FORT WORTH, Texas — Brandon Bailey pitched seven strong innings, Taylor Jones had a pair of run-scoring hits and Gonzaga beat Arizona State 5-1 in the opener of the NCAA tournament’s Fort Worth Regional on Friday.
Bailey (10-3) allowed five hits and a walk with five strikeouts in a 125-pitch outing. He let the first two hitters reach twice in the first five innings, but answered with a pair of strikeouts both times.
Sam Hellinger gave up a single in two scoreless innings of relief.
The third-seeded Zags (36-19) will face the Oral Roberts-TCU winner on Saturday night. The second-seeded Sun Devils (34-22) get the loser of Friday’s late game.
Jones doubled home Jeffrey Bohling for a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Bohling and Jones each had an RBI single in the second for a 4-0 lead.
ASU starter Seth Martinez (9-4) gave up nine hits and five runs in 2 1/3 innings.
