WEST COAST CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
May 23-25  |  Los Angeles, Calif.  |  Page Stadium
Live Video |  Live Stats

Opening Round: 
(2) Gonzaga (30-22) vs. (3) Saint Mary's (33-20)

GU Claims WCC 2-seed with LMU Series Win
- Gonzaga took the bookends of a regular-season-ending series at LMU last weekend, holding to Lions to a combined one run in those two wins. 
- Nick Nyquist hit a solo home run and Nick Trogrlic-Iverson (7.0 IP) and Alek Jacob (IP) combined on a shutout. 
- In the finale, GU scored two in the seventh, and got a great effort from a quartet of pitchers, including Jacob's second save of the series.

30 Wins Again
- Gonzaga hit the 30-win barrier for the fourth straight season and seventh time in the last nine years. 
- During head coach Mark Machtolf's now 16 years at the helm, GU has won at least 30 games 10 times. 

WCC Tournament History
- Gonzaga is making its sixth trip to the WCC Tournament in the seven-year history of the four-team format. That's the most of any team in the WCC. 
- The Zags have won the WCC Tournament one time (2018), and will be looking for their third NCAA bid in the last four seasons.

Zags Roll Lamar in Non-Conference Series
- Gonzaga got on the bats to the tune of 41 runs in three games against visiting Lamar during its non-conference series and home finale last weekend.
- Josh Bristyan homered twice, including a Sunday grand slam, in just five total at-bats in the series, Ernie Yake had eight hits and six RBI, and Troy Johnston reached base nine times with five hits. 
- Yake hit a solo home run in the 8th inning of Game 1 to break a 6-6 tie. 
- Mac Lardner (7.0 innings) and Matthew Henckel (2.0 innings) combined on the Game 2 shutout.
- GU had two five-run innings in game three and eight of 22 hits were for extra bases. Jack Krauel added four RBI alongside Bristyan's grand slam.

Zags on the All-WCC Lists
- Gonzaga's RF Troy Johnston and RHP Alek Jacob were named to the All-WCC First Team and led a group of eight players recognized by the league.
- SS Ernie Yake and 1B Nick Nyquist were named to the Second Team.
- LHP Mac Lardner, 3B Brett Harris and CF Guthrie Morrison were named Honorable Mention.
- Mason Wells was named to the All-Freshman Team. 

Jacob Does It All
- Sophomore righthander Alek Jacob was one of the best pitchers in the league during WCC play. He factored in the decision in 12 of GU's 18 league wins, posting a 5-1 record and seven saves.
- Starting out the year as a starter, but converting to the closer due to need, he has racked up 11 saves, leads the team with seven wins, and has 79 strikeouts in 73.2 innings pitched.
- Jacob was one of 45 players nationally named to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Watch List.
- Jacob is holding opposing hitters to a .202 batting average and has a 2.20 ERA on the year.
- In April, Jacob had his best month, compiling a 0.83 ERA with three saves and a 3-0 record across seven appearances with one start. He struck out 24 in 21.2 innings and held hitters to a .162 batting average for the month. 

Iverson Finding the Right Stuff
- After a tough start to the season out of the bullpen, Nick Trogrlic-Iverson has been solid down the stretch of the season, starting four times and coming out of the pen eight times in his last 11 outings. 
- In WCC play, he went 2-1 with a save in 11 appearances (2 starts), compiling a 2.01 ERA and 15 strikeouts in 22.1 innings of work.
- Most recently, he went 7.0 shutout innings at Loyola Marymount, getting the victory in a 1-0 GU win. 
- Prior to that, he had a perfect game through the fifth inning against Lamar, with seven strikeouts, before the Cardinals got to him in the sixth. 

.300
- Gonzaga has five everyday players hitting over the magical .300 mark on the year.
- Troy Johnston leads the way at .327 with a team-high 26 doubles -- one shy of the school record. 
- Nick Nyquist is next at .317 and has a team-high 51 RBI and 24 walks.
- Guthrie Morrison is at .315 in his first year in a Zag uniform with a team-best 44 runs scored.
- Ernie Yake is at .305 and has struck out just 13 times in 213 at-bats, the third-best strikeout rate nationally. 
- Brett Harris is hitting .302 after a 3-for-5 game in the series final at LMU. Harris hit .353 against the WCC. 
- Daniel Fredrickson (.293) and Mason Marenco (.288) are all one great game away from crossing the .300 mark as well. 

Team Notes
- Gonzaga has played in five extra-inning games this season and is 4-1 overall. 
- GU is 13-6 at home and 16-13 in true road games.
- Gonzaga has 116 doubles to just 61 for opponents, but has 39 total homers compared to 61 for opponents.
- GU is 12th nationally in doubles per game at 2.23 with Troy Johnston's 0.50 doubles per game, 3rd in the nation.
- Gonzaga is also good at taking pitches, getting HBPs 72 times on the year, in the top 50 nationally. 
- GU has also struck out 80 less times than its opponents in total on the year.

Team Notes
- On the year, Gonzaga is hitting .303 as a team with runners in scoring position. 
- Nick Nyquist has been on fire when it comes to driving in runs, going 28-62 (.452) with runners in scoring position. Josh Bristyan is 11-for-28 (.393) and Troy Johnston is 23-for-59 (.390) with RISP. 
- Nyquist leads the way with 51 RBI on the season, while nine others have at least 16, including Johnston's 44, Pinorini's 34 and Yake's 29.

Offense Rolling
- Gonzaga has scored 10 or more runs 15 times this season, including a season-high 22 against Lamar two weeks ago.
- In 17 April games, GU hit .318 as a team, compared to hitting just .259 in the month of March.

Streaks
- Troy Johnston and Austin Pinorini each had team-best 21-game on base streaks broken last weekend.
- Ernie Yake has reached base in each of his last eight games and has a hit in each of his last three. 

Spellacy Rising
- Michael Spellacy is coming off one of his best outings as a Zag with 3.1 shutout innings in last Sunday's win at LMU. 
- Spellacy came on against No. 3 Oregon State and gave the Zags 2.1 scoreless innings with three Ks.
- Earlier this year, Spellacy earned his first-career save with a perfect ninth inning against Washington in a 5-4 win.
- Earlier in the league season, he took on a starting role at Portland and gave the Zags 6.0 innings of one-run ball, allowing just three hits and striking out four with no walks.
- He pitched 2.0 innings of scoreless relief against Pacific, allowing just one base runner. 
- Spellacy also went 5.0 innings of relief at Pepperdine on Saturday of that series, allowing just one run on four hits. 
- Spellacy had a solid outing in his time on the mound at Texas A&M. In the second game of the series, he worked 3.2 shutout innings in relief.    

Johnston, Nyquist, Morrison Tore Up April
- Gonzaga hit .318 as a team in 17 April games, bolstered by the  combined batting average of .402 from the trio of Troy Johnston, Nick Nyquist and Guthrie Morrison. 
- Johnston is tied for first in the NCAA in doubles with 22, 13 of which came in the month of April.
- Johnston has raised his batting average 55 points since April 1st (.286 to .341) by hitting .417 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 56 points (.281 to .337) by hitting .402 in April.
- Morrison has a team-best 33 hits in the month with eight doubles, eight RBI and 19 runs scored.