Tuesday, March 26
Spokane, Wash.
6 p.m.
Gonzaga University
vs
Washington
Photo by: Zachary Lucy
Baseball Home Opener vs. UW Tuesday
3/25/2019 4:44:00 PM | Baseball
Gonzaga comes home after 20 straight outside of Spokane
Gonzaga (9-11) vs. Washington (14-5)
March 26 | Patterson Baseball Complex and Coach Steve Hertz Field | Spokane, Wash.
RHP Daniel Naughton vs. LHP Jack DeCooman
Live Video | Live Stats
Gonzaga vs. UW Series Changed to One Game Tuesday
- Gonzaga and UW moved the originally scheduled two-game series to just one game Tuesday night at 6 p.m., removing the Wednesday game from the teams' schedules.
Series Salvaged
- Gonzaga found itself down two games in the three-game set at Pepperdine and down 2-1, three outs away from being swept on Sunday. But, the Zags scored two runs and slammed the door to beat Pepperdine 3-2.
- Alek Jacob was named the WCC Pitcher of the Week for his work in the Sunday victory. He entered the game in relief with no outs in the second inning, and proceeded to pitch the next 8.0 innings scoreless, allowing just two hits and striking out six while walking just two batters in the win. In the outing, held opposing hitters to just a .091 batting average. Gonzaga won the game with a two-out, two-run single in the ninth inning by Troy Johnston.
- For the series, Johnston hit .385 (5-for-13) with a team-high three RBI and one double.
Zags Go 2-1 to Open WCC
- Gonzaga started the West Coast Conference season with a pair of wins in a three-game set at BYU. In series originally scheduled for Spokane, but moved due to late winter weather, Gonzaga still found a way to win the bookends by similar scores of 4-2.
- Gonzaga closer Alek Jacob had an outstanding week out of the bullpen, pitching in all three of Gonzaga's wins as the Zags went 3-1 on the road. He collected two saves and one win, pitching 8.0 total innings, allowing zero earned runs (1 unearned) and just three hits, while striking out 10.
- Ernie Yake hit .474 (9-for-19) with six extra-base hits (5 2B, 1 3B) to help Gonzaga go 3-1 in four road games. On Thursday in the WCC opener at BYU, Yake tied the score in the fifth with an RBI, then knocked home a pair of runs with a double in the 11th inning to break a two-all tie and propel GU to the win.
- Yake led off three of the four games this week with an extra-base hit.
Pac-12 Foes Aplenty
- In the second of 10 games this season against Pac-12 opponents, Gonzaga took a 5-3 win at Utah earlier this season. The Zags got 4.1 innings from lefty starter Matthew Henckel (2 R, 7 H) and 4.2 innings from the bullpen (combined 1 R, 6 H), and Nick Nyquist his a three-run homer with the Zags down 2-1 in the sixth to put them ahead for good.
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, A&M 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 one-run relief.
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.
Offense Coming
- Gonzaga has at least seven hits in 13 of its last 14 games, including at least 11 in four of those games.
- Troy Johnston has been the most clutch hitter for GU, going 9-for-21 (.429) with runners in scoring position, and Ernie Yake is 7-for-20 (.350).
- Ryan Sullivan and Johnston have been tops on the team in driving in runs with 14 RBI each, followed by Nyquist's 12 and Yake's 11.
Streaks
- Troy Johnston is on a five-game hitting streak
- Nick Nyquist has reached base in seven consecutive games, and Guthrie Morrison in each of the last four.
Wells into Starting Role
- Mason Wells has been moved into a starting role as a freshman and has responded nicely, starting two games and compiling a 3.38 earned-run average.
- Wells went 5.1 innings against BYU and gave up just one earned run at BYU, and then threw an 8.0-inning complete game in a two-run loss at Pepperdine, allowing just four runs on four hits.
Spellacy Rising
- 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 relief and has allowed just one run over his last 6.2 innings out of the bullpen.
- Spellacy also went 5.0 innings of relief at Pepperdine on Saturday, allowing just one run on four hits.
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
- At Southern Miss, 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 and fourth save at Utah.
- He totaled 2.2 innings over the two games at Southern Miss, allowed zero runs, 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.
March 26 | Patterson Baseball Complex and Coach Steve Hertz Field | Spokane, Wash.
RHP Daniel Naughton vs. LHP Jack DeCooman
Live Video | Live Stats
Gonzaga vs. UW Series Changed to One Game Tuesday
- Gonzaga and UW moved the originally scheduled two-game series to just one game Tuesday night at 6 p.m., removing the Wednesday game from the teams' schedules.
Series Salvaged
- Gonzaga found itself down two games in the three-game set at Pepperdine and down 2-1, three outs away from being swept on Sunday. But, the Zags scored two runs and slammed the door to beat Pepperdine 3-2.
- Alek Jacob was named the WCC Pitcher of the Week for his work in the Sunday victory. He entered the game in relief with no outs in the second inning, and proceeded to pitch the next 8.0 innings scoreless, allowing just two hits and striking out six while walking just two batters in the win. In the outing, held opposing hitters to just a .091 batting average. Gonzaga won the game with a two-out, two-run single in the ninth inning by Troy Johnston.
- For the series, Johnston hit .385 (5-for-13) with a team-high three RBI and one double.
Zags Go 2-1 to Open WCC
- Gonzaga started the West Coast Conference season with a pair of wins in a three-game set at BYU. In series originally scheduled for Spokane, but moved due to late winter weather, Gonzaga still found a way to win the bookends by similar scores of 4-2.
- Gonzaga closer Alek Jacob had an outstanding week out of the bullpen, pitching in all three of Gonzaga's wins as the Zags went 3-1 on the road. He collected two saves and one win, pitching 8.0 total innings, allowing zero earned runs (1 unearned) and just three hits, while striking out 10.
- Ernie Yake hit .474 (9-for-19) with six extra-base hits (5 2B, 1 3B) to help Gonzaga go 3-1 in four road games. On Thursday in the WCC opener at BYU, Yake tied the score in the fifth with an RBI, then knocked home a pair of runs with a double in the 11th inning to break a two-all tie and propel GU to the win.
- Yake led off three of the four games this week with an extra-base hit.
Pac-12 Foes Aplenty
- In the second of 10 games this season against Pac-12 opponents, Gonzaga took a 5-3 win at Utah earlier this season. The Zags got 4.1 innings from lefty starter Matthew Henckel (2 R, 7 H) and 4.2 innings from the bullpen (combined 1 R, 6 H), and Nick Nyquist his a three-run homer with the Zags down 2-1 in the sixth to put them ahead for good.
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, A&M 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 one-run relief.
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.
Offense Coming
- Gonzaga has at least seven hits in 13 of its last 14 games, including at least 11 in four of those games.
- Troy Johnston has been the most clutch hitter for GU, going 9-for-21 (.429) with runners in scoring position, and Ernie Yake is 7-for-20 (.350).
- Ryan Sullivan and Johnston have been tops on the team in driving in runs with 14 RBI each, followed by Nyquist's 12 and Yake's 11.
Streaks
- Troy Johnston is on a five-game hitting streak
- Nick Nyquist has reached base in seven consecutive games, and Guthrie Morrison in each of the last four.
Wells into Starting Role
- Mason Wells has been moved into a starting role as a freshman and has responded nicely, starting two games and compiling a 3.38 earned-run average.
- Wells went 5.1 innings against BYU and gave up just one earned run at BYU, and then threw an 8.0-inning complete game in a two-run loss at Pepperdine, allowing just four runs on four hits.
Spellacy Rising
- 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 relief and has allowed just one run over his last 6.2 innings out of the bullpen.
- Spellacy also went 5.0 innings of relief at Pepperdine on Saturday, allowing just one run on four hits.
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
- At Southern Miss, 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 and fourth save at Utah.
- He totaled 2.2 innings over the two games at Southern Miss, allowed zero runs, 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.
Players Mentioned
LHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
C
/ Baseball
INF/RHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
INF/C
/ BaseballTuesday, June 30
Monday, June 29
Monday, June 29
Friday, June 26
