March 28, 2000
SPOKANE, Wash. -
Gonzaga (13-12)
vs.
Whitworth (7-12)
March 29 @ August / A.R.T. Stadium (Spokane) - 2:30 PM
Series Record: (Gonzaga Leads Series 58-12)
Gonzaga
vs.
Washington State (12-16)
March 31 @ August / A.R.T. Stadium (Spokane) - 2:30 PM
April 1 @ Bailey / Brayton Field (Pullman) - 12 Noon (DH)
April 2 @ August / A.R.T. Stadium (Spokane) - 1:00 PM
Series Record: (WSU Leads Series 158-72-1)
THE WEEK AHEAD: Gonzaga takes a break from West Coast Conference action as the Bulldogs entertain Whitworth College and Washington State. Division III Whitworth will visit August / A.R.T. Stadium for a single game on Wednesday afternoon. The Zags and Cougars will play a four-game weekend home-and-home set. WSU will visit Gonzaga for single games on Friday and Sunday afternoon, while the Zags will travel to Pullman for a Saturday afternoon double-header. This will be the second series of the season between the two schools. Gonzaga won the season opening series at Pasco, two games to one.
ZAGS KEEP PACE IN COAST DIVISION: Gonzaga slipped off the pace a little during their weekend trip to the Bay Area. The Zags dropped their first series of the season at San Francisco, but salvaged the trip with a victory at Santa Clara to win that series and stay two games behind front running Loyola Marymount. Steve Bennett continued to dominate opposing teams tossing his first complete game of the season against San Francisco.
A LINE ON THE PIRATES: Gonzaga plays the first of two games against Division III Whitworth College on Wednesday. The Zags will probably use this game to get some of their younger pitchers some work as the Pirates enter the game with a 7-12 record. The Pirates are hitting .214 as a team with no everyday players batting over .300.
VS. THE COUGS: This will be Gonzaga's second series against WSU after the Zags won the season opening series at Pasco. Gonzaga won the opening two games before getting shelled in the series finale. Steve Bennett won pitcher of the week honors after dominating the Cougars while Barry Matthews got off to a hot start at the plate. WSU is currently on a three game skid after dropping a PAC-10 series at nationally ranked USC. Pre-season All-America Jason Grove has now returned to the Cougars line-up and is currently hitting .455. Prior to the USC series, Washington State had won five out of six to close in on the .500 mark for the season.
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 537-535-5 mark while his 22-year career record stands at 596-597-5.
No. Date Opponent Score1 March 4, 1978 Whitworth W 9-050 May 4, 1979 UC Santa Barbara W 6-4100 March 13, 1981 Washington W 4-3150 March 21, 1982 Seattle Univ. W 8-2200 March 31, 1984 Central Washington W 14-5250 March 29, 1986 Whitman W 14-0300 April 10, 1988 Portland State W 6-2350 March 4, 1990 Central Washington W 14-4400 May 4, 1991 Portland State W 3-0450 March 18, 1994 Brigham Young W 9-4500 February 25, 1996 Washington W 16-6550 May 2, 1998 Pepperdine W 15-11
ZAGS BASEBALL ON THE AIR: Gonzaga baseball will once again be on the radio this weekend during the Zags double-header at Washington State. Veteran broadcaster Bob Robertson (Spokane Indians) will call several Gonzaga games throughout the season on Spokane radio station KTRW AM 970. The Bulldogs radio broadcasts can also be heard over the internet at www.gozags.com.
Tentative Gonzaga Radio Broadcast Schedule
Game Day Opponent Air Time Sat. - April 1 @ Washington State (2) 12 noon (10 min. pre-game) Sat. - April 8 @ Saint Mary's (2) 12 noon (10 min. pre-game) Sun. - April 9 @ Saint Mary's 1 p.m. (10 min. pre-game) Sat. - April 15 @ San Diego (2) 11 a.m. (10 min. pre-game) Sun. - May 7 @ Loyola Marymount (2) 12 noon (10 min. pre-game) Tues. - May 16 @ Washington 7 p.m. (10 min. pre-game) Wed. - May 17 @ Washington 7 p.m. (10 min. pre-game)
HITTING STREAKS SNAPPED IN SAN FRAN: Several Gonzaga players watched their season hitting streaks come to an end over the weekend in San Francisco. Eric Rodland returned to the line-up after sitting out the Loyola Marymount series with a sprained ankle. Rodland had his 11 game hitting streak snapped in the series opener, before collecting hits in the Zags final two games at USF. Jason Bay watched his 11 game hitting streak come to a halt on Sunday afternoon with a hitless afternoon. That gives Bay two 11-plus game hitting streaks that have ended this year. Earlier this season, Bay carried over a small hitting streak from 1999 and extended it to 13 games. Bay continues to swing a hot bat, standing over .400 at the half-way point of 2000. The final Bulldog to have a hitting streak stopped was senior shortstop Kevin Hara, who went 0-for-3 in Sunday's game putting a seven game hitting streak on the shelf. Even though hitless on the afternoon, Hara continued his productive streak in WCC action with a sacrifice fly. Hara has driven in runs in five of six games and has collected 12 of his 19 RBI's in West Coast Conference action. On the positive note, junior Adam Stokey has quietly put together a five-game hitting streak and appears to have found his stroke. Stokey hit .333 for the weekend with his third double of the year. Brian Munhall has also put together a modest five game hitting streak.
PRODUCTION FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE ORDER: Not normally a run producing spot in a baseball line-up, the Bulldogs are getting the most out of their 8 and 9 hitters, Kevin Hara and Danny Evans. During the weekend series at San Francisco, the duo combined to drive home eight of the Zags 18 runs for the weekend. Hara batted .367 for the weekend while Evans also finished the three game set with a .367 average.
MULTI-HIT ATTACK: At the half-way point of the 2000 season, two Gonzaga hitters Jason Bay and Barry Matthews have made the most of their hits. Bay has collected at least two hits in 13 of Gonzaga's 25 games, while Matthews follows close behind with 12 multi-hit games. Bay leads Gonzaga with eight games with two hits and five games with three hits, while Matthews has collected two hits in eleven games and had one three hit afternoon. Bay is coming off a weekend in which he put together back-to-back three hit games on Friday and Saturday afternoon, including reaching base in six consecutive plate appearances at USF.
MEMORABLE FIRST SHOTS: During the Bulldogs weekend series at San Francisco, Eric Rodland became the second Gonzaga player to connect for his first collegiate home run. Rodland's shot was a memorable three-run blast over the right field fence at Benedetti Diamond that broke open a close game with the Dons. Earlier this season, sophomore Kevin Cave connected for his first career home run at the Pepsi / Johnny Quik Classic in Fresno, CA.
BENNETT / SIWEK MOVE UP INNINGS PITCHED LIST: Following his first complete game since his sophomore year, senior Steve Bennett moved up the career innings pitched list into seventh place. Bennett currently leads the Bulldogs with 52.2 innings pitched during the 2000 season. Bennett also ranks among the conference leaders in innings pitched ranking fourth in the West Coast Conference. Joining Bennett on the top ten innings pitched list is senior Matt Siwek. Siwek, who earlier became the Bulldogs career leader in appearances, made his first start of the 2000 season on Sunday afternoon. Siwek moved into ninth place on the career innings pitched list after tossing four innings against the Dons.
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. Steve Bennett 254.0 (96-pres.)8. Gregg Harris 250.0 (83-86)9. Matt Siwek 232.1 (96-pres.)10. Jerrod Wong 225.1 (93-96)
BAY ONE HOMER SHY OF TOP FIVE: Senior Jason Bay continued to swing a hot bat during the Bulldogs visit to the Bay Area. After connecting on his team leading fifth and six home runs of the season, Bay climbed to sixth on the Gonzaga career home run list with 26 long balls. Bay now stands just one home run shy of the Zags top five list and moved into a tie with current Bulldog Adam Stokey and St. Louis Cardinals minor leaguer Bo Hart with 26 career home runs. Last season, Bay hit 20 home runs to stand second on the single season home run list behind former PAC-10 All-Star Jeff Hainline.
Career Home Runs
1. Jeff Hainline 54 (1984-88)2. Jerrod Wong 33 (1993-96)3. Dan R. Murphy 31 (1982-85)4. Carter Masterson 27 (1992-95)4. Mac Gebbers 27 (1978-82)6. Jason Bay 26 (1999-pres.)6. Adam Stokey 26 (1998-pres.)6. Bo Hart 26 (1998-99)10. Clete Wise 22 (1985-88)10. Scott Burkhardt 22 (1983-86)
WHERE THEY STAND IN THE WCC: (As of March 26)
Team Batting Average: .287 (5th) Team Earned Run Average: 5.25 (4th) Fielding Average: .950 (8th)
Jason Bay - .420 average (4th) Jason Bay - 9 doubles (9th) Barry Matthews - 27 RBI (10th) Steve Bennett - 2.56 ERA (1st) Steve Bennett - 65 strike outs (1st) Barry Matthews - 4 wins (T2nd) Steve Bennett - 4 wins (T2nd) Steve Bennett - 52.2 IP (4th)
ZAGS TO HAVE MOMENT OF SILENCE AGAINST WHITWORTH: Prior to the Zags Wednesday game against Whitworth College, Gonzaga will have a moment of silence in honor of Pat Redmond, Sr. Redmond was a great supporter of Gonzaga baseball and passed away earlier this week. Redmond is the father of former Bulldog great, Mike Redmond, who is currently the starting catcher with the Florida Marlins.
West Coast Conference Standings(Thru March 28 Games)
All Games
Coast Division W L TLoyola Marymount 18 10 0San Francisco 17 11 0Gonzaga 13 12 0Santa Clara 10 21 0
West Division W L TPepperdine 18 10 0San Diego 17 15 1Portland 13 10 0Saint Mary's 11 17 0
WCC Games Only
Coast Division W L GBLoyola Marymount 7 2 ---Gonzaga 6 5 2.0San Francisco 4 5 3.0Santa Clara 2 7 5.0
West Division W L GBPepperdine 10 1 ---San Diego 3 5 5.5Portland 3 5 5.5Saint Mary's 2 7 7.0
