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ABOUT GONZAGA:

• The Bulldogs are making their first NCAA Regionals appearance since 2009 and second in the current Super Regionals format. In all, Gonzaga has reached NCAA play nine times with the first seven coming between 1971 and 1981. They received the program's first at-large bid on Monday; Gonzaga picked up the West Coast Conference's automatic qualifier in 2009 due to their win over Loyola Marymount in the WCC Series.
• Head coach Mark Machtolf is in his 13th season at the helm of the program. He's put together a 383-317-2 record (including this season's results) as manager and is second in program history in terms of wins and third in win percentage (.547). He's also the 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.

NCAA HISTORY:

• Gonzaga is 8-16 overall in NCAA Regionals/Districts play, most recently going 1-2 at the Fullerton Regional in 2009. As a No. 3 seed, the Zags beat No. 2 Georgia Southern in the opening game but lost the next two
• The Zags' first-ever NCAA appearance was at the district series in 1971, where they took on BYU in Provo, Utah. Gonzaga won the first game of that three-game series but the Cougars won the next two for the series win. They also reached Districts in 1973 and 1974 before making four Regionals from 1976 to 1981.

JUST ANOTHER FAMILY OUTING:

• The Zags are well-accustomed to flying these days as 40 of their 50 regular season games were away from Spokane, and 36 of those were true road games. They finished the regular season with a 23-13 away record, and their 23 road wins are tied with Wright State for second-most in the nation (Bryant leads D1 with 24).
• The Zags have now played eight neutral site games and are 4-4, going 2-2 at the Irish Alamo Classic in February and at the WCC Championships last weekend.
• After returning from the NCAA Regionals, the Zags will have travelled 32,556 miles and made five trips out of the Pacific time zone this season, including three to the state of Texas.

#WINNING:

• The Zags' win over Pepperdine was the 35th of the year. That is the program's highest total in seven years when they went 37-17 in 2009, which is also the last time the club reached the NCAA Regionals.

WCC CHAMPS FLASHBACK:

• Gonzaga was in Stockton, Calif., last weekend for the WCC Championships, a four-team tournament to decide the conference's AQ bid. The Bulldogs opened the tournament with a dominant performance on the mound from RHP Brandon Bailey, who struck out 17 in a 5-3 win over BYU. That K mark is the most by a Bulldog since the early '90s when Darin Blood reportedly fanned 18 against Oregon State.
• After a loss to Saint Mary's in the winner's bracket, the Zags advanced to the championship round with a 5-4 win over Pepperdine. Gonzaga hit a season-high three home runs against the Waves, including a walk-off solo shot from CF Tyler Frost in the 10th inning, one of two home runs on the night for the sophomore. The next day, the Zags fell in the championship game after once again running into a hot-hitting Saint Mary's squad. It was the first WCC tournament championship game in the tournament's four-year history.

THROWING CHAIRS:

• Gonzaga's pitchers have been retiring batters themselves all season, combining for 479 Ks in 54 games. They finished second in the conference in strikeouts during the regular season (and are now first after the WCC Championships) and have already broken the program record for Ks in a season, The Bulldogs lead the conference with 8.9 strikeouts per nine innings, and a 2.29 staff strikeout/walk ratio is second-best in the WCC.
• Two Zags are among the WCC's Top Four in strikeouts as junior Brandon Bailey has fanned 120 batters (First in the WCC, eighth in D1), and RHP Eli Morgan's sat down 99 (fourth WCC, T-42nd D1). Bailey and RHP Hunter Wells are among the WCC's Top 10 in strikeouts per nine innings as Bailey averages 11.57 Ks per nine and Wells fans 9.13 every 9.0 innings.
• Junior RHP and closer Wyatt Mills leads the bullpen with 37 strikeouts in relief, and after a career-high seven strikeouts May 17 at Washington State, LHP Calvin LeBrun is second with 32 strikeouts in relief, and RHP Sam Hellinger, meanwhile, is third with 30 Ks.

ZAGS VS. SUN DEVILS:

• Counting Friday's game, the Zags and Sun Devils will have played each other in each of the past five seasons (since 2012). Gonzaga is 0-5-1 during that stretch, losing 5-2 last year in a single game at Phoenix in ASU's Phoenix Muni Classic. In 2013, the two teams tied at 6-6 due to a travel curfew. Overall, Gonzaga is 2-16-1 against Arizona State, last beating the Sun Devils in 2006. That was a 9-1 win in Surprise, Ariz.
• Six of Gonzaga's typical hitters have played against the Sun Devils before as OF Sam Brown, OF Tyler Frost, and IF Justin Jacobs are each hitting .500 (2x4) against ASU. Frost's first career home run came against the Sun Devils.
• Three pitchers have taken the bump against Arizona State, including Friday starter Brandon Bailey. As a freshman in 2014, Bailey faced the Sun Devils in his third career start, allowing four runs in six innings of work, suffering the loss. Two other Zags - RHP Gage Burland and RHP Eli Morgan - pitched scoreless innings in relief against ASU last season.

SLASH IT OUT:

• Gonzaga's batters have posted an impressive slash line on the year at .290/.379/.422, placing second in the WCC in all three categories. Their .422 slugging percentage is the team's best since 2010, and their .379 on base mark is best since '09. As a team, they've drawn 233 walks, the most since at least 2008, and both their combined doubles (125) and home run (32) marks are the club's highest since 2010. The Zags are only four doubles away from tying the school record of 129 set in 2010.
• The Bulldogs have the best two double machines in the conference as Taylor Jones tops the league with 24 doubles and Jeff Bohling is one behind in second at 23. Jones is tied for sixth in the nation in the category while Bohling is tied for 10th.

PITCHING LINE:

• With 120 strikeouts this year, RHP Brandon Bailey is fifth on the Zags' single-season strikeouts list, just two Ks away from a tie for third and seven from a tie for second. Additionally, the junior is 10th among all active players and third among juniors with 273 career strikeouts, again fifth on the program career Ks list. The Broomfield, Colo., native has started 14 games this year, striking out at least five batters in 12 of them and allowing two runs or fewer in nine; he's posted 10 quality starts this year as well. The three-year ace allowed just one earned run or fewer in seven of his nine conference starts. The Zags are 10-4 when Bailey has started this year and 11-4 when he's pitched at all.
• A sport management major, Bailey was also selected Academic All-Region 8 in April.

LAST GAME'S STARTING LINEUP: