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (Interstat) — Sam Kretsch pitched six shutout innings and the Saint Mary’s Gaels pounded out 18 hits Thursday to defeat the Gonzaga Bulldogs 13-4 in the West Coast Conference Baseball Championship.

Kretsch, who allowed only two hits over five scoreless innings in his previous start against Loyola Marymount but was tagged for seven hits and five earned runs in a brief outing against San Francisco on May 15, rebounded with a dominant performance. He struck out six and did not allow a hit through his six innings of work, though he was charged with two earned runs after the bullpen inherited runners. Cam Staton followed with three hitless innings of relief, striking out five and allowing two earned runs as the Gaels improved to 30-24.

Saint Mary’s jumped on Gonzaga starter Feld immediately. In the top of the first inning, center fielder Tanner Griffith tripled to right-center and scored on a single by right fielder Diego Castellanos. The Gaels strung together four runs in the fourth inning to break the game open. After a double by catcher Tyler Josephson and a hit-by-pitch, second baseman Cody Kashimoto executed a sacrifice bunt that brought home a run. Griffith walked, Castellanos was hit by a pitch to force in another run, and first baseman Makoa Sniffen doubled down the left-field line to drive in two more. The inning ended with Saint Mary’s leading 6-2, though Gonzaga had scored twice in the third on a double by Noah Meffert and a single by Michael Shupe.

The Gaels added three more in the fifth on an RBI groundout by Kashimoto and a run-scoring double by Griffith. In the seventh, Castellanos singled in a run and later scored on a fielder’s choice. Saint Mary’s tacked on two in the eighth on a single by pinch-hitter Nick Allred and a double by Kashimoto. Allred, who entered the game in left field in the bottom of the eighth, capped the scoring in the ninth with a two-run homer to deep left, his third of the season.

Gonzaga, which entered the tournament as the higher seed at 35-18 and had won all three regular-season meetings against Saint Mary’s in April, managed only nine hits. Meffert went 2 for 5 with an RBI and Ryder Young was 2 for 4 with an RBI. The Bulldogs scored their first two runs in the third inning on Meffert’s double and Shupe’s single, then added a run in the ninth on a groundout by Owen Bell and a single by Young. But the rally fell short as Staton struck out Meffert to end the game.

The most critical stretch of the game was the top of the fourth inning, when Saint Mary’s sent nine batters to the plate and scored four runs to take a 6-2 lead. That outburst came immediately after Gonzaga had cut the deficit to 2-1 with a two-run third and appeared to have momentum. The Gaels’ ability to answer quickly and extend the lead silenced the Bulldogs’ comeback hopes.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Saint Mary’s 5, Gonzaga 8, and its ELO system gave Gonzaga a 52.00 percent probability to win.