Game 19: March 20 - at Washington State - Bailey Brayton Field - Pullman, WA - 5:30 p.m.
All times Pacific Time Zone and subject to change
Gametracker available
Visit GoZags.com for live video and audio availability
Gonzaga University Bulldogs (12-6, 0-0 West Coast)
Probable Starting Pitcher
Game 19 Starter TBA
(0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Probable Position Starters
C - 18 Maxx Garrett, R-R, 6-1, 215, Sr., Kennewick, WA
(.180, 7 R, 1 2B, 1 3B, 8 RBI)
1B - 7 Marco Gonzales, L-L, 6-1, 185, So., Fort Collins, CO
(.378, 5 R, 4 2B,1 HR, 13 RBI)
or 26 Andy Hunter, R-R, 6-6, 220, Sr., Tucson, AZ
(.281, 6 R, 2 2B, 3 RBI)
2B - Alex Stanford, L-R, 5-10, 180, Sr., Bothell, WA
(.250, 10 R, 2 2B, 2 3B, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 2 SB)
3B - 6 Eric Lane, R-R, 6-0, 190, Sr., Port Angeles, WA
(.316, 11 R, 4 2B, 6 RBI)
SS - 4 Steven Halcomb, R-R, 5-10, 165, Jr., Poway, CA
(.311, 11 R, 3 2B, 11 RBI, 3 SB)
LF - 21 Royce Bolinger, R-R, 6-2, 200, Sr., Scottsdale, AZ
(.329, 13 R, 4 2B, 2 HR, 12 RBI)
CF - 32 Alex Bonczyk, R-R, 6-3, 190, Jr., Las Vegas, NV
(.160, 3 R, 2 RBI, 1 SB)
RF - 3 Payden Cawley Lamb, L-R, 5-10, 185, So., Buckley, WA
(.308, 1 R, 1 2B, 2 RBI)
DH - 5 Clayton Eslick, L-R, 5-11, 170, Jr., Gilroy, CA
(.344, 11 R, 2 2B, 2 3B, 8 RBI)
Head Coach: 28 Mark Machtolf (Stanford University, 1987)
Gonzaga Record: 244-204-1 (9th year - 22nd at GU) Career Record: Same
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Washington State University Cougars (10-8, 1-2 Pacific-12)
All-time series versus Gonzaga: Washington State leads 120-71
Probable Starting Pitcher
Game 19 Starter TBA
(0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Head Coach: 7 Donnie Marbut (Portland State University, 1997)
Washington State Record: 36-36 (8th year) Career Record: Same
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THIS WEEKEND SERIES' PROMOTIONS:
Thursday, March 22 - Buy one, get one Hot Dog for Gonzaga students
Friday, March 23 - None
Saturday, March 24 - Dollar Dog Night
Sunday, March 25 - Kids Day - $1 tickets for kids 12 & under
LIVE VIDEO COVERAGE: The Gonzaga University baseball team's home games can be seen live on the Zags Sports Channel all-access through GoZags.com. Check out the baseball schedule page for the link to the video broadcast. As always, live stats are available for all home games and can be accessed through GoZags.com.
ON THE RADIO: Gonzaga University will broadcast baseball home games on the radio starting with the Pepperdine University series March 30-April 1. Fans can follow the Zags on 1510 AM KGA Sports Talk radio with Tom Hudson returning for his ninth season as the voice of the Zags. Joining Hudson in his fifth season as an analyst is Gonzaga's all-time winningest baseball coach and current associate athletic director Steve Hertz.
TWITTER: The Gonzaga University Bulldogs are on Twitter. Fans can follow the Bulldogs at Twitter.com/GonzagaBulldogs. Fans can receive inside scoop on all Bulldog athletics as well as in-game updates. The Gonzaga baseball team is also on Twitter. Visit Twitter.com/GonzagaBaseball to follow the Bulldogs.
FACEBOOK: The Gonzaga University Bulldogs are on Facebook. Visit Facebook.com/GonzagaBulldogs and click on 'Like' to receive inside scoop and photos. The Gonzaga baseball team also has a Facebook page, visit Facebook.com/GUBaseball.
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME: Gonzaga University felt right at home when it opened the home side of its 2012 schedule against the University of the Pacific last weekend, winning two of the three-game series over the Tigers. With the 15-game season-opening road stretch complete, the Zags will play no more than five straight games away from the Patterson Baseball Complex and Washington Trust Field for the rest of the season. Gonzaga will play 26 of the remaining 41 games at home.
TO PULLMAN AND BACK: Gonzaga University will be making its only visit to the Washington State University campus Tuesday. The Cougars will be making two trips to the Patterson Baseball Complex and Washington Trust Field this season. The first game on Gonzaga's campus will be on April 3 and the season series finale will be on April 17.
A HANDFUL OF PAC-12 OPPONENTS: Washington State University is the first of four Pacific-12 Conference schools Gonzaga University will play this season. The Bulldogs will also play two games at the University of Washington while the University of Oregon and 14th-ranked Arizona State University visit the Patterson Baseball Complex and Washington Trust Field for a two-game and three-game series, respectively.
SCOUTING THE COUGARS: Washington State University comes home from the desert after opening its Pacific-12 Conference season at 14th-ranked Arizona State University last weekend. The Cougars shutout the Sun Devils 6-0 in game one last Friday, but the Sun Devils took game two 8-7 and three 12-9 in a doubleheader last Saturday. Derek Jones, who batted cleanup in the series against the Sun Devils, has been the Cougars leader in all offensive categories. He is batting .364 with 17 runs, five doubles, three triples, five home runs and 19 RBI. Tommy Richards is the only member of the Washington State ballclub to start all 18 games. He is also batting .364 with 13 runs, five two-baggers and nine RBI. J.D. Leckenby has been the Cougars ace this season, going 3-2 with a 2.54 ERA in five starts. He also leads the team with 20 strikeouts.
LAST TIME VS. THE COUGARS: Washington State University swept the three-game season series over Gonzaga University last season. The Cougars won the first meeting in Pullman 17-11, game two in Spokane 11-6 and the series finale in Pullman 3-1. Among Gonzaga returners, junior Steven Halcomb led the team with a .455 batting average, a triple and a stolen base. For the Cougars, Taylor Ard batted .636 in the series with a home run and seven RBI. J.D. Leckenby led the effort in pitching. He didn't receive a decision in all three appearances but he carried a 1.35 ERA in 6 2/3 innings pitched.
ON DECK: Following the road trip to Washington State University, Gonzaga University will begin a season-most eight-game homestand starting with the University of Hawai'i for a four-game non-conference series. The series starts Thursday at 6 p.m. The Bulldogs and Rainbow Warriors met in 2010 for a three-game series in the Aloha State. The Rainbow Warriors won the series two games to three.
ROAD WARRIORS: Gonzaga University traveled a total of 12,772 miles in the air, not including return trips to Spokane, during its season-opening 15-game road trip. The Bulldogs have visited Peoria, Ariz., Beaumont and San Antonio, Texas, Albuquerque, N.M. and from Albuquerque they head to Fayetteville, Ark. The home opener last weekend against the University of the Pacific was the first time the Bulldogs played in the Pacific Time Zone this season as previous start times were either the Mountain or Central Time Zones.
ZAGS JUMPED RIGHT OUT OF THE GATE: Gonzaga University's 10-0 record to start the season was the best since 1990, when the Bulldogs went 9-0 to start the season. The 1990 Bulldogs opened the season sweeping Eastern Oregon State College in a four-game series and after defeating Eastern Washington University the Bulldogs swept Central Washington University in four games. The Bulldogs would suffer back-to-back losses to Fresno State University in their road-opener.
WELCOME BACK PAYDEN CAWLEY LAMB: Gonzaga University head coach Mark Machtolf penciled sophomore Payden Cawley Lamb in his lineup card last Sunday against the University of the Pacific for the first time since the season opener against the University of Nebraska. The right fielder started all three games in right field against the Huskers but had to sit out due to a broken hamate bone on his throwing arm.
WE'RE WATCHING YOU: Five Gonzaga University pitchers, along with their battery mate senior Maxx Garrett, have picked off nine runners this season, the most in the West Coast Conference. Sophomore left-hander Marco Gonzales leads the pitching staff with three pickoffs, junior and fellow southpaw Billy Moon picked off two runners in his outing against then fourth-ranked University of Arkansas last Tuesday. Senior lefty Tyler Olson, senior right-hander Andy Hunter, freshman Derek Peterson and Garrett each added picked off one runner.
HUNTER EATING INNINGS: Senior right-hander Andy Hunter has been pitching a lot of innings this season. Hunter, who is 2-1 with a 2.65 ERA, has thrown 37 2/3 innings to lead Gonzaga University in that category. He also threw the first complete-game in his career against the University of Illinois Feb. 25. Since his first complete-game, he has thrown no fewer than eight innings a start.
GONZALES BACK ON THE MOUND: Sophomore left-hander Marco Gonzales returned to the pitcher's mound in Gonzaga University's 2-0 win over the University of the Pacific last Saturday. It was his first appearance as a pitcher since March 2 when he left the game due to a minor injury on his left shoulder. Gonzales returned like nothing happened to him, striking out eight batters and allowed eight hits en route to earning his first complete-game shutout of the season.
GONZALES ON THE NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT: After picking up his third win of the season against the University of the Pacific last Saturday, Gonzaga University sophomore left-hander Marco Gonzales has won 14 straight games on the mound, and with Troy University's Tyler Ray suffering a 7-2 loss to the University of South Alabama last Friday, Gonzales' streak is now the longest among NCAA Division I pitchers. His last losing decision was at Texas A&M University Feb. 26, 2011, when he threw seven innings and allowed three runs, but the Bulldog offense couldn't help him as they lost 4-2 to the Aggies.
MACHTOLF APPROACHING CAREER WIN NO. 250: Gonzaga University head coach Mark Machtolf is six wins away from reaching his 250th career win as a head coach. Machtolf is 244-204-1 in nine years at the helm, all at Gonzaga.
BULLDOGS PICKED SECOND IN WCC: Gonzaga University is picked to finish second according to the 2012 West Coast Conference coaches' preseason poll. The Bulldogs received 57 votes and three first-place votes. The University of San Diego edged the Bulldogs as the favorite to win the WCC title with 59 points and five first-place votes. The defending WCC champions University of San Francisco garnered a first-place vote and tallied 51 points to finish third in the poll. Loyola Marymount University captured 37 points to finish fourth. Pepperdine University and Saint Mary's College - each with 30 points - tied for fifth, while West Coast Conference newcomer BYU was tabbed seventh with 28 points. The University of Portland (23 points) and Santa Clara University (nine points) rounded out the poll.
RECAPPING LAST YEAR: Gonzaga University finished the 2011 season 32-19-1 overall, capturing its fourth 30-win season in the last five years. The Bulldogs also went 15-6 in West Coast Conference play. The Bulldogs started the season 0-5 but made a huge turnaround as the season progressed. In an unscripted moment, the Bulldogs and the University of San Francisco entered their regular-season series in Spokane tied for first place on the final weekend, setting up a WCC Championship Series. After the two teams split the first two games, the WCC championship was decided in the rubber match, with the Dons beating the Bulldogs 4-2.
NINE PLAYERS TO JOIN THE ZAGS IN 2013: Gonzaga University head coach Mark Machtolf announced the signing of nine players to his 2013 roster Jan. 31. Joining the Bulldogs next spring are Will Abram, a 6-2 left-handed pitcher and a sophomore transfer from Paradise Valley Community College in Phoenix, Ariz.; Nelson Benjamin, a 6-0 centerfielder from Valley Vista High in Surprise, Ariz.; Taylor Jones, a 6-7 right-handed pitcher/first baseman from Kentwood High in Covington, Wash.; Brandon Mahovlich, a 6-2 right-handed pitcher/outfielder from Issaquah High in Issaquah, Wash.; Cabe Reiten, a 6-2 shortstop from the Academy Northwest in Olympia, Wash.; Michael Rucker, a 6-0 right-handed pitcher from Auburn Riverside High in Auburn, Wash.; Jimmy Sinatro, a 5-10 catcher from Skyline High in Sammamish, Wash.; Andrew Sopko, a 6-2 right-handed pitcher from Loyola Sacred Heart High in Missoula, Mont., and Caleb Wood, a 5-10 shortstop from Valley Vista High in Surprise, Ariz.
