Baseball Concludes 2013 Home Slate With Appalachian State
5/9/2013 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
SPOKANE, Wash. - With West Coast Conference completed, the regular-season champion Gonzaga University baseball closes out its home 2013 slate with a non-conference series against Appalachian State University. Starting with a Saturday doubleheader at 3 p.m., the Zags and Mountaineers will battle in a rare WCC versus Southern Conference series. All-American Marco Gonzales will take the hill in game one with Tyler Olson to battle in the night cap. Sunday the Zags recognize the senior class of 2013 with a special Senior Day presentation before the 3 p.m. game.
GAME 47 | May 11 | vs Appalachian St | Patterson Baseball | 3:00 p.m.
RADIO: 1510 KGA
GAME 48 | May 11 | vs Appalachian St | Complex And | 6:00 p.m.
RADIO: 1510 KGA
GAME 49 | May 12 | vs Appalachian St | Washington Trust Field | 3:00 p.m.
RADIO: 1510 KGA TV: SWX TV TALENT: Sam Adams & Bob Castle
Gonzaga Bulldogs (31-14-1, 18-6 West Coast)
PROBABLE PITCHING ROTATION
Sat. | #7 LHP Marco Gonzales (6-2, 2.93 ERA)
Sat. | #13 LHP Tyler Olson (9-2, 2.17 ERA)
Sun. | TBD
Head Coach - Mark Machtolf (Stanford 1987, 10th Year - 23rd at Gonzaga)
Gonzaga Record - 297-231 Career Record - Same
Appalachian St. Mountaineers (25-18, 12-12 SoCon)
PROBABLE PITCHING ROTATION
Fri. | #40 RHP Jamie Nunn (9-3, 3.12 ERA)
Sat. | #14 RHP Sam Agnew-Wieland (5-5, 5.64 ERA)
Sun. | #16 LHP Chad Farmer (2-0, 4.41 ERA)
Head Coach - Dan O'Brien (UC San Diego 1995)
WCC REGULAR-SEASON CHAMPS: The quest to stand atop the West Coast Conference was fulfilled last Saturday as Gonzaga University baseball clinched the WCC regular-season title with a 6-1 victory over Santa Clara University at Stephen Schott Stadium. The landmark moment marks the second WCC regular-season title in program history with the last coming in 2009.
MACHTOLF NEARING 300: After the Gonzaga University baseball team swept Santa Clara University on the road last weekend, head coach Mark Machtolf took a giant leap towards his 300th career victory. Machtolf is just three games from his 300th win. He could reach the milestone as soon as the series finale against Appalachian State University Sunday.
REACH FOR THE SKY: Freshman Caleb Wood has not been toying around ever since he made it into the Gonzaga University baseball lineup. Wood, who has made starts in both the outfield and infield, has provided head coach Mark Machtolf flexibility. At the plate Wood is hitting .316 in 38 games. He has 12 extra base hits including a team-best three homeruns. Wood has 26 RBI and has been perfect on the base path with nine stolen bases in nine attempts.
RAWLINGS WCC PITCHER OF THE MONTH: Senior pitcher Tyler Olson was named the West Coast Conference Pitcher of the Month for April announced the league this week. Olson had a spectacular month for the Gonzaga University baseball team. The Spokane, Wash., native won each of his starts and compiled a 4-0 record with a 0.52 ERA. Of those four starts, three were complete games and one was a complete game shutout. In 34.1 innings the lefty allowed just 21 hits, four runs, two earned runs while striking out 28 and walking eight.
HOW THE WEST WAS WON: While other West Coast Conference schools continue league play this weekend, the Gonzaga University already wrapped up its championship regular season. The Bulldogs went 18-6 in WCC action and lost only one series. The Zags swept the University of Portland, Saint Mary's College and most recently Santa Clara University.
In WCC games, Cory LeBrun and Marco Gonzales was an offensive machine. LeBrun hit .337 with 16 RBI while Gonzales hit .325 with 9 RBI. Caleb Wood had a team-best 18 RBI and Alex Bonczyk stole 6 bases in league play.
Leading GU on the mound was Tyler Olson and Gonzales. Olson has been lights-out with a 7-1 record and 2.35 ERA in 57 innings. Gonzales went 3-1 with a 3.38 ERA in 56 innings.
As a team GU hit .264 in WCC games and had a 3.10 ERA.
WCC CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT: 2013 will mark the first time the West Coast Conference will use a four-team, neutral-site championship tournament to be held at Banner Island Ballpark May 23-25. Banner Island Ballpark is located in Stockton, Calif., and is home to the Stockton Ports. The top four teams from the league standings will participate in the three-day, double elimination bracket with no "if necessary" Championship game. The winner of the championship will earn an automatic qualifier into the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship. The championship game will also be televised on ESPNU May 25 at 7 p.m.
TAKING IT TO THE COUGS: Gonzaga University baseball has proven to be the Kings of the 509 by sweeping the Washington State University baseball series this year. The Bulldogs took all three games against the Cougars with two of games played down in Pullman. GU won the contests 10-8, 7-2 and 4-3. The Zags will look to go 5-0 against teams in the state of Washington with a two-game series against University of Washington starting Tuesday.
ZAGS DOWN #2 ARKANSAS: Pitcher Marco Gonzales threw a complete game shutout and Gonzaga University baseball opened the Coca-Cola Classic with a bang by defeating the second-ranked University of Arkansas 3-0. Gonzales struck out nine batters while scattering eight hits throughout the game. It was Gonzales first shutout since Apr. 28, 2012 when he pitched 11 innings against Loyola Marymount University in Spokane.
GONZALES & 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.
ZAGS PICKED 3RD IN 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.
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.
Promotions
SATURDAY: The last Bulldog Bundle of 2012 Fans can purchase a t-shirt and game ticket for just $10.
SUNDAY: Lots going on the last home game of the year! Join us as we honor our senior class, show appreciation to all mom's for Mother's Day and wear pink to support Breast Cancer Awareness!
