Coca-Cola Classic (Surprise, AZ)
GAME 9 | Mar. 1 | vs. Arkansas | Surprise Stadium | 3 p.m.
GAME 10 | Mar. 2 | vs. Pacific | Surprise Stadium | 3 p.m.
GAME 11 | Mar. 3 | vs. Arizona State | Surprise Stadium | 3 p.m.
All times Pacific Time Zone and subject to change
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Gonzaga Bulldogs (4-4, 0-0 West Coast)
Probable Pitching Rotation
LHP - 7 Marco Gonzales, L-L, 6-1, 185, Jr., Fort Collins, CO
(1-1, 4.15 ERA)
LHP - 13 Tyler Olson, R-L, 6-3, 190, Sr., Spokane, WA
(1-1, 2.08 ERA)
TBA
Head Coach - Mark Machtolf (Stanford 1987, 10th Year - 23rd at Gonzaga)
Gonzaga Record - 270-224 Career Record - Same
#2 Arkansas Razorbacks (7-1, 0-0 Southeastern)
Probable Pitching Rotation
RHP - 17 Barrett Astin, R-R, 6-1, 200, Jr., Forrest City, AR
(1-0, 0.82 ERA)
RHP - 29 Trey Killian, R-R, 6-2, 195, Jr., Altadena, CA
(1-0, 0.00 ERA)
RHP - 22 Randall Fant, R-R, 6-4, 205, So., Placentia, CA
(0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Head Coach - Dave Van Horn (Arkansas 1989, 11th Year)
Pacific Tigers (3-4, 0-0 Big West)
Probable Pitching Rotation
LHP - 30 John Haberman, L-L, 6-1, 220, RS-Jr., Stockton, CA
(0-0, 5.40 ERA)
RHP - 29 Cory Popham, R-R, 6-2, 195, Jr., Altadena, CA
(1-0, 2.63 ERA)
RHP - 22 Michael Benson, R-R, 6-4, 205, So., Placentia, CA
(2-0, 1.32 ERA)
Head Coach - Ed Sprague (Southern Utah 1989, 3rd Year)
#25 Arizona State Sun Devils (4-2, 0-0 Pacific-12)
Probable Pitching Rotation
RHP - 43 Trevor Williams, R-R, 6-3, 230, Jr., San Diego, CA
(1-0, 1.50 ERA)
LHP - 49 Ryan Kellogg, L-L, 6-5, 220, Fr., Whitby, Ontario
(1-0, 0.00 ERA)
LHP - 51 Adam McCreery, L-L, 6-8, 220, So., La Verne, CA
(0-1, 9.82 ERA)
Head Coach - Tim Esmay (Arizona State 1989, 4th Year - 13th at ASU)
ON DECK: Gonzaga University baseball will make its sixth appearance in the Coca-Cola Classic hosted by Arizona State University in Surprise, Ariz. The Bulldogs face a gauntlet of ranked opponents beginning Friday against USA Today's Coaches Poll No. 2 University of Arkansas. Saturday the Zags face future West Coast Conference member University of the Pacific and close out the tournament against No. 25 Arizona State. All games are slated for 3 p.m. first pitch and will be played at Surprise Stadium.
SCOUTING ARKANSAS: The Razorbacks are ranked No. 2 in the USA Today Coaches Poll and is 7-1. Head coach Dave Van Horn needs three more victories to reach 1,000 in his career. Junior Pitcher Ryan Stanek was named to the preseason watch list for the Golden Spikes Award. The right handed junior is 1-0 with a 3.86 ERA. Arkansas enters the weekend on a five-game winning streak. Arkansas went 2-0 against GU in 2012.
SCOUTING PACIFIC: The University of the Pacific and Gonzaga University will meet for the second consecutive weekend. The Tigers (3-4) split its two games against the Zags at the Pacific Baseball Invitational. Sophomore Michael Benson has led its pitching staff by going 1-0 with a 1.32 ERA.
SCOUTING ARIZONA STATE: The Sun Devils enter the weekend ranked No. 25 by the USA Today Coaches Poll. Last weekend Arizona State took two of three from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. Right handed pitcher Trevor Williams was honored as a preseason All-American. The Sun Devils went 3-0 against the Zags in 2012.
ZAGS IN SURPRISE: Gonzaga University baseball will be making its sixth appearance in the Coca-Cola Classic hosted by Arizona State University. The last time the Bulldogs participated was in 2007 where they went 1-2. The tournament began in 2003 and Gonzaga was involved in the first five years of play. Overall the Zags are 8-7 with its best performance (3-0) coming in 2006. Only Oregon State University and ASU have played more games in the tournament history.
BULLDOGS EVEN THROUGH 8 GAMES: Gonzaga University baseball opened the 2013 season in the Palm Springs Tournament and finished with an even 2-2 record. The Zags went 1-1 on its Opening Day doubleheader, dropping 6-2 to Utah Valley University and downing UC Riverside 6-3. The Bulldogs dropped 9-2 to #6 Oregon State University Saturday but ended the weekend on a positive note by beating Utah Valley 6-4 Sunday. For its second weekend of action the Zags went 2-2 in the Pacific Baseball Invitational against the University of the Pacific and UNLV.
ROUND TWO WITH PACIFIC: Gonzaga University baseball played future West Coast Conference member University of the Pacific last weekend and will face them again at the Coca-Cola Classic tournament. The Bulldogs split its two games at the Pacific Baseball Invitational. The Bulldogs win came in a thrilling 9-8 rally when senior Steven Halcomb hit a game winning RBI double in the top of the ninth.
NEW ZAGS IN THE LINEUP: Gonzaga University baseball has a number of new faces on the field than a year ago. With the departure of five starters, catcher Travis Forbes, second baseman Cabe Reiten, third baseman Mitchell Gunsolus and outfielders Alex Bonczyk and Cory LeBrun have all stepped into new roles. On the mound, Andrew Sopko and Zach Abbruzza have gotten a starting nod as the Zags continue to solidify its rotation.
GONZALES ON THE NATIONAL RADAR: Gonzaga University left handed pitcher and infielder Marco Gonzales has had the accolades pile up during the off season. Headlining his preseason honors is his inclusion in the 2013 Golden Spikes Award Watch List. The Fort Collins, Colo., native was also named preseason first-team All-American by Baseball America, Perfect Game, Louisville Slugger and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. The southpaw is reigning West Coast Conference Pitcher of the Year and NCBWA District IX Player of the Year. The Bulldog was also a finalist for the 2012 College Baseball Hall of Fame's John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year award. Gonzales finished 2012 with an 8-2 record with a 1.55 ERA. At the plate he hit .325 for the Zags.
TOUGH ROAD AHEAD To open the 2013 season, Gonzaga University baseball will have 16 road games before the first home contest. During that 16 game span, the Zags will face three of the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association top 25 teams. Feb. 16 the Bulldogs face No. 8 Oregon State University, then Mar. 1 they take on No. 3 University of Arkansas followed by a Mar. 3 battle with No. 22 Arizona State University. Gonzaga will open the season Mar. 15 when the University of San Francisco visits Spokane for a weekend series.
ZAGS PICKED THIRD IN WCC PRESEASON POLL: In a preseason poll of the nine West Coast Conference coaches, the Gonzaga University Bulldogs were picked to finish third in the league behind the University of San Diego and Pepperdine University. The Bulldogs received 49 points in the poll with one first place vote. San Diego tallied 62 points with six first place votes and the defending WCC champion Pepperdine had 53 points with two first place votes. Rounding out the poll was Loyola Marymount University (4th) with 47 points, University of San Francisco (5th) with 39 points, BYU (6th) with 24 points, University of Portland (7th) with 19 points, Santa Clara University with 16 points (8th) and Saint Mary's College (9th) with 15 points.
GONZALES AND ESLICK RECOGNIZED BY WCC: Gonzaga University junior pitcher Marco Gonzales and senior Clayton Eslick were both recognized by the nine West Coast Conference head coaches when they were named to the preseason All-WCC team. Gonzales was named as both a pitcher and a infielder for the second consecutive season. The Zags selections were second most in the conference. Both Bulldogs were named on the 2012 All-WCC team that was released at the end of the season.
BULLDOGS BUSY DURING THE OFFSEASON: A number of Gonzaga University baseball players played summer ball across the nation during the offseason. Last summer, infielder Mitchell Gunsolus was named the 2012 West Coast League Most Valuable player. Gunsolus played for the Wenatchee AppleSox and hit .371 with three home runs and 48 RBI to help the club win the 2012 WCL title. Pitcher Derek Callahan, for the AppleSox, was named to the All-WCL second-team and infielder Steven Halcomb, for the Bellingham Bells, was named All-WCL honorable mention. In the Horizon Air Summer Series, pitcher Kenny Smith was honored as the Pitcher of the Year with a 6-1 record and a 1.29 ERA. Pitcher Marco Gonzales played for the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team and helped the team earn the bronze medal at Honkbal Week in Haarlem, The Netherlands. Gonzales was named Best Pitcher of the tournament and posted a 1.20 ERA with two victories.
RECAPPING 2012: Before April 20, 2012, Gonzaga University baseball was 26-9 overall and 6-3 in West Coast Conference action. The Zags unfortunately dropped 13 of its remaining 21 games, seven of which were to WCC foes. The Bulldogs finished third in the conference behind Pepperdine University (36-23, 16-8 WCC) and San Diego (40-17, 15-9 WCC). Both Pepperdine and San Diego advanced to the NCAA Regionals.
GONZAGA SIGNS TWO FOR 2014: Brandon Bailey from Broomfield, Colo., and Jack Morello from Sherman Oaks, Calif., both signed national letters of intent to play for the Gonzaga University baseball team in 2014. Bailey is a right-handed pitcher who has a laundry list of accolades that include 2013 Under Armour Preseason All-American and winner of the 2012 Colorado 4A State Championship. Morello, also a pitcher, was ranked the 86th best pitcher in California and 159th best nationally by Perfect Game.
ON THE RADIO: Starting Apr. 12 against Saint Mary's College, 1510 AM KGA Sports Talk radio with Tom Hudson and Gonzaga's winningest baseball coach Steve Hertz will broadcast home games on the radio.
PROGRAM CONSISTENCY: Gonzaga University baseball has won 30 games in five of the last six seasons. The Zags won at least 30 games in 2007 (33-25), 2008 (30-23), 2009 (36-18), 2011 (32-19-1) and in 2012 (34-22). During the six year span, the Bulldogs have a winning percentage of 56.
2013 RECRUITING CLASS GETTING ATTENTION: The Gonzaga University baseball freshman class for 2013 has been recognized for its talent by Baseball America. The group that includes pitcher Taylor Jones from Covington, Wash., pitcher Andrew Sopko from Missoula, Mont., catcher Jimmy Sinatro from Sammamish, Wash., infielder Cabe Reiten from Olympia, Wash., and Michael Rucker from Aubrun, Wash., was named for being one of the 35 best in the nation and the best in the West Coast Conference.
EXPERIENCED VETERANS: Seven seniors fill the Gonzaga University baseball roster. Pitchers Tyler Olson and Karl Myers; outfielders Billy Moon and Alex Bonczyk; infielders Steven Halcomb and Clayton Eslick; and catcher Travis Forbes will be counted on to lead a young roster. Of the 35-man roster, 22 are underclassmen.
