Gonzaga Notes | Pepperdine Notes

ABOUT GONZAGA:

• Gonzaga is coming off a 5-2 trip that saw two wins over ranked opponents (No. 7 TCU and No. 14 Arkansas) and a road sweep at UTSA. Over the last four games (at Arkansas, at UTSA), the Zags scored 42 total runs, reaching the double-digit mark in three contests. As a team, the Zags hit .350 and slugged .491 during that stretch.
• Head coach Mark Machtolf enters his 13th season at the helm of the program. He's put together a 357-304-2 record (including this season's results) as manager and is the second in program history in terms of wins and win percentage (.537). He's also second-longest tenured coach in program history behind Steve Hertz (24 years, 1978, 1982-2003). Before becoming head coach, Machtolf was an assistant for 13 years as well; this is his 26th season with Gonzaga baseball.

HOME AT LAST!:

• With their season-opening 15-game road swing now in the books, the Zags finally get to play in front of a home crowd with the first of 10 games at Patterson Baseball Stadium & Washington Trust Field. They'll host WCC foe Pepperdine for three games. After another nine-game road trip to end March and begin April, the Zags will play seven of the next 10 games at home before returning to the road for the rest of the season.
• 2016 marks Gonzaga baseball's 10th season at Patterson Baseball Complex, and ever since opening the facility with a 9-4 win over Rider March 15, 2007, they've never looked back. The Bulldogs have tallied nine winning seasons at Patterson, posting an overall record of 107-71 (.601). Their best winning percentage in the park came in 2011 when they went 11-5, and a year later they won 17 games, their most in the facility. The Zags have posted a winning record at home in each of their five seasons, picking up at least 10 wins at Patterson since 2011.
• Last year, the Zags went 10-7, sweeping Saint Mary's, winning two against San Diego and Pacific, and taking single games off San Francisco, BYU, and Washington State.

WAVE HELLO TO CONFERENCE PLAY:

• This three-game series begins conference play for both teams. The Waves and Zags ended the regular season last year in Malibu with Pepperdine taking the series two games to one with that series loss snapping a three-series GU win streak against the Waves. Gonzaga has won the last two series between the two squads in Spokane, taking the series opener and rubber match in both 2012 and 2014.
• Five GU position players have played in multiple WCC seasons with 1B Taylor Jones seeing the most success. In 51 games (33 starts), the senior is hitting .344 with 44 hits, 11 for extra bases, 21 RBIs, and 24 runs. RF Sam Brown is also hitting above .300, posting a .305 average in 54 games - all starts - while adding 62 hits, 28 RBIs, and 31 runs. Backup catcher Jimmy Sinatro is just shy of the .300 line, hitting .297 in 41 games with 27 RBIs and 22 runs, although he did not play much during conference season last year.
• Two pitchers have two conference campaigns under their belts as well. Reliever Wyatt Mills is 1-0 in eight appearances against WCC foes, striking out five and walking two in eight innings of work, good for a 3.38 ERA. Starter Brandon Bailey, meanwhile, is 10-4 with a 3.89 ERA in 18 starts. He's tossed three complete games and 125.0 innings in league action, striking out 92 and walking 34.

JUST REACH, BABY:

• The Bulldogs have been frequent visitors to the base paths this year as GU batters are reaching first base at a .411 clip. This mark is the second highest in the WCC, 19th in the nation, and would be the highest by the Zags in at least eight years. At UTSA, they were particularly adept at reaching base at least once an inning; the Bulldogs put a man on base in 24 of the 27 innings in San Antonio, and during 17 of the 18 innings Sunday.
• Six qualifying Zags have an on base percentage over .400, and three more reserves are at that mark as well. 2B Justin Jacobs' .472 leads the team; he's added 12 walks and two hit by pitches to his 20-hit tally. Over the course of a season, Jacobs' .472 would be the third-highest of the last eight years for Gonzaga, and 3B Jeff Bohling's .446 would be ninth.
• Unsurprisingly, GU's leadoff hitters are doing quite well on the year, reaching base 59 times in 137 chances for a .431 clip. Jones leads the team by reaching in seven of his 11 attempts (.636), and three others reach at a .400-or better clip when leading off an inning. Brown, GU's leadoff hitter, is reaching at a .360 mark (9x25).
• Gonzaga batters have excelled at one of the more painful methods of reaching base: getting hit by a pitch. The Zags have been plunked by 22 pitches already this year with five of those coming March 9 at Arkansas. Harris has been the unluckiest batter, getting hit by seven pitches this season. Thanks in large part to this unfortunate stat, his on base percentage of .418 is fourth best on the team and 139 points higher than his batting average.

HONEY BUNCHES OF RUNS:

• Generating offense hasn't been much of a problem for Gonzaga this season as the Bulldogs have scored 118 runs, second in the WCC and 30th in the nation. Averaging 7.87 runs per game, the Zags have reached double digits in run column six times, or 40 percent of the time. They saw double-digit runs six times total last season, and they didn't score their 118th run until the 23rd game of the season.
• They've done a majority of their damage in the first three innings, combining for 48 runs in innings 1, 2, and 3. They've plated 19 runs so far in both the second and the seventh frames, and they've scored double-digit runs in innings 1-4, 6, 7, and 9. GU is undefeated when scoring more than six wins, 6-1 when scoring more than four, and 9-2 when scoring at least three times.
• Six Bulldogs have scored at least 10 runs, topped by Brown and 3B Jeff Bohling, who've crossed the plate 16 times this season. Bohling's already set a new career mark with those 16 runs scored while Brown is halfway there. They're both tied for eighth in the WCC. Thirteen Bulldogs have crossed the plate at least once this year.
• LF Tyler Frost, meanwhile, tops the team in bringing runs in. He's tallied 17 RBIs already, just seven short of a career mark and fourth-highest in the West Coast Conference. Jones is second with 15 RBIs, while Bohling's third at 13, only two short of a personal record as well. In all, 14 Zags have batted in at least one run.

PITCHING LINES:

• RHP Brandon Bailey has turned in three straight quality starts, picking up the win in each appearance. He was named WCC Pitcher of the Week two weeks ago after striking out nine in 7.0 innings at No. 7 TCU, and he's fanned at least five in all four starts of the year. In his three years at Gonzaga, he's struck out 181 batters and totaled 17 wins, both figures tied for the 23rd-highest among active players. His five complete games is the 17th-highest active mark.
• Junior RHP Hunter Wells will make his third start of the season Sunday. He's 2-0 as a starter this season, earning the win versus Incarnate Word Feb. 27 and at UTSA in game one March 13. His other two appearances this year came in long relief. Wells has started seven games in his two-year career at Gonzaga, posting a 5.67 ERA and a 3-4 record. In those seven starts, he's struck out 28 batters and walked just 13.
• RHP Eli Morgan is coming off a bounce-back performance against UTSA March 13 as he tossed 7.0 innings, allowing just two runs on four hits while fanning seven Roadrunners. Prior to that, he allowed nine earned runs in 3.1 innings at TCU and six in 4.1 innings of work versus Notre Dame. Those are the only two blemishes in his starting career, though, as in five starting appearances over this year and last, he's 3-1 with a 5.19 ERA, although 15 of those 25 earned runs allowed in starts came versus TCU and Notre Dame. The sophomore from Ranchos Palos Verdes, Calif. has struck out 31 batters in starts and walked just 10.