Gonzaga (23-17) at No. 2 Oregon State (31-10-1)
April 30, 2019 | 5:35 p.m. PT | Corvallis, Ore. | Goss Stadium at Coleman Field
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Zags Dominate San Francisco
- Gonzaga put together three 12-plus run games in a weekend sweep of San Francisco, who entered the series tied with GU for second in the league standings.
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Troy Johnston had four home runs and 10 RBI in the series to lead a powerful Gonzaga offense that racked up 51 hits in three games.
Guthrie Morrison ahd nine hits in the game.
- On Friday, GU had 15 runs and 19 hits, including Johnston's two homers, and then on Saturday GU hit four two-run homers with two from Johnston and one each from
Mason Marenco and
Nick Nyquist.
- Sunday, Marenco hit a grand slam and Nyquist had three hits, three RBI and two runs scored to power the Zags.
Pac-12 Foes Aplenty
- Gonzaga is now 3-4 against the Pac-12 this season after falling 11-10 against No. 3 Stanford last Monday and defeating Washington State 8-5 last Tuesday.
- Against WSU, the Zags got a two-run homer from
Troy Johnston and 2.2 hitless innings from
Trent Schulte to close out the game.
- Earlier this season, Gonzaga won 5-3 on the road at Utah. In that game, 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 hit a three-run homer with the Zags down 2-1 in the sixth to put them ahead for good.
- In March, Gonzaga took down last year's College World Series participant Washington in a single-game midweek contest, 5-4. The Zags got out to leads of 3-0 and 4-3, before breaking a four-all tie in the bottom of the eighth.
Ernie Yake knocked home
Brett Harris with a hard-hit ball to the first baseman's left for the deciding run.
Michael Spellacy came out in the ninth and went 1-2-3 for his first career save.
Johnston, Nyquist, Morrison on a Tear in April
- The bulk of the GU offense has come from
Troy Johnston and
Nick Nyquist over the past month - 16 games in April heading into USF series.
- Johnston is tied for first in the NCAA in doubles with 22, 13 of which have come in the month of April.
- Johnston has raised his batting average 57 points since April 1st (.286 to .343) by hitting .426 in April.
- Nyquist raised his batting average 74 points (.237 to .311) by hitting .383 in the month.
- Nyquist has slugged .783 and reached base at a .479 clip for an April OPS of 1.262.
- Nyquist has hit six homers, four doubles, a triple, scored 19 runs and knocked in 26 RBI -- courtesy of two five-RBI games -- in April.
- Morrison raised his batting average 60 points (.281 to .341) by hitting .416 in April.
- Morrison has a team-best 32 hits in the month with eight doubles, eight RBI and 18 runs scored.
Freshman Wells into Starting Role
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Mason Wells was moved into the Friday starting role as a freshman and has responded nicely.
- Wells has started seven games and compiled a 4.10 earned-run average, while holding hitters to a .197 batting average.
- He has two 8.0-inning complete games in his seven starts, the only two complete games on the GU staff.
- Wells has gone less than 5.0 innings just once in the span -- a 4.2-inning outing against Pacific that GU won.
- Wells went 7.0 innings at Portland last weekend, allowing just two runs on four hits with four strikeouts, to earn his first collegiate win.
Jacob on NCBWA Stopper of the Year Watch List
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Alek Jacob was one of 45 players nationally named to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Watch List.
- Starting out the year as a starter, but converting to the closer due to need, he has racked up eight saves, leads the team with six wins, and has 64 strikeouts in 60.1 innings pitched.
- Jacob is holding opposing hitters to a .185 batting average and has a 1.79 ERA on the year.
Zags Take Two of Three at Santa Clara
- Gonzaga dropped the opener 4-0 at Santa Clara, but bounced back to take the next two games and win the road series.
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Nick Nyquist had a huge second game, going 3-for-5 with a double, triple, home run and five RBI.
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Alek Jacob went 5.0 innings to get the win in that second game.
- On Sunday,
Mac Lardner got the victory, going 8.1 innings, while
Nick Trogrlic-Iverson got his first-career save.
Johnston Named WCC Player of the Week (4/14 and 4/28)
- Junior outfielder
Troy Johnston collected his second player of the week award in the last three weeks.
- This past week, he hit five homers, drove in 12 runs and scored nine times as Gonzaga went 4-0 with a win over WSU and a sweep of San Francisco.
- Two weeks ago, he hit .643 (9-for-14) in three games, collecting at least two hits in each game. He had four doubles, scored four times and knocked in two runs.
Harris Breaks Out
- JuCo transfer 3B
Brett Harris had eight hits (.444) across four games two weeks ago and then added a three-run homer -- his first as a Zag -- against Pacific on that Friday.
- Harris' biggest game came in the series finale against San Diego with two doubles, four RBI and two walks. He got the Gonzaga rally started in the ninth inning with the team down by three when he ripped a two-run double to left, and GU went on to win in walk-off fashion.
- He also had a 3-for-4 day in GU's midweek win over Washington with a double, RBI and run scored.
Team Notes
- Gonzaga has played in five extra-inning games this season and is 4-1 overall.
- Gonzaga has won six of its last seven games.
- GU is 9-3 at home and 13-11 in true road games.
- Gonzaga has 92 doubles to just 49 for opponents, but has 29 total homers compared to 45 for opponents.
- GU is 11th nationally in doubles per game at 2.30 with
Troy Johnston's nation-leading 0.55 doubles per game.
- Gonzaga is also good at taking pitches, getting HBPs 55 times on the year.
- GU has also struck out 62 less times than their opponents in total on the year.
Offense Rolling
- Gonzaga has at least 10 hits in 14 of the last 18 games and scored six runs or more in nine of the last 11 games.
- In 14 April games, GU is hitting .321 as a team, compared to hitting just .259 in the month of March.
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Nick Nyquist has been on fire when it comes to driving in runs, going 22-for-48 (.458) with runners in scoring position.
Josh Bristyan is 9-for-21 (.429) and
Troy Johnston is 18-for-47 (.383) with RISP.
- Nyquist leads the way with 40 RBI on the season, while nine others have at least 12, including Johnston's 34, Pinorini's 27 and Yake's 21.
Streaks
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Troy Johnston and
Austin Pinorini each have current 12-game hitting streaks, while
Guthrie Morrison and
Ernie Yake have each hit safely in seven straight.
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Ernie Yake has reached base in each of the last 12 games, and
Brett Harris has been aboard in seven straight.