Baseball Opens WCC vs. LMU Thursday
5/23/2018 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Gonzaga Game Notes
No. 2 Gonzaga (29-22, 16-11) vs. No. 3 Loyola Marymount (24-28, 15-12)
Thursday | Stockton, Calif.
Banner Island Ballpark
PROBABLES
Thursday, May 24: RHP Codie Paiva (6-5, 3.54) vs. RHP Daniel Bies (6-4, 2.59)
Watch Live | Live Stats
WEEKLY RECAP
- Gonzaga entered the weekend needing one win to clinch a spot in the WCC Tournament and took care of that on Friday with a 5-3 win. GU followed that up with a 9-0 win on Saturday before falling on Sunday 4-3.
- On Friday, Gonzaga hit four solo home runs, including the first two of the year from Gunnar Schubert. The right-handed shortstop hit one to left field and one to right field. Nick Brooks and Jack Machtolf each hit home runs as well.
- On Saturday, Alek Jacob spun 7.0 innings with 12 strikeouts and the Zags scored all nine runs in the first two innings. Jake Vieth went 3-for-5 with four RBI and a run scored to lead the way on offense.
- On Sunday, GU had the bases loaded in the eighth inning after scoring a run to pull within one, but a Carson Breshears groundout ended the threat. Casey Legumina and Calvin LeBrun combined for 5.0 innings of shutout relief. Branson Trube had two RBIs, and Vieth and Schubert each collected two more hits.
DEFENSE:
- Gonzaga's defense has been one of the best in the nation all season, and currently rank at the top of the West Coast Conference and second nationally with a .984 fielding percentage.
- The Zags have committed just 29 errors all year, second in the nation behind only Yale's 25 (.985).
- GU is also in the top 75 in double plays and double plays per game defensively.
- Catcher Austin Pinorini has been one of the best in the nation at throwing out baserunners, catching 18 of 39 would-be base stealers (46 percent).
OFFENSE:
- Gonzaga's offense had one of its better series of the year against LMU the first time the two teams met in Spokane. GU hit .303 for the series, led by Ernie Yake's 6-for-11 and Carson Breshears' 5-for-11.
- GU had 30 hits in the LMU series, with 10 going for extra bases (five doubles, five homers).
- Freshman Ernie Yake has been on a tear over the last 14 games. In that span, he's raised his batting average 38 points from .283 to a team-leading .321, going 25-for-60 (.417) with a .483 on-base percentage, team-high 11 runs scored and five RBI.
- Nick Brooks found his power stroke over the last 14 games, posting four home runs and three doubles in that stretch. He's second on the team with seven home runs on the year, despite playing in just 39 games and starting just 27 of 51.
- Seniors Branson Trube and Gunnar Schubert have been two of the most productive Zags this season, ranking first and second on the team in RBIs with 35 and 32, and are second and third in total hits with 58 and 57.
- Of Trube's 35 RBI, 16 have come with two outs, tied with Schubert for most on the team.
- Schubert had his GU season-high 25-game on-base streak snapped vs. Stanford, two games after his 17-game hit streak was snapped at Saint Mary's.
- 1B Jake Vieth leads the team in home runs with eight and is the most-patient Zag, leading the team with 32 walks, five more than any teammate. He also has 11 HBPs, second behind Carson Breshears' 16.
- Second on the team in batting average, Vieth's 43 free passes (walks + HBPs) have given him the highest OBP on the team at .424, 32 points higher than any teammate.
- Trube has a team high 34 runs scored, and 35 RBI, with three coming in the NMSU series finale. - Trube leads GU with 20 multi-hit games, followed by 19 for Yake.
- Schubert is 4-for-8 (.500) with the bases loaded this season, while Yake is 3-for-8 (.375), the two highest marks on the team.
- Yake leads the team with a .400 batting average with two outs (24-for-60), while Brooks is next at .395, going 15-for-38.
- Schubert has also been fantastic with runners on any base when he comes to bat, going 33-for-99 (.333) when there's a Zag aboard.
- GU left fielder Isaac Barrera has a small sample size, but leads the team in batting average with runners in scoring position at .375 (6-for-16).
- Carson Breshears, who has batted in the nine-spot in the lineup the majority of the season, has made the most of being a second leadoff man. He's had 38 opportunities to lead off an inning and has reached base 18 times, 47 percent of the time.
PITCHING:
- Gonzaga pitching has been one of the best staffs in the nation this season, ranking 7th in ERA, 12th in shutouts, 14th in WHIP and 28th in strikeout-to-walk ratio. The staff is No. 1 in the WCC in ERA and WHIP, and second in walks allowed and strikeout-to-walk ratio.
- Gonzaga pitching has been stout in West Coast Conference action, allowing WCC hitters just a .242 batting average with a 2.76 ERA, the best marks in the league.
- Counting only league games, Bies is the only starter with two complete games and leads the WCC in strikeouts with 72. Alek Jacob is tied for second with five league wins.
- In WCC games, three GU pitchers rank among the top 10 in ERA on the year with Lardner at 2.53, Legumina at 1.91, and Bies at 2.56.
- After throwing a 2.0 inning save against New Mexico State, Casey Legumina enters the week with 13 saves on the season, the best mark in the West Coast Conference and the 13th-most in the nation.
- Against USF, the staff combined for a 1.44 ERA, and allowed Don hitters just a .223 batting average.
- Daniel Bies has thrown three complete games this year, his most recent coming in a shutout of San Francisco that earned him WCC Pitcher of the Week Honors.
- Against Pacific, the staff combined for a 1.73 ERA, and allowed Tiger hitters just a .184 batting average.
- All three starters went at least 7.0 innings against Pacific, and Casey Legumina was the only reliever to get work, going 2.0 innings in each of the final two games of the series and collecting two saves.
- Bies pitched his second complete game of the season in a 2-1 loss at Pacific on Friday night. His other complete game came in a 4-1 win over Milwaukee earlier this year.
- The staff has also four combined shutouts this season with two by Alek Jacob and one each by Daniel Bies and Mac Lardner that were all finished off by closer Casey Legumina.
