Gonzaga (15-17, 5-7 WCC) vs Saint Mary's (19-13, 6-6 WCC)

Patterson Baseball Complex & Washington Trust Field | Spokane, Wash.

Friday, April 10; 6:00 p.m. - RHP Andrew Sopko vs. RHP Corbin Burnes
Saturday, April 11; 6:00 p.m. - RHP Hunter Wells vs. LHP Johnny York
Sunday, April 12; 12:00 p.m. - TBA vs. RHP Anthony Gosnsolin

Links to live stats and audio may be found on the baseball schedule page of GoZags.com

Game Notes: Gonzaga | Saint Mary's

STORY LINES

• The Zags wrap up an eight-game stint in eastern Washington, hosting Saint Mary's in their penultimate home series of the season. GU will be on the road in each of the next three weekends before their final three home games May 8-10 that take place on the graduation weekend.
• Gonzaga is 5-7 in WCC play and coming off their first conference series win of the season last weekend when they took two of three games from #25/27 San Diego. The Zags dropped the opening game of the series 9-4 but took game two 2-1 on the strength of an 8.2 inning, one-run gem tossed by Brandon Bailey. During the rubber match, Gonzaga batted around in the fifth inning and added two more runs in the sixth for the 9-1 victory.
• Gonzaga leads the all-time series against Saint Mary's 47-27, taking the last three series and seven of the last eight. Also, The Bulldogs have won seven of the last eight games between the two games, including a seven-game win streak that stretched from game two in 2012 to game two of 2014. Last year, Gonzaga won the first two games in Moraga Calif., by scores of 6-3 and 4-1, but fell in the series finale 10-5.

ABOUT GONZAGA

• Gonzaga is 15-17 on the year, most recently falling 4-2 in the away leg of a home-and home series with eastern Washington foe Washington State. Both Jeff Bohling and Tyler Jones picked up two hits in Pullman while Hunter Wells and Gage Burland turned in solid innings off work out of the bullpen, but it wasn't enough to overcome a three-run home run by the Cougars in the sixth inning. Tyler Frost went 5.1 innings while allowing just three hits and striking out three batters in the loss.
• Both Mitchell Gunsolus and Sam Brown have batting averages well above .300 as Gunsolus leads the team with a .333 average and Sam Brown is hitting .331. Taylor Jones, who's started at first base the last 11 games, is currently hitting .414, but he has not yet accumulated enough at-bats to meet the minimum 2.0 plate appearances per team game. Justin Jacobs leads the team with 24 RBIs, but five other Zags have 13 or more RBIs on the season. Gunsolus also leads the squad with a .496 slugging percentage while Brown has a slight edge in on base percentage at .430. Gunsolus has been reaching base at a .428 clip.
• As a staff, the Gonzaga pitchers have posted a 3.29 ERA, the lowest in the West Coast Conference and among the nation's best 50 team ERAs. Andrew Sopko leads the crop of regular starters with a 2.39 ERA while three relievers - David Bigelow, Zach Abbruzza, and Hunter Wells - have ERAs under 2.00. Bigelow, the team's closer, has allowed three runs in 19.0 innings for a 1.42 ERA. Eli Morgan leads the bullpen with 20.2 innings pitched while Wells leads the relievers with 24 strikeouts, although he has also made two starts. Bigelow also leads the team with 13 appearances.

ABOUT SAINT MARY'S

• The Gaels are 19-13 on the year, most recently dropping a conference series to Loyola Marymount last weekend. They're one game above Gonzaga at 6-6 in the West Coast Conference with series wins against Portland and Pacific and an additional series loss to San Francisco.
• INF Zach Kirtley leads the team's regular starters with a .378 batting average, although two reserves who've both played in at least 12 games are hitting above .400. INF Anthony Villa leads the team and is third in the conference with 27 RBIs, while INF Collin Ferguson is tops with 29 runs scored and a .549 slugging percentage. As a team, Saint Mary's has hit a conference-leading .313 and scored 188 runs on 341 hits, also leading the WCC.
• Closer Anthony Gonsolin leads the team with a 1.54 ERA in 11 appearances, allowing three runs (two earned) in 11.2 innings of work. He's saved seven games so far in 2015. RHP Corbin Burnes leads the starters with a 2.45 ERA and 56 strikeouts in 55.0 innings, while fellow starter Johnny York has posted a 3.09 ERA and 48 Ks. Both RHP Nathan Simmons and LHP Wes Malik lead the team with 13 appearances on the year, but both have ERAs of 4.91 or higher. Overall, the Gaels' pitching staff has allowed 157 runs (128 earned) in 283.0 innings of work for a 4.07 ERA. Batters are hitting .283 against the SMC hurlers.

KEEPING UP WITH THE JONESES
Infielder Taylor Jones has roared into the starting lineup, hitting .477 (21x44) in the last 11 games (since March 20 vs. BYU) while starting at first base each contest. His batting average, .489 on base percentage, .614 slugging percentage, 21 hits, and 10 RBIs lead the team during that span. He's set or equaled career highs in hits and RBIs (4 hits vs San Diego on April 4; 3 RBIs at LMU on March 28 and vs. WSU on March 31) in the last 11 games, and he ripped his second career home run against the Cougars March 31 as well. He has the highest batting average, slugging percentage, and on base percentage on the team.

JOEY HARRIS: GUNSLINGER
Catcher Joey Harris was a defensive weapon for the Zags against San Diego, throwing out all five attempted base-stealers and preventing the Toreros. He's now thrown out eight of the last nine runners to attempt a steal on him, dating back to March 31 against WSU. The backstop from Claremont, Calif., entered the week having the fifth-best caught stealing percentage in the nation among catchers who've caught at least 10 stealing. He's now thrown out 22 of 42 attempted thieves, a .524 average. In all, Harris has played in 29 of the team's 32 games.

STARTING LINES
Gonzaga will send RHP Andrew Sopko and RHP Hunter Wells Friday and Saturday and has yet to announce a Sunday starter...Sopko is 4-3 on the year, winning his last two starts at LMU March 28 and against San Diego April 4. He allowed a combined one run and nine hits in those last two games with nine total strikeouts (six at LMU, three versus USD), and he's allowed two or fewer runs in six of his eight starts. His best start of the year came March 14 versus San Francisco where he tallied season highs with 8.0 innings pitched and nine strikeouts. He leads the regular crop of starters with a 2.39 ERA and 20 earned runs allowed...Hunter Wells will be making his third start of the yera and first since march 28 when he went 4.0 innings with four hits and two runs allowed in a 4-2 loss. Since, he's pitched two innings of shutout ball, allowing just one hit and recording five of those six outs via strikeout. His longest outing of the season came in a relief appearance on March 19 against BYU when he threw 5.0 innings of no-hit ball, allowing one run while striking seven batters out. He leads the bullpen with 24 total strikeouts.

WHAT A (LeB)RUN
Senior Cory LeBrun is currently riding a 16-game hit streak, collecting at least one hit in each game since March 11. During the streak, LeBrun is hitting .356 (21x59) with seven doubles, eight RBIs, eight runs, and four walks. He's also reached base in each of the last 20 games, dating back to the beginning of March. The hit streak has raised the Arizonian's batting average from .224 to .296 and is the Bulldogs' longest in the last five seasons (also: Royce Bolinger in 2012). The next hit streak in GU history LeBrun is chasing down is Drew Heid's 19-gamer in 2010.

TAKING THE LEAD
With Sam Brown's .400 batting average leading off over the last eight games and Mitchell Gunsolus' production all season long, the Zags have seen tremendous production from the top spot in the lineup. Brown and Gunsolus, the two Zags to see at bats as a leadoff hitter, have combined for a .380 average (49x129) while hitting No. 1, and they and Jeff Bohling (who pinch-hit one game for Gunsolus early in the season at leadoff) have combined for a .477 on base percentage from the top spot. In all, 16.6% of the team's runs (26x157), 16.2% of hits (49x303), and 17.9% of walks (21x117) have come from the batter hitting leadoff. The Zags are also leading off innings well, too, as GU has seen its leadoff hitter reach base 121 times in 286 opportunities, a .425 clip. Tyler Frost has performed best while heading up a frame, reaching 56.5% of the time (13x23), while Joey Harris is also well above .500 at .526 (10x19).

TAKING THE BULL BY THE HORNS
Much of the Bulldogs late-game success hitting the ball (they're outscoring opponents 62-36 past the sixth inning and 42-18 in innings 8 and 9) has come thanks to their ability to hit opposing bullpens. Gonzaga has hit .299 against non-starting pitchers this season, billing them for 78 runs in 109.2 innings, a 5.33 ERA. Over half of GU's walks (61 of 117) have come off relief pitchers, and opposing relievers have suffered six losses at the hands of Gonzaga hitters. In fact, the Zags have batted around in an inning four times this season, and all three times came against relief pitching. In conference action, Gonzaga has tagged WCC bullpens for a 5.45 ERA as well, scoring 27 runs (21 earned) on 34 hits while drawing 24 walks from relief pitchers.

THE ART OF PENMANSHIP
With a 2.55 ERA, the Gonzaga bullpen has been strong all season. They've held opposing teams to just a .206 batting average and 29 earned runs (40 total) in 102.1 innings of work. Two Zags - Hunter Wells and Brandon Bailey - have not given up an earned run as a relief pitcher (although have in starts), and seven other relievers have allowed four earned runs or fewer on the year.

BULLDOGS IN THE PROS
Two former Zags earned spots on MLB opening day rosters as Tyler Olson and Cody Martin earned roster spots on the Mariners and Braves, respectively. Olson will serve as a left-handed specialist in the Ms' bullpen while Cody Martin will be the long reliever for Atlanta. Olson graduated in 2013 and needed just a year and a half to get through Seattle's organization while Martin graduated in 2011 and had played in Atlanta's farm system since. They both made their big league debuts on April 7. Martin pitched 2.0 innings of shutout ball in relief, striking out four Marlins batters to help Atlanta win 12-2 while Olson became the first person since pitch-by-pitch details have been recorded (in 1988) to record two outs with his first career pitch. He got the Angels' Erick Aybar to ground into a double play with his lone pitch in a 2-0 Mariners loss.