Zags Look To Crash Waves In WCC Opener

Feb. 29, 2000

SPOKANE, Wash. -

Gonzaga (5-3)
vs.
Pepperdine (7-7)

March 3-4 @ August / A.R.T. Stadium (Spokane)

Series Record: (Pepperdine leads series 21-3)

THE WEEK AHEAD: Gonzaga prepares for both its home opener and West Coast Conference opener as the Bulldogs play host to Pepperdine in a three-game series this weekend. The Bulldogs come off a four-game split with the University of Washington in which Gonzaga pitchers struck out 59 Husky batters during the four game set. Gonzaga also broke out of its season opening homer-less streak as the Zags connected for three long balls over the weekend. Gonzaga entertains a Pepperdine team that was picked as the pre-season WCC favorite but has struggled to start the season against a very tough schedule. Unlike years past when Gonzaga would have to make a return trip to Malibu this will be the only meeting between the Zags and the Waves due to conference realignment which placed Pepperdine in the West Division for the 2000 season. Gonzaga is picked to finish fifth in the overall WCC race and third in the Coast Division.

PROJECTED PITCHING MATCH-UPS

                GONZAGA                             PEPPERDINE3/3 (2:30 p.m.) RHP - Steve Bennett (2-1, 2.84)     RHP - Steve Schenewerk (1-0, 5.72)3/4 (11 a.m.)   LHP - Barry Matthews (2-0, 2.08)    RHP - Daniel Haren (1-2, 4.30)3/4 (G2)    RHP - Sean Lichter (1-0, 9.00)       LHP - Noah Lowry (2-1, 7.82)

SPLIT IN SEATTLE: The Bulldogs collected a split with Washington in the four-game weekend series in Seattle. Washington pulled out a 5-3 victory in the opener on Friday night despite 18 strike outs by Gonzaga starter Steve Bennett. In Saturday's double-header, Gonzaga picked up a split winning the opener 7-3 before falling in the nightcap 10-8. In Saturday's opener Barry Matthews pulled double-duty picking up the win with 14 strikeouts and driving home two runs with a 2-for-4 day at the plate. In the second game, Washington scored six runs in the sixth inning to pull ahead of Gonzaga and hold on for a 10-8 victory. The Zags did breakout of their home run slump as Jason Bay connected for the first Bulldog homer of 2000. In the series finale on Sunday, Sean Lichter came out of the bullpen to toss 6.2 innings of shutout baseball and collect his first college victory. Offensively Barry Matthews and Jared Hertz combined to drive home seven runs in Gonzaga's 10-5 victory. Matthews smashed two home runs to finish the afternoon with four RBI's.

VS. PEPPERDINE: The Waves come into their West Coast Conference opener as the pre-season favorite to win the WCC. Head Coach Frank Sanchez guides Pepperdine for the fourth straight year and is coming off Pepperdine's first NCAA appearance since 1995. The Waves lead the all-time series between the two schools, 21-3. Last season, Pepperdine won the season series 5-1 and finished 7 games ahead of Gonzaga in the Coast Division race. This season Pepperdine is led by All-America catcher Dane Sardinha (.345, 13 RBI) while outfielder Jeremy Coronado currently leads the Waves with a .500 average.

HERTZ QUEST FOR 600 CONTINUES: Steve Hertz is in the midst of his third decade of coaching at Gonzaga as he leads the Bulldogs for his 21st season as head coach. An All-Conference pitcher at Gonzaga in the early 1970's, Hertz guided the Bulldogs to an NCAA Regional Final in his first season as head coach in 1978. Following a two-year stint as head coach at UC-Irvine, Hertz returned to his alma mater in 1981 and has guided the Bulldogs through three different conferences. In his 20 years at Gonzaga, Hertz has compiled a 530-527-5 mark while his 22-year career record stands at 589-589-5.

K-FORCE: Gonzaga's pitching staff turned into a strike out machine during its four game series with Washington. Zags pitchers set down 59 Husky batters over the weekend, 39 strike outs swinging and 20 strike outs looking including striking out the side 6 times. Steve Bennett paced the Bulldogs staff with 18 strike outs while Barry Matthews contributed 14 strike outs during his eight inning outing. For the weekend, Gonzaga nearly doubled its strike out total for its first four games. The Bulldogs had 37 strike outs entering the four game series and left with 96 strike outs for the season.

DOUBLE YOUR PLEASURE: Junior outfielder Jared Hertz turned into a doubles machine during the final two games of Gonzaga's weekend series at Washington. Over the final two games of the series Hertz went 5-for-10 at the plate collecting four doubles and driving home six RBI's. Hertz is currently second on the team with a .429 batting average and is tied for the team lead with 4 doubles.

MULTI-HIT MACHINE: Junior designated hitter Barry Matthews is currently on an eight game hitting streak to start the Bulldogs season, ranking third on the squad with a .412 average. Although his eight game hitting streak is impressive, what stands out is Matthews six multi-hit games and his ability to hit for power. Matthews currently leads the Zags with two home runs, 13 RBI's and a .706 slugging percentage.

HITTING STREAKS CONTINUE: Several Bulldogs have opened the season swinging hot bats and starting mini-hitting streaks. Jason Bay and Barry Matthews have both collected at least one hit in each of the Bulldogs eight games this season. After going hitless in the season opener, Jeremy Doane has put together a six game hitting streak. Bay carries over a four game streak from 1999 and has pushed his current total to 12 games. All three will put their streaks on the line this weekend as Gonzaga battles Pepperdine in the WCC opener.

        Player              Streak    2000 Avg.    Jason Bay     12 games  .452    Barry Matthews   8 games   .412    Jeremy Doane   6 games   .320

HOME HITS: Last season the Zags posted a 13-4 record at August / A.R.T. Stadium in their limited home games. Gonzaga is currently on a three game home winning streak.

THE FRESHMAN: Freshman Sean Lichter stepped up big on Sunday afternoon and may have moved himself from the bullpen into the Bulldogs starting rotation. After tossing one clean-up inning on Saturday afternoon in Gonzaga's 7-3 victory over UW, Lichter had his best performance of the season on Sunday afternoon. With Gonzaga trailing 5-3, Lichter came into the game in the bottom of the third inning and preceded to shut down the Husky offense. Lichter pitched 6.2 innings of shutout relief and struck out eight batters along the way to his first collegiate victory.

WORK HORSES: With his seven innings of work on Friday night Steve Bennett moved into the career top ten at Gonzaga for innings pitched. Bennett moved his career total to 220.1 innings pitched knocking Bulldogs head coach Steve Hertz from the top ten list. Bennett joins current Bulldog reliever Matt Siwek on the career list as active players. Siwek has compiled five innings of work this year in four relief appearances. When healthy during their careers, Bennett has averaged 66 innings of work a year, while Siwek has averaged 59 innings of work in his career. Both pitchers are fifth-year seniors who have taken a medical redshirt year.

Career Innings Pitched
1.  Mike Mahoski     373.1 (77-80)2.  Billy Walker     351.0 (87-90)3.  Shea Fleck   332.1 (90-93)4.  Mike Davey   286.0 (72-74)5.  Darin Blood  273.1 (93-95)6.  Tom Gorman   267.1 (77-80)7.  Gregg Harris     250.0 (83-86)8.  Jerrod Wong  225.1 (93-96)9.    Matt Siwek      221.1 (96-pres)10. Steve Bennett    220.1 (96-pres)11.     Steve Hertz    214.0 (70-72)

BASE-ON-BALL TO STRIKE OUT RATIO IMPROVES: An achilles heel of the Gonzaga pitching staff in its opening series against Washington State, the Bulldogs turned that ratio around during their series split with the Huskies. Gonzaga pitchers put together a 3-to-1 strike out to base-on-ball ratio during the four-game series, setting down 59 Huskies while issuing only 19 free passes. For the season the Zags staff has pushed that ratio to nearly 2-to-1 as they have struck out 96 batters and granted 51 walks.

FIRE NEEDS TO BE STOKED': Despite struggling early in the season, junior first baseman Adam Stokey moved into the career top ten for RBI's over the weekend passing former Major Leaguer, Lenn Sakata. Stokey's numbers took a beating over the weekend as the Huskies shut down the Zags clean-up hitter. Stokey completed the weekend going 2-for-17 at the plate and watched his average drop to .188. Stokey also had his 7 game hitting streak snapped in the series opener. Stokey looks to get back on pace this weekend in the WCC opener against Pepperdine.

Career RBI's
1.  Jeff Hainline    186 (84-88)2.  Jerrod Wong  183 (93-96)3.  Dan R. Murphy    165 (82-85)4.  Jim Carnell  161 (80-83)5.  Mac Gebbers  154 (78-82)6.  Don Lyons    152 (73-76)7.  Bill Hainline    151 (76-79)8.  Carter Masterson 143 (92-95)9.  Clete Wise   124 (85-88)10.     Adam Stokey  109 (98-pres)

ZAGS POWER METER: Gonzaga finally broke out of its home run drought as the Zags slammed three long balls during their weekend split with Washington. Jason Bay was the first Bulldog to go deep on the season as he hit a three-run shot during the night-cap of Saturday's double-header. Barry Matthews extended the Zags home run game streak on Sunday afternoon as he sent the ball out of the park twice in Gonzaga's 10-5 victory. Matthews hit a solo shot early in the game and then solidified the GU victory with a three-run shot in the sixth inning. The Zags are working on getting back to their 1.58 home runs per game average set last season.

BENNETT WINS DUAL AWARDS: Senior right-hander Steve Bennett picked up dual awards from the West Coast Conference this week. Bennett was named the Rawlings / WCC Pitcher of the Week following his school record tying 18 strikeouts against the University of Washington. Bennett allowed just four hits and walked one while retiring 86 percent of the outs on third strikes. Bennett struck out the side three times during the game including four K's in the opening frame. Bennett was also awarded WCC Pitcher of the Month honors for February after a quick 2-1 start. During the opening month of the season Bennett struck out 34 batters in 19 innings of work, capped off by his 18 K performance against Washington. Bennett was also named the WCC Pitcher of the Week following his season opening victory over Washington State in which he limited the Cougars to just four hits in six innings of work.

LOOKING AHEAD: Following the Zags homestand, Gonzaga will head back to California where they will play eight games in seven days. The opening week will see the Bulldogs in action at the Pepsi / Johnny Quik Classic hosted by Fresno State University. Gonzaga has opening round dates with Indiana State, Southern Illinois and North Carolina - Asheville. The Zags will then play in two cross-divisional games followed by a championship / consolation bracket on Saturday. On Sunday, Gonzaga will play a WCC double-header against division rival Santa Clara. This will mark the third time in four seasons that Gonzaga has competed in the Pepsi / Johnny Quik. The Zags have a 6-3-1 record at the tournament from appearances in 1997 and 1999.

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