April 7, 2003
Gonzaga Baseball Notes - Week 9
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2003 Gonzaga Baseball Statistics
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TUESDAY - April 8
Washington State at Gonzaga, 3 p.m.
WEDNESDAY - April 9
Lewis-Clark State at Gonzaga, 3 p.m.
FRIDAY - April 11
San Francisco at Gonzaga, 3 p.m.
SATURDAY - April 12
San Francisco at Gonzaga, 1 p.m.
SUNDAY - April 13
San Francisco at Gonzaga, 1 p.m.
GONZAGA BULLDOGS: 13-16-1, 4-8 WCC
BULLDOGS OPEN LONG HOMESTAND: Gonzaga opens one of its longest homestands of the season this week as the Bulldogs host Washington State, Lewis-Clark State and San Francisco for five games this week. The Cougars return to Spokane after taking a mid-week game from Gonzaga, 8-6, last Tuesday afternoon. Lewis-Clark State visits on Wednesday in the first meeting of the season between the two schools, they were originally scheduled to play in the Banana Belt Classic but the contest was rained out. On Friday Gonzaga opens a three-game WCC series with San Francisco. The Bulldogs are looking to get back into the WCC race as the Dons come to town on the heels of a three-game sweep at the hands of Santa Clara.
BULLDOGS PLAY FOUR GAMES WORTH IN PORTLAND: After battling to get in Friday's game in a steady rain on the Bluff in Portland, the Bulldogs and Pilots got their money's worth on Sunday as the school's played 29 innings of baseball to end their series. Portland won the series opener 5-1 on Friday and Saturday's contest was rained out. Sunday's double-header started at 11 a.m. and ended over four and a half hours later as Chris Sinner drove in two runs in the top of the 16th, Gonzaga claiming a 9-6 win. Twenty minutes later the two teams matched-up again with just over three hours of baseball as Portland's Rod Steffens had a game winning single to center with two outs in the bottom of the 13th inning. It was scheduled to be the last inning of the day as darkness was starting to fall on the field. Sam Hess had a stellar day for the Bulldogs as he caught all 29 innings, going 5-for-13 at the plate with a pair of doubles. Eric Dworkis picked up the win in the first game on Sunday with 7.1 innings of relief. Ed Clelland had a no-decision despite 11 innings pitched in the second game of the day.
WASHINGTON STATE COUGARS (9-22, 1-5 Pac-10): For the second time in two weeks Gonzaga and Washington State will meet on the Gonzaga campus. The Cougars won last week's game, 8-6, as they scored three early runs against Bulldogs starter Ed Clelland and held on for the win. Jeremy Farrar went 4-for-5 in the game as both teams collected 10 hits. Brett Beetham picked up the win for Washington State with 2.1 innings of relief. Following Tuesday's win over Gonzaga, Washington State lost three straight to nationally ranked Stanford including an 8-5 extra inning decision on Monday. Jay Miller led the Cougars in Monday's game with four hits. This will be the third meeting of the season between the schools with each winning one game. Gonzaga defeated WSU at the Banana Belt Classic, 10-0, in early March.
LEWIS-CLARK STATE WARRIORS (26-5): The Warriors visit August/A.R.T. Stadium for the first time since the 2000 season when the Warriors won a 5-4 contest. LCSC is off to a 26-5 start after winning two home games against Eastern Oregon. Paul Gallegos and Justin Fuller lead the Warriors with each player hitting over .400 on the season. The two teams are slated to meet one more time this season in Lewiston, a date still to be determined after their Banana Belt Classic game was rained out.
SAN FRANCISCO DONS (13-22, 6-9 WCC): Gonzaga gets its first taste of home WCC cross-divisional play on Friday as the San Francisco Dons visit August/A.R.T. Stadium. Gonzaga swept San Francisco the last time the Dons were in Spokane during the 2001 season as Gonzaga headed towards its first WCC Coast Division title. USF has since switched to the West Division as the Bulldogs won 2-of-3 at Benedetti Diamond last season. Armand Gaerlan leads the Dons offense with a .342 average and 5 home runs. Bryan Williams is the team's top starting pitcher with a 3-2 record and 5.40 ERA. San Francisco has lost seven of their last nine games including a sweep at the hands of Santa Clara over the weekend. The Dons did have one high point in the last week as they knocked off Stanford 9-5.
A HARD DAY'S WORK: Sam Hess may have had the longest day of any Bulldogs player on Sunday as the senior from Colbert, Wash., caught all 29 innings of Gonzaga's double-header marathon with Portland. All the work did not seem to effect Hess at the plate as he went 5-for-13 (.385) with a pair of doubles. Hess also threw out two Portland runners including one runner who attempted to steal in the 13th inning of Sunday's first game. For the season Hess has helped throw out half of potential base stealers as teams are just 17-for-34 on the season. Hess is also slowly raising his average which now stands at .233 on the season with five doubles.
TWO MORE CORDER BOMBS: Junior first baseman Gordon Corder had a solid day at the plate in Sunday's first game against the Pilots as he is solely responsible for the game heading to extra innings. With the Bulldogs trailing 6-5 in the top of the ninth, Corder greeted the first pitch he saw to lead off the ninth inning with a solo home run deep to left field. It was the second home run of the day for Corder who also had a two-run shot in the first inning to help the Bulldogs jump out to a 2-0 lead. Corder finished the game 4-for-7.
HEAD COACH STEVE HERTZ: Gonzaga head coach Steve Hertz enters his 24th season as skipper of the Bulldogs and his 26th year overall as a college head coach. A three-year member of the Gonzaga baseball team, Hertz compiled a 19-8 record as a pitcher prior to graduating from GU in 1972. Hertz went on to play three years in the Minnesota Twins organization prior to returning to Gonzaga, starting his collegiate coaching career as a Bulldogs assistant in 1976. Hertz took over the program in 1978 and led Gonzaga to a 33-14 record and NCAA Regional appearance. Following a two-year stint at UC Irvine, Hertz returned to Gonzaga in 1981 and guided the Bulldogs to their best season with a 48-21 record and NCAA Regional appearance. During his coaching career Hertz has earned five Coach of the Year honors the most recent coming in 2001 when he guided the Bulldogs to the WCC Coast Division crown. Hertz has compiled a 683-680-6 record as a Division I head coach including a 624-618-6 record at Gonzaga.
RODLAND ONE HIT AWAY FROM RECORD: Senior Eric Rodland's chase to become the all-time Gonzaga career leader has closed to within one hit of the school record. Rodland now has 241 career hits and will tie Jim Carnell's school record of 242 with one more hit. Carnell set his school record between 1980-83. In addition the hits record Rodland moved into first place on the Gonzaga career at-bats list over the weekend as he now has 763 career at-bats, surpassing Jerrod Wong's mark of 751. Rodland had 13 at-bats during Sunday's contest including 8 AB's in game one.
LONG ARMS ON THE MOUND: Junior Ed Clelland had the longest outing of the season for a Gonzaga pitcher when he tossed the first 11 innings of baseball in game two against Portland. Clelland left with a no-decision as the Bulldogs would eventually fall in 13 innings. It was the second time this season a Gonzaga starter has worked more than nine innings, Sean Lichter throwing 10 innings against Santa Clara two weeks ago. Clelland threw 132 pitches in the game scattering seven Pilots hits and allowing only two earned runs. Clelland now owns a 3.61 ERA on the season.
A LOT OF AT-BATS: Gonzaga made sure to get its share of at-bats in during Sunday's contest with Portland. The Bulldogs had 114 official at-bats during the game as they hammered out 35 hits for a .307 batting average in what amounted to a little more than three games played. In the first game four Gonzaga players had eight official at-bats with Eric Rodland, Chris Sinner and Gordon Corder all making nine trips to the plate. Kemp Quackenbush had the most productive day in his eight at-bats with four hits, while Corder went 4-for-7 with two walks.
LONGEST DAY IN RECENT WCC HISTORY: Not only did Gonzaga and Portland enter the record book for their 16 inning marathon on Sunday, but the 13 inning contest also ranks among the longest in recent league history. The 16 inning game is one inning longer than the previous best of 15 innings on two different occasions counting only games since the league went to its current format in 1996.
Inn. Score Date Location16 Gonzaga 9, Portland 6 4-6-03 Portland15 San Francisco 12, San Diego 11 4-2-00 San Francisco15 Cal State Fullerton 16, Pepperdine 15 2-22-97 CS Fullerton14 San Diego 6, Pepperdine 5 3-20-98 Pepperdine13 Portland 4, Gonzaga 3 4-6-03 Portland13 Fresno State 3, Santa Clara 1 4-9-96 Santa Clara
ZAGS AMONG CONFERENCE STAT LEADERS: Several Gonzaga Bulldogs have found themselves among the league leaders as the WCC prepares to enter the midway point of the 2003 season. Two Gonzaga pitchers rank in the league's Top 10 for ERA with relief pitcher John Gonzalez third with a 2.21 ERA and Eric Dworkis ranking 9th at 3.10. Sophomore outfielder Jeff Culpepper is currently 10th in the league in batting average at a .348 clip. First baseman Gordon Corder is currently second in the league with 33 RBI and junior pitcher Errol Simonitsch leads the WCC with 58 strike outs.
QUACKENBUSH RETURNS TO FORM: Designated hitter Kemp Quackenbush returned to form on Sunday as the senior went 6-for-13 on the day including a 4-for-8 effort in the Bulldogs 16 inning affair. Quackenbush raised his season average back above the .300 mark and now sits at .306 on the season, fourth on the Bulldogs roster.
OREGON STATE GAME CHANGE: Fans are advised that Gonzaga's two game series with Oregon State has been moved from May 13 and 14 to May 20 and 21 in Spokane. The change is to accommodate OSU's Pac-10 schedule.
THREE FORMER GU PLAYERS IN TRIPLE-A: As minor league baseball opened for the 2003 season, three former Gonzaga players start the campaign one step away from the Major Leagues. Scott Morgan (Chicago White Sox), Bo Hart (St. Louis) and Jason Bay (San Diego) all opened the season in the Triple-A, Morgan and Bay spending the spring in Major League Spring Training camp. Also starting play was Steve Bennett (AA - New York Mets), Nate Gold and Kevin Richardson (A - Texas) and Brian Munhall (A - San Francisco).
