May 7, 2001
SPOKANE, Wash. -
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MAGIC NUMBER IS TWO AS GONZAGA (26-22, 17-10 WCC) HOSTS LOYOLA MARYMOUNT (17-37, 16-11 WCC)
FRIDAY - May 11 (August/A.R.T. Stadium)
Loyola Marymount at Gonzaga, 3 p.m.
SATURDAY - May 12 (August/A.R.T. Stadium)
Loyola Marymount at Gonzaga, 1 p.m.
SUNDAY - May 13 (August/A.R.T. Stadium)
Loyola Marymount at Gonzaga, 1 p.m.
ZAGS CONTROL TITLE DESTINY AFTER WEEKEND WINS: Gonzaga is two games away from its first-ever West Coast Conference division title after the Zags won a crucial weekend series at Santa Clara. The series victory gives Gonzaga a one-game lead in the Coast Division with three games remaining. Gonzaga also holds the all important tie-breaker should the teams end the season tied for the conference lead, Gonzaga won four of the six meetings between the two schools during the season. During the series Nate Gold continued to deliver big home runs as his three run shot on Friday night carried the Zags to a 6-2 win over Santa Clara. Barry Matthews looked solid on the mound tossing his fifth complete game of the season to improve to 8-1 on the year. On Saturday, Gonzaga jumped out quickly as Matthews delivered a two-run double in the first and Gonzaga never looked back in the 9-5 win over Santa Clara. Sean Lichter worked into the seventh to improve to 6-1 on the season while Kyle Nearhood and Eric Everson shut out the game for the GU. On Sunday, Gonzaga was limited to only two hits and Santa Clara scored an unearned run in the fourth to win the contest 1-0. David Hixson looked sharp and was the hard luck loser despite lowering his earned run average to 2.75. Earlier in the week, Gonzaga lost a non-conference contest 11-6 to Washington after getting rained out against the Huskies on Monday.
MAGIC NUMBER IS TWO: Gonzaga's magic number for clinching its first West Coast Division title is two games. Any combination of Gonzaga wins or Santa Clara losses equally two will give the Zags their first WCC Division title. The Coast Division champion will advance to the WCC Playoffs to be held May 18-20 at West Division champion Pepperdine. The opening game in that series is set for 3 p.m. on Friday with 1 p.m. starts on Saturday and Sunday in the best-of-three series. The winner will receive the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
THE HERTZ ERA CONTINUES: Gonzaga head coach Steve Hertz enters his 22nd season as the head coach of the Bulldogs and 24th season as a Division I head coach. During his tenure with the Bulldogs Hertz has compiled a 579-571-5 record including two trips to the NCAA Regionals. The last two seasons Gonzaga has been in contention for the Coast Division title of the West Coast Conference finishing second in both campaigns. Overall, Hertz has compiled a 638-633-5 record winning his 600th career game on April 8, 2000 against Saint Mary's College.
SCOUTING THE LIONS: This will be the second series meeting this season between Gonzaga and Loyola Marymount. The Zags won the opening series in Los Angeles as Gonzaga opened WCC play with a 2-1 record. Loyola Marymount has been down this season currently sitting with a 17-37 record and 5-22 mark in the WCC. Despite the sub-par overall record Loyola Marymount has the talent to play spoiler as they have twice knocked off nationally ranked Southern California this season. Kris Zacuto is the top hitter on the squad with a .325 average while Tommy Perez leads the power numbers category with 8 home runs and 37 RBI's. Frank Cruz is in his fifth season coaching the Lions with a 145-146-1 record. Loyola Marymount leads the all-time series 16-9, but the Zags have gone 4-2 against LMU at August/A.R.T. Stadium over the last two years.
ZAGS TIE CONFERENCE WIN MARK: With its two conference wins over the weekend, Gonzaga tied its school record for wins in the West Coast Conference. The 17 wins matches last year's total of 17 when the Zags finished 17-13 overall. With one more win Gonzaga will set a new school record for wins in the WCC and will establish the most conference wins a Bulldogs team has had since going 25-7 in the 1981 NorPac season. That team also had the distinction of being the last Gonzaga team to reach an NCAA Regional. With a sweep of Loyola Marymount, Gonzaga would reach the 20-win plateau in a conference for only the third time in school history. The two previous best seasons were in 1981 (25-7) and in 1980 when the Zags went 23-4 in the NorPac. Gonzaga's third and fourth best conference win totals came in 1976 (19-5 NorPac) and 1978 (18-6 NorPac). In every season Gonzaga has won at least 18 conference games the Zags have advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
SENIOR CLASS TO END HOME RUN: Six Gonzaga seniors will end their home careers this weekend at August/A.R.T. Stadium and this group of seniors has been instrumental in helping Gonzaga contend for three straight West Coast Conference division titles. Seniors Jared Hertz and Barry Matthews conclude their third seasons in Spokane compiling the best three-year run Gonzaga has ever had in the WCC. Seniors Jeremy Doane, David Hixson, Scott Stencil and Chris Florko have been a huge part of GU's success the last two seasons as Gonzaga is once again in sight of setting a new record for wins in the WCC. Gonzaga will hold its annual senior day festivities this Sunday prior to Gonzaga's 1 p.m. game with Loyola Marymount. The pre-game ceremonies will also be in conjunction with Gonzaga's graduation weekend and a special Mother's Day celebration at August/A.R.T. Stadium.
BASEBALL ON THE AIR: Gonzaga's Saturday and Sunday contests against Loyola Marymount will be broadcast locally in Spokane on KFAM AM 790 with Bob Castle providing all the play-by-play action. Fans can also hear the games on the web at www.gozags.com. Gonzaga will then broadcast its two game series against the University of Washington and any post-season games involving the Zags.
DOUBLES FOR EVERYONE: Although Gonzaga is likely to fall short of the team record for doubles of 123 set during the 1981 season (69 games), Gonzaga could still produce a rare feat. The Zags currently have 99 doubles as a team with five regular season games remaining, Gonzaga also has three players within striking distance of double-digit doubles which would give Gonzaga nine everyday players with at least ten doubles. Kevin Richardson and Danny Evans each sit with eight doubles while Kevin Cave is right behind them with seven doubles. Sophomore Eric Rodland currently leads the team with 15 doubles and is two away from moving into the single-season record book in a tie for ninth with Barry Matthews (2000) and George Miller (1981).
FIELDING RECORD IN SIGHT: With five regular season games remaining Gonzaga could finish with its second best fielding percentage ever. The school record of .971 was set during the 1980 season when Gonzaga led the NCAA in fielding percentage committing only 51 errors in 54 games. Gonzaga's second-best fielding percentage year was 1988 when the Zags committed only 65 errors in 56 games for a .968 fielding percentage. The Bulldogs currently sit at .967 for the season with 62 errors in 48 games. The Zags were ranked 20th in the NCAA and 2nd in the WCC in the latest statistics for team fielding.
GOLD MOVES UP ANOTHER SPOT: Junior Nate Gold continued his climb up the Gonzaga single-season record book on Friday night as he knocked out his 12th home run of the season, his fifth game winning blast of the year. Gold's home run ties him for eighth on the Gonzaga single-season list. With one more home run, Gold will move into a tie for fifth on the single-season list joining Jeff Hainlain (1986) and Bo Hart who hit 13 home runs in 1998 and 1999.
MATTHEWS JOINS ELITE GROUP: With his Friday night victory, Barry Matthews became just the ninth Gonzaga pitcher to post 20 wins in a Gonzaga uniform. Matthews moved into a tie for 8th with Byron Burns (1973-74), passing among others current GU head coach Steve Hertz (19 wins). Matthews now has his sights on former teammate Steve Bennett who ranks seventh on the list with 21 wins. Gonzaga's career wins leader is Billy Walker (1987-90) with 32 followed by Mike Mahoski (1977-80) at 31 wins.
