June 2, 2009

SPOKANE, Wash. - Gonzaga University appears at No. 22 in this week's Baseball America national rankings, released Tuesday. The Bulldogs earn a national ranking for the second consecutive week and third time this season after posting a 1-2 record at this past weekend's NCAA Tournament Regional round held in Fullerton, Calif. This season the Zags have appeared at No. 22 in the Apr. 13 Baseball America poll and at No. 19 in the same poll last week.

The Zags opened the NCAA Tournament with a 19-10 win over Southern Conference champion Georgia Southern University last Friday, setting the GU record for most runs scored in an NCAA Tournament game. On Saturday Gonzaga battled the tournament's No. 2 national seed Cal State Fullerton into the late innings. Using a two-run home run from Anthony Synegal to tie the game at 4-4 in the fifth inning before the Titans, playing at their home field, pushed across single runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings to earn a 7-4 win. The Zags then dropped a 9-7 decision to the University of Utah in Sunday's elimination game, scoring two runs in the eighth and then bringing the potential winning run to the plate in the ninth before Utah induced a groundout to end the Zags season.

Gonzaga finished the season with an overall record of 36-18, marking the most wins by a Bulldog club since 1990. This year also saw the Zags claim the program's inaugural West Coast Conference regular season and Championship Series titles and had head coach Mark Machtolf earn WCC Coach of the Year. Senior starting pitcher Matt Fields took home the WCC Pitcher of the Year and was also received All-America third team honors by Collegiate Baseball. Fields, Synegal, Tyson Van Winkle and Ryan Wiegand each earned All-WCC accolades while Steven Ames received All-WCC honorable mention.

TEAM                                       PVS

1. LSU (49-16)                              2

2. ARIZONA ST (47-12)                       3

3. CS FULLERTON (45-14)                     4

4. TEXAS (44-13)                            5

5. VIRGINIA (46-12)                         7

6. RICE (43-16)                             6

7. NORTH CAROLINA (45-16)                   8

8. FLORIDA ST (45-16)                      10

9. UC IRVINE (45-15)                        1

10. FLORIDA (42-20)                         11

11. OLE MISS (43-18)                        12

12. TCU (39-16)                             13

13. LOUISVILLE (47-16)                      15

14. CLEMSON (44-20)                         16

15. EAST CAROLINA (46-18)                   18

16. ARKANSAS (37-22)                        NR

17. OKLAHOMA (43-20)                         9

18. KANSAS ST (43-18)                       14

19. SOUTHERN MISS (38-24)                   NR

20. GEORGIA TECH (38-19)                    17

21. MINNESOTA (40-19)                       21

22. GONZAGA (36-18)                         19

23. WESTRN KENTUCKY (42-20)                 NR

24. ELON (41-18)                            22

25. SOUTH CAROLINA (40-23)                  NR