Gonzaga Notes | Portland Notes

ABOUT GONZAGA:

• A couple days after a strong series sweep at Pacific, the Zags began this homestand with a 8-0 win over Washington State April 5, the club's first shutout of their local rivals in 13 years. The Bulldog pitching was once again outstanding as redshirt freshman Justin Blatner tossed 5.0 scoreless innings with a career high five Ks, while lefty reliever Calvin LeBrun fanned a personal-best six in 3.0 innings of work. C Joey Harris, DH Jake Roberts, and RF Jace VanDeBrake each provided two RBIs, and CF Tyler Frost hit his fourth home run of the year.
• Head coach Mark Machtolf is in his 13th season at the helm of the program. He's put together a 364-308-2 record (including this season's results) as manager and is the second in program history in terms of wins and third in win percentage (.539). He's also second-longest tenured coach in program history behind Steve Hertz (24 years, 1978, 1981-2003). Before becoming head coach, Machtolf was an assistant for 13 years as well; this is his 26th season with Gonzaga baseball.

FROM THE COMFORT OF THEIR OWN BEDS:

• The Zags end their longest homestand of the season against Pacific Northwest foes Portland with three games this weekend. So far, the Zags are 3-1 at Patterson Baseball Complex this year, taking two off perennial WCC power Pepperdine in March and the WSU contest on Tuesday.
• 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 nine winning seasons at Patterson, posting an overall record of 110-72 (.604). 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.
• Tuesday's crowd of 1,512 was the fifth-highest crowd ever at Patterson Baseball Complex and highest since 2013. It was also the best attendance for a home game against the Cougars.

THROWING CHAIRS:

• Despite the best defense in the conference backing them, Gonzaga's pitchers have taken it upon themselves to retire batters recently as the pitching staff has retired 51 batters via a strikeout in the last four games (since April 1 at Pacific). Five pitchers have set or tied career marks during that stretch: Brandon Bailey (13 April 1), Wyatt Mills (8 April 2), Hunter Wells (8 April 3), Blatner (5 April 5), and LeBrun (6 April 5).
• Gonzaga entered that series at Pacific with 200 strikeouts and a 8.41 strikeout-walk ratio, both third-best in the conference. Heading into this weekend's series, Gonzaga is comfortably second in strikeouts while topping the league with a 2.49 K/BB ratio and 9.2 strikeouts per nine innings. They struck out at least 12 batters in three of those four games, including a season-high 16 April 2.
• During four-game win streak, the Zags have combined for a 1.66 ERA, allowing seven earned runs (eight total) in 38.0 innings of work. Batters are hitting just .199 against Gonzaga during that stretch.

GOING FOR TWO...OR THREE...OR FOUR:

• GU's hitters have been taking extra bases all season, totaling 65 doubles, 11 triples, and 12 home runs for a team slugging percentage of .422. Those doubles and triples are second in the WCC and 18th and 36th in the nation, respectively, and their slugging mark is also second-best in the league. The Bulldogs are on pace to post the program's second-most doubles (115) and most triples (19) during that same time frame.
• 1B Taylor Jones leads the team with 18 extra-base hits, 14 doubles and four triples. His two-bag total is tied for the most in the WCC and sixth in the nation, while he's also tied atop the WCC and 12th in the country. Thirteen of the 15 Zags with a hit this year have at least one double, and six Bulldogs have at least five doubles. 3B Jeff Bohling is second on the team with 15 total extra-base hits: 10 doubles, a triple, and four home runs, and OF Tyler Frost is third with 11: six doubles, a triple, and four homers as well. In all, six different Zags have triples: Jones leads the way with four, Breshears and Jace VanDeBrake each have two - while Bohling, Frost, and Sam Brown each have one.

SWEET 16:

• The Zags have been hot in their last 16 games, going 12-4 ever since beating then-No. 14 Arkansas 15-10 March 9 in Fayetteville. That win kicked off a five-game win streak, the program's first since April 2014, and they're currently a win away from equaling that season-long win streak.
• The Zags have seen a bit of a power surge in those 16 games, as their .436 slugging percentage over the last 16 games is 14 points higher than their overall mark. Ten of their 11 triples and 10 of their 12 homers have come during that stretch, including all of Jones' four triples and all of Frost's four homers.
• The pitching staff has been even tougher, posting a 3.29 ERA that's nearly a full run lower than their season average. Starters Bailey and Morgan have been sterling during that stretch, as explained below, but a few relievers also have strong numbers. Junior RHP Wyatt Mills has a 1.23 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 14.2 innings during that stretch, and fellow righty Sam Hellinger has bounced back from a rough outing at Arkansas for 9.2 innings of two-run ball since. LeBrun has also posted a 2.89 ERA in five outings since March 9.

PITCHING LINES:

• RHP Brandon Bailey has turned in six straight quality starts, posting in a 4-1 record along the way. He was sterling last week at Pacific, holding the Tigers to four hits in eight shutout innings, fanning 13 along the way, the most strikeouts by a Bulldog since 2013. The Broomfield, Colo., native leads the WCC and is 11th in the nation with 59 strikeouts, and his 11.80 Ks per nine innings are a conference-best and most by a Bulldog in the last eight years. The three-year ace has 212 career strikeouts, 12th-most in Division I and third-most by a D1 junior. He's allowed just one earned run (three total) in his last 26.1 innings pitched (since 3/12 at UTSA, inn. 1). Over those four games, he's posted a 0.64 ERA in 27.0 innings, striking out 36 while walking just 8; opponents are hitting just .172 in that stretch.
• RHP Eli Morgan has also been hot lately with four straight quality starts and three ultra-quality starts (7.0+ IP, 2 or less ER). During that stretch, the Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., native has lowered his ERA from 9.77, where it was after back-to-back tough outings vs. Notre Dame and at TCU, to its current level of 4.73, while setting new career highs in innings pitched (9.0 March 26 at Saint Mary's) and strikeouts (10 March 20 vs. Pepperdine). In his last start on April 2, he struck out eight batters, allowing one run on three hits in a no-decision at Pacific; the Zags won that game in 11 innings. In all, Morgan's made 10 career starts for the Bulldogs, allowing 30 earned runs in 66.1 innings for a 4.07 ERA. He's posted a strikeout/walk ratio of 57/17 as a starter.
• GU has yet to announce Sunday's starter, but two right-handers figure to be prime candidates for the slot. Justin Vernia has pitched in 10 games this year, starting four of them. He started the first three weekends of the year before moving into a closing role for a bit. After a start at Saint Mary's, the Issaquah, Wash., native pitched twice from the bullpen at Pacific, earning his first Division I win April 3...fellow junior Hunter Wells, meanwhile, has also started four games for the Zags, including getting the middle-game starts in series at UTSA and versus Pepperdine. He's 2-1 as a starter this year, last starting April 3 at Pacific, where he allowed three runs in 4.1 innings of work. The Spokane native has already set a career high with 37 strikeouts, and he's only 4.1 innings away from a career high in that category...five other Zags have started a game this season: Gage Burland (2), Calvin LeBrun (1), Eli Thornquist (1), and Justin Blatner (1).