PULLMAN, Wash. - Gardner-Webb (16-18) baseball dropped a tightly contested 3–2 decision at Washington State on Thursday afternoon at Bailey–Brayton Field, despite a strong outing on the mound from starter Oliver Ellison.

Ellison delivered eight solid innings for the Runnin' Bulldogs, allowing three runs on eight hits while striking out six and walking two across 114 pitches. The right-hander kept Gardner-Webb within striking distance throughout the afternoon, retiring the side in order in the third and seventh innings while consistently working out of traffic.

Washington State opened the scoring in the second inning when Dustin Robinson connected for a solo home run to center field, giving the Cougars a 1–0 lead. Gardner-Webb threatened in the fourth after Ryan Kennell reached on a single and advanced to third following a throwing error, but the Dawgs were unable to capitalize.

The Runnin' Bulldogs broke through in the fifth inning to even the score. Zack Thompson doubled to right-center and later scored when Allan Camarillo lined an RBI single to left, tying the game at 1–1.

Washington State quickly responded in the bottom half of the inning. Kyler Northrop tripled to right-center and came home on an RBI single from Gavin Roy to put the Cougars back in front, 2–1.

Gardner-Webb answered again in the seventh inning. Daniel Smith reached on a fielding error and moved to third after a sacrifice bunt by Thompson. Moments later, Smith scored the tying run on a throwing error by the Cougars' catcher during a pickoff attempt, evening the game at 2–2.

The Cougars regained the lead in the eighth. Robinson doubled down the left-field line and later scored on an RBI single from Ryan Skjonsby, giving Washington State a 3–2 advantage.

Gardner-Webb put together eight hits on the afternoon, including multi-hit performances from Matt Ilgenfritz, who went 2-for-4.

Game two of the series will take place tomorrow afternoon with a first pitch of 7:05 EST.