Gonzaga (5-8) at Utah (6-5)
Salt Lake City, Utah  |  Smith's Ballpark

Tuesday, March 12  |  1 p.m. PT/2 p.m. MT
LHP Matthew Henckel vs. RHP Brett Brocoff
Live Video  |  Live Stats 
 

Fast Start, Tough Finish
- Gonzaga got off to a great start in the series at No. 20/22 Texas A&M with a Friday win, but the Aggies took the final two games of the series.
- The win in game one gave GU three straight wins over ranked opponents when combined with the two the previous weekend at then-No. 23 Southern Miss. 
- Casey Legumina earned the win with 5.0 innings of work and Alek Jacob worked a 3.0 inning save to help GU to a 6-4 win. Austin Pinorini was 3-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored.
- In the second game, the Aggies put up 14 runs, but GU came back on Sunday and held them to just three in a 3-1 loss. 
- The bright spot in the finale was Nick Trogrlic-Iverson, who worked 5.0 innings of relief and gave up just one run on three hits.

Zags Take Sweep at Southern Miss
- Gonzaga enters the Texas A&M series fresh off a two-game sweep at then-No. 23 Southern Miss last weekend. 
- In a weather-filled trip, the Friday game was postponed to Saturday, making a doubleheader which the Zags won 4-2 and 10-8 (10). Sunday's game began and played into the fourth with USM leading 7-1, but weather caused a delay, which turned into a cancellation. The game officially went down as a no contest due to five innings not being completed.

Offense Coming
- Gonzaga has at least seven hits in each of its last seven games, including at least 11 in four of those games. 
- Mason Marenco has been a boost to the Gonzaga offense over the last five games. In his first five career games, he has nine hits and is batting .474 with a double, an RBI and three runs scored. 
- Ernie Yake has been the most clutch hitter for GU, going 6-for-13 (.462) with runners in scoring position, and Josh Bristyan isn't far behind at 5-for-12 (.417).
- Troy Johnston has also produced in big situations, tying Sullivan for the team lead with 11 RBI on the year. 

Sullivan Continues to Mash
- Newcomer Ryan Sullivan has a team-high six home runs on the year, including a solo shot in his last game out at Texas A&M. He had three in the four-game series at CSUN.
- He leads the team with a .340 batting average, .755 slugging percentage and on-base percentage of .426. He also has a team-leading 18 hits, 16 runs and 11 RBI.  
- He hit .389 with a 1.000 slugging percentage at CSUN in four games, totaling three homers, six RBI and nine runs scored in that series alone.

Rising 'Pen
- Along with Trogrlic-Iverson's breakout day with 5.0 innings of one-run work against Texas A&M and Jacob's emergence as the closer, Mason Wells put up solid numbers. The freshman out of Spokane has made four appearances and allowed hitters to bat just .125 against him. Walks have hurt his numbers a bit, but he worked 1.0 inning of perfect relief with two strikeouts against Texas A&M on Sunday.  
- Michael Spellacy also had a solid outing in his time on the mound at Texas A&M. In the second game, Spellacy worked 3.2 shutout innings in the middle of the game and has allowed just one run over his last 6.2 innings out of the bullpen. 

Newcomers Stepping Up
- Along with Sullivan's big weekend at CSUN, Gonzaga newcomers Guthrie Morrison also stepped up. Sullivan joined the Zags from Iowa Western CC, while Morrison came from Edmonds [Wash.] CC.
- At CSUN, Morrison hit .375 with six hits in four games, knocking in three and scoring three times.
- He then went 6-for-9 against Southern Miss with two doubles, a triple and three runs scored. 

New Closer
- Last weekend, Gonzaga head coach Mark Machtolf tabbed Alek Jacob with the closing duties, and Jacob responded by earning the save in both games of a doubleheader. 
- Jacob then picked up his third save of the season in the series opener at Texas A&M, working 3.0 innings.
- He totaled 2.2 innings over the course of the two games at Southern Miss, allowed zero runs, just three hits and struck out four. 

Lights Out Legumina
- Casey Legumina, who returned to GU after being drafted in the 35th round of the MLB Draft last summer, is torching hitters with 29 strikeouts in 24.0 innings pitched with just eight walks across four starts.
- His last two times out, he's defeated a Top-25 team in then-No. 23 Southern Miss and then-No. 20 Texas A&M 
- He's allowed hitters to bat just .159 against him and has a 0.92 WHIP and 1.50 ERA on the season so far. 

2019 Is Underway
- The Zags had a tough weekend at CSUN, going 1-3 for the second straight week. GU took the opening game in a two-day marathon that featured a stoppage due to darkness, a restart the next morning, and 13 total innings. 
- Gonzaga went 1-3 at the Collegiate Baseball Classic in Surprise, Arizona, to open the season. The Zags fell to Minnesota on Friday, No. 5/8 Oregon State on Saturday and New Mexico on Sunday, but defeated Minnesota on Monday. 
- LHP Justin Blatner went 6.0 innings with 11 strikeouts in a career-best performance, allowing just two unearned runs on one hit with one walk.
- Newcomer Ryan Sullivan was 5-for-14 (.357) on the week, scoring five times and hitting one home run. INF Ernie Yake also had five hits and knocked in four runs in four games.

Bright Spots in Surprise
- Along with Ryan Sullivan's five-hit opening week, newcomer Brett Harris started the final two games and reached four times with two hits, a walk and a HBP. He also drove in two runs and scored twice.
- Troy Johnston returned after missing most of last season with a hand injury to collect four hits with a team-high three doubles. He also had three RBI and reached twice via walk to collect a .353 on-base percentage.
- In the bullpen, Emory transfer Billy Dimlow threw 2.0 innings of shutout relief, allowing just one hit and striking out three.
- Left-handed Trent Schulte also returned after a late-season hand injury last year to throw 1.2 innings of shutout relief, allowing just one hit and striking out two. 

Season Opening Notes
- The Zags return 20 players from 2018 (35 on roster).
- GU was selected as the preseason West Coast Conference favorite by the league's 10 head coaches. GU earned five first-place votes. 
-  RHP Casey Legumina and 3B Ernie Yake were named to the Preseason All-WCC Squad. 
- Head coach Mark Machtolf is entering his 16th season at the helm of the program, and his 29th season on the Gonzaga coaching staff overall. He has a career record of 450-363-2.

Closer to Starter
- Friday starter Casey Legumina enters the season as a Preseason All-America Second Team selection by Collegiate Baseball. 
- Legumina closed games for the Zags in 2018 to the tune of a school-record 13 saves.
- The Chandler, Arizona, native appeared in 26 games overall in 2018, finishing with a 3-3 record in 48.2 innings pitched. He had 52 strikeouts with only seven walks and recorded a 2.77 earned-run average on the year, while being named to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year watch list.
- Legumina was drafted in the 35th round by the Cleveland Indians in the 2018 MLB Draft. 

2018 Recap
- GU went 33-24 last season and won the West Coast Conference Tournament title to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Regionals. GU outscored its opponents 34-5 in three games at the league tournament.
- At the Minneapolis Regional, GU went 1-2 with a pair of losses to UCLA and a win over Canisius as the No. 3 seed.
- The NCAA bid marked GU's second in the last three seasons after earning an at-large bid in the 2016 season.
- It also marked the third straight year with a WCC title. GU won a share of the regular season title in both the 2016 and 2017 seasons.  

Returning Pitching
- Along with Legumina making the leap from closer to starter, the Zags return two of the league's best from 2018 in Alek Jacob and Mac Lardner.
- Jacob, a sophomore right-hander, went 7-5 with a 2.88 ERA and .199 batting average against in his freshman season.
- Lardner, a junior left-hander, was 7-4 with a 2.95 ERA. 

Offensive Production Returning
- Sophomore 3B Ernie Yake was the Zags' top threat on offense as a freshman in 2018. He hit a team-leading .322 with 76 hits, including 15 doubles, both team-highs. Yake struck out only 20 times in 236 at-bats. 
- Senior C Austin Pinorini will also provide some offensive punch after turning in on down the stretch last season. He earned both WCC All-Tournament and NCAA All-Region honors, going 7-for-13 with a homer at the WCC Tournament and 4-for-10 at the NCAA Regionals. 

New Faces
- SS Josh Bristyan comes to Gonzaga after a stellar career at Paradise Valley [Ariz.] Community College. He was named NJCAA Division II First Team All-American in addition to being named to the 2018 ABCA/Rawlings NJCAA Div. II Gold Glove Team, making him a two-time recipient of the award.
- RHP Nick Trogrlic-Iverson chose the Zags over pro ball after being drafted in the 15th round by the Milwaukee Brewers. The Oakville, Ontario native spent two seasons at Central Arizona College, going 8-3 on the season with six complete games. In 76.2 innings pitched, he posted a 2.35 ERA with 91 strikeouts and 20 earned runs.

Follow the Zags
- Follow all the action for Gonzaga women's tennis on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram with @zagsbaseball or on GoZags.com.