Skip To Main Content

Gonzaga University Athletics

mark machtolf old headshot

Mark Machtolf

THE MACHTOLF FILE

Personal Information

Name: Mark Machtolf
Hometown: Spokane, Wash.
High School: Gonzaga Preparatory School
Education: Stanford University, Stanford, Calif. - 1987 (B.A. History)
Whitworth College - 1990 (Masters of Education)
Children: David, Steven, and Jack
 

COLLEGIATE HONORS

  • College World Series Champion, 1987
  • All-CWS Selection, 1987
  • Four-year baseball letterman and two-year football letterman at Stanford, 1984-1987


Coaching Experience

OVERALL
  • 1988-1990 - Hitting Coach at Gonzaga University
  • 1991 - Assistant Coach at Whitworth College
  • 1992-95 - Head Coach at Gonzaga Preparatory School
  • 1996-97 - Assistant Coach at Gonzaga University
  • 1998-2003 - Associate Head Coach at Gonzaga University
  • 2004-Present - Head Coach at Gonzaga University

GONZAGA
  • In 21 complete seasons at the helm for Gonzaga, Machtolf has made five NCAA postseason appearances, including four in the last eight seasons.
  • Overall record: 597-501-2
  • WCC record: 304-193
  • Machtolf's eleven 30-win seasons are most in program history, most recently eclipsing 37 in 2022. He is second all-time in total wins (597) and career win percentage (.543).
  • Claimed six WCC Regular Season Titles and two WCC Tournament/Series Titles 
  • 5x WCC Coach of the Year, most recently in 2022
  • Four WCC Player of the Year honors (Jeff Bohling, Marco Gonzales (x2), Kiel Thibault)
  • Six WCC Pitcher of the Year honors (Alek Jacob, Tyler Olson, Marco Gonzales, Ryan Carpenter, Matt Fields, Clayton Mortenson)
  • Three WCC Defensive Player of the Year honors (Connor Coballes, Brett Harris, Joey Harris)
  • Two WCC Freshman of the Year honors (Cade McGee, Marco Gonzales)
  • Under coach Machtolf, GU has had:
    - 135 Total All-WCC selections
    - 18 All-WCC First Team selections
    - 18 All-WCC Second Team selections
    - 47 All-WCC Honorable Mention selections
    - 24 WCC All-Freshman Team selections
    - 15 All-Americans
    - 4 WCC Player of the Year selections
    - 6 WCC Pitcher of the Year selections
    - 3 WCC Defensive Player of the Year selections
    - 2 WCC Freshman of the Year selections
    - John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year (Marco Gonzales)
    - ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove Recipient (Jake Vieth)
  • There have been 54 players under Machtolf who have been selected in the Major League Baseball Draft. Additionally, 14 of Machtolf's former players have reached the big leagues (Brett Harris, Alek Jacob, Casey Legumina, Michael Rucker, Ryan Carpenter, Wyatt Mills, Eli Morgan, Brandon Bailey, Taylor Jones, Marco Gonzales, Tyler Olson, Cody Morton, Steve Ames, and Clayton Mortenson)
  • In the 2022 season, Machtolf led the Bulldogs to their highest USA Today, D1Baseball, and Baseball America rankings, reaching No. 11 (USA Today) and No. 10 (D1Baseball, Baseball America).
  • The Zags reached the NCAA Regional round for the fourth time in seven seasons in 2022, finishing atop the WCC regular season standings with 20 wins for the second straight year. At the Blacksburg Regional, GU notched a win over Wright State, marking NCAA Tournament wins in consecutive seasons for the first time in program history.
























    •  
Mark Machtolf enters his 22nd season as the Gonzaga University baseball head coach and 35th on staff in 2025.

Machtolf, a five-time WCC Coach of the Year (2009, 2013, 2017, 2021, 2022), sits as the second-winningest coach in program history with a career 597-501-2 record entering 2025. His .544 career winning percentage is also third-best all-time in Gonzaga history.

During his tenure as head coach of the Bulldogs, Machtolf has produced 135 All-WCC selections, including 18 First Team All-Conference selections, 24 Freshman All-WCC selections, six WCC Pitchers of the Year, four WCC Players of the Year, three WCC Defensive Players of the Year and two WCC Freshmen of the Year. In addition, Machtolf has coached 15 All-American selections, seven Freshman All-Americans, four Academic All-Americans, 11 All-West Region selections, two United States Baseball National Team members, an ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove recipient and the 2013 College Baseball Hall of Fame’s John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year winner.
 
There have been 54 players under Machtolf who have been selected in the Major League Baseball draft, including three first-round selections. Of those 54 draftees, 17 were picked in the first 10 rounds of their respective drafts. 14 of Machtolf’s former players have reached the big leagues — Clayton Mortensen, Steve Ames, Cody Martin, Tyler Olson, Marco Gonzales, Taylor Jones, Brandon Bailey, Eli Morgan, Wyatt Mills, Ryan Carpenter, Michael Rucker, Casey Legumina, Alek Jacob, and Brett Harris. Since 2016, Machtolf-coached Gonzaga teams have gone 249-204 overall and 140-73 in WCC regular-season play, winning 5 WCC championships, 8 WCC Yearly Awards, making 4 NCAA Regionals and producing 26 MLB Draft picks in that span.

The Bulldogs have made the NCAA Tournament on five occasions under Machtolf, most recently in 2022. GU earned its highest-ever seeding in a Regional in 2021, when the Zags were the No. 2 seed in the Eugene Regional after winning the WCC regular season title.  The Zags defeated No. 3 LSU 3-0 before falling 7-3 to No. 1 Oregon and being eliminated by the Tigers in a rematch. That year, Machtolf was named WCC Coach of the Year, while Zags Alek Jacob and Brett Harris earned Pitcher of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, respectively. Both earned Collegiate Baseball All-American honors in addition. With a 20-7 record in conference play, the Zags won the WCC Pennant in lieu of a tournament to punch their tickets to the NCAA Tourney.

After winning the WCC Regular Season title for the second consecutive year in 2022, the Bulldogs then matched that feat with a No. 2 seed in the Blacksburg Regional, winning a game in the NCAA Tournament in consecutive years for the first time in program history after defeating Wright State 11-9. That season, the Bulldogs reached a program-best national ranking of No. 10 in Baseball America's poll -- the highest GU has ever been ranked under Machtolf. First-year Zags Connor Coballes and Cade McGee took home DPOY and Freshman of the Year honors, respectively.
The Zags also earned the automatic bid to the tournament in 2018 after defeating No. 1 seed Pepperdine 17-2 in the title game of the WCC Baseball Championship. Gonzaga advanced to the Minneapolis Regional and facing elimination following a loss to No. 2 UCLA, the Bulldogs kept their season alive with an 8-2 win over No. 4 Canisius. Gonzaga closed the season with a loss to the Bruins, finishing the 2018 campaign with a 33-24 overall record for its ninth 30-win season under Machtolf.
The Zags earned their first-ever at-large bid to the tournament in 2016, finishing with a 36-21 record and a share of the WCC regular season title. Gonzaga opened the Fort Worth Regional with a 5-1 win over Arizona State. Just a week earlier, the Zags reached the title game of the WCC Tournament for the first time in the competition’s four-year history.
The Bulldogs also reached the NCAA Tournament in 2009. That year, the Zags captured the program’s first WCC regular-season and championships series titles. They began NCAA Regionals with a 19-10 win over Georgia Southern University before falling in a pair of games to No. 2 national seeded and regional host Cal State Fullerton and the University of Utah. Gonzaga went on to earn a No. 22 national ranking in Baseball America’s final season poll. Both seasons’ 36 wins are the most by a Bulldog team since 1990.
Besides the league titles in 2009, 2016 and 2021, Machtolf has led the Zags to two other WCC crowns, in 2013 and 2017. In 2013, Machtolf led the Bulldogs to another WCC regular season title after going 32-21-1. They went a then-program best 18-6 in conference play and captured the top seed in the conference tournament. In 2017, Gonzaga won a school-high 20 conference games en route to a 20-7 record and a share of first place. They won five of six games against fellow co-champions Loyola Marymount and BYU during the final two weeks of conference play to do so, sweeping BYU for the first time ever during the process.
In addition to guiding the Zags to the postseason and to league titles, Machtolf was also instrumental in the construction of Gonzaga’s new state-of-the-art facility: Patterson Baseball Complex and Washington Trust Field. Machtolf assisted with shaping the new home of Bulldog baseball, which opened in 2007.
In the summer of 2006, Machtolf was named one of the assistant coaches for the USA Baseball Team. Under Machtolf’s guidance, the National Team posted a 28-2-1 record, including going a perfect 8-0 at the Federation Internationale du Sport Universitaire (FISU) World Championships in Havana, Cuba. The .919 win percentage for the season was the best posted by a USA Baseball collegiate team and the tournament win was another first for a USA Baseball National Team in Cuba.
Prior to being named head coach on Aug. 7, 2003, the Spokane native served 13 years as an assistant coach for the Zags. This is his 31st season on the Gonzaga staff.
Machtolf entered the coaching ranks as the hitting coach at Gonzaga for the 1988 season and worked with the Zags until the completion of the 1990 campaign. Following one season as an assistant coach at Spokane’s Whitworth College (now University), Machtolf accepted the head coaching position at Gonzaga Prep and coached through the 1995 season. While at Prep, he volunteered with Gonzaga for two seasons before returning to the Zag dugout fulltime in 1996. He was promoted to associate head coach prior to the 1998 campaign and earned the head job six years later.
A 1987 graduate of Stanford University, Machtolf was a member of the Cardinal 1987 College World Series championship team and was an All-CWS selection. A four-year baseball letterman and two-year football letterman, Machtolf received his B.A. in history in 1987. He received a Masters of Education degree in 1990 from Whitworth.
Machtolf has three sons – David, Steven and Jack.