Gonzaga (2-6) at South Alabama (5-5)
Feb. 28-March 1 |  Mobile, Ala.  |  Stanky Field
Live Stats  |  Live Video: Friday  |  Saturday (No Live Feed)  |  Sunday

Probable Starting Pitchers
Fri., Feb. 28 | 4:30 p.m. PT/6:30 p.m. CT
USA - RHP Drake Nightengale (0-0, 3.27 ERA)
GU - LHP Mac Lardner (0-1, 3.27 ERA)

Sat., Feb. 29 | 12 p.m. PT/1 p.m. CT
USA - RHP Miles Smith (0-1, 9.00 ERA)
GU - RHP Alek Jacob (0-1, 5.59 ERA)

Sun., March 1 | 9 a.m. PT/11 a.m. CT
USA - RHP JoJo Booker (1-1, 5.62 ERA)
GU - RHP Nick Trogrlic-Iverson (0-2, 7.36 ERA)

All-time vs. the Jaguars
- Gonzaga is 0-1 all-time against South Alabama with the lone game coming in a 9-7 Jaguars win in 2005 at the Surprise Coca-Cola Tournament in Surprise, Ariz.

Last Time Out
- Gonzaga dropped all four games at red-hot then-No. 7 Arkansas in a series in Fayetteville, Ark.
- The Zags kept it close in game one in a 7-5 loss, but the Razorbacks pitching staff kept GU's bats at bay throughout the series.
- Stephen Lund hit .385 for the series and Brett Harris hit .313, each with five hits.
- Harris, Tyler Rando and Gabriel Hughes each drove in three runs, while Ernie Yake scored a team-high four times in the series.

Surprise Opening Weekend
- The Zags went 2-2 in an up-and-down opening weekend that featured a lot of new faces.
- Ten total players, including seven pitchers made their Gonzaga debuts over the four games in Surprise.
- GU defeated No. 25 Oregon State once (in two meetings) and took their single game against New Mexico, while dropping the opener to BYU.
- The end to GU's win over New Mexico came in wild walk-off fashion: after losing a 2-0 lead in the top of the ninth to face a 4-2 deficit, GU loaded the bases in the bottom half, scored one with a sacrifice fly and then scored two after a chopper to shortstop was thrown wide of first base. Ernie Yake was hustling all the way from second to score on the play in which the ball never left the infield.
- Jack Machtolf reached base eight times in 15 plate appearances with four hits and four walks on the week.
- Newcomers Tyler Rando and Gabriel Hughes, along with Ryan Sullivan, each collected five hits in four games to lead the offense. 
- Sullivan knocked in five runs, including a three-run homer to seal the game against No. 25 Oregon State.
- Sullivan hit for the cycle over the course of the weekend, collecting a double and a triple, and he also stole a team-high two bases on the weekend.
- Sullivan and Hughes each had a four-hit game in the win over Oregon State on Saturday.
- Ryan Sullivan made his first start as a Zag in the outfield - after playing only first base last season - and showed his range with a highlight reel diving catch.
- Redshirt freshman Stephen Lund started behind the plate in three of the four games and came in the late stages of the fourth to put the ball in play that eventually scored the two runs for the walk-off win.
- Josh Bristyan started in centerfield - after playing only middle infield last season - due to injury to last season's everyday centerfielder Guthrie Morrison.
- Freshman Gabriel Hughes played first base in the first three games and then started on the mound in the fourth game. He also batted in the middle of the lineup in the game he pitched. 
- As a team, Gonzaga made just two errors in four games for a .987 fielding percentage. 
- The Gonzaga staff had 39 strikeouts, but walked 21, in 35.0 innings, holding hitters to a .262 batting average.
- Gonzaga's upperclassman trio of seniors Mac Lardner and Nick Trogrlic-Iverson and junior Alek Jacob is line to serve as the weekend rotation. 
- Lardner turned in a fantastic outing against BYU on Friday, going 6.0 innings with 0 ER, 1 H, 9 K and 2 BB. 
- Freshman Gabriel Hughes started his first career game and went 6.0 scoreless innings, allowing just two hits with six strikeouts and three walks. 
- With Hughes start against New Mexico, GU was one strike away from an all-freshman shutout with Reagan Haas and William Kempner out of the bullpen. New Mexico got to Kempner for four runs with two outs in the ninth before GU came back to win.
- Out of the pen, freshman Reagan Haas and Jacob Rutherford each turned in scoreless appearances, facing two batters each. Alec Gomez also was solid, going 4.0 innings in relief and allowing just one run on three hits with four strikeouts.

Season Opening Surprise
- Gonzaga opened in Surprise, Arizona, for the fourth straight season. 
- This was the 19th consecutive season the Zags have started the year in a warm-weather climate (since 2002)...they've now played 11 season openers in Arizona since 2003, including six of the last seven (2014: Tucson, 2016: Phoenix, 2017-18-19: Surprise).
- Head coach Mark Machtolf is entering his 17th season at the helm of the program, and his 30th season on the Gonzaga coaching staff overall. He has a career record of 483-389-2 after the first weekend of play.

GU Picked to Win WCC
- Gonzaga baseball was once again tabbed the favorite to win the West Coast Conference, while three Zags were named Preseason All-WCC in the league's preseason poll, voted on by the 10 head coaches.
- Junior righthander Alek Jacob – a 2019 Preseason All-American – headlines three Bulldogs on the 2020 WCC preseason squad. Junior infielder Brett Harris and senior infielder Ernie Yake earned spots and all three earned 2019 All-WCC honors.
- Gonzaga earned 71 points in the poll with two first-place votes, just three points ahead of BYU, who earned five first-place votes and 68 total points.
- LMU was third with three first-place votes and 65 total points. Pepperdine and San Diego finished tied for fourth with 52 points.

Jacob Named Preseason All-American
- Junior right-hander Alek Jacob was named a Preseason All-American by three different outlets, including a First Team not by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.
- He was named Second Team by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and Third Team by Perfect Game. 
- A two-time All-WCC honoree pitched in 25 games with four starts in 2019. He compiled a 7-3 record in 78.2 innings with a 2.17 ERA.
- Jacob had 12 saves and 87 strikeouts, leading the team in both categories.
- Jacob follows last season's Preseason All-America nod earned by Casey Legumina. Prior to Legumina, Jeff Bohling was the last Zag to earn Collegiate Baseball Preseason All-America honors in 2016. Marco Gonzales was also a preseason All-American ahead of the 2013 season.

Returning for 2020
- RHP Alek Jacob was named to the All-WCC First Team and led a group of six returning players recognized by the league last season.
- SS Ernie Yake was named to the Second Team and LHP Mac Lardner, 3B Brett Harris and CF Guthrie Morrison were named Honorable Mention.
- Mason Wells was named to the All-Freshman Team. 
- Jacob, Yake and Harris were all named to the 2020 All-WCC Preseason squad. 
- Jacob ranked 23rd nationally with his 12 saves, but will move into a full-time starting role in 2020.
- Yake was the third toughest-to-strikeout nationally last season, going down on strikes only once every 17.3 at-bats. 
- Lardner led the squad and was 62nd nationally in strikeout-to-walk ratio at 4.60. 

Strong 2020 Schedule
- Gonzaga head coach Mark Machtolf has put together another strong schedule with 15 games against NCAA Tournament teams from last season.
- The non-conference schedule is highlighted by a four-game series on the road against 2019 College World Series participant Arkansas and four total games against last year's regional host and No. 1 seed Oregon State.
- Three-game sets against Loyola Marymount and Cal, as well as a single mid-week game late in the season at Stanford round out the matchups against some 2019's most successful squads.
- Machtolf on the schedule: "Our goal every year is to play as competitive of a schedule as we can that will put us in the best position to win the WCC, advance to the NCAA tournament and ultimately make it to Omaha. We feel this non-conference schedule accomplishes that goal on paper, our players will have the opportunity to play in some big-time venues and atmospheres throughout the season. We also look forward to giving our great fans in Spokane 24 opportunities to see us play at Patterson Baseball Complex."
 
30 Wins Again in 2019
- Gonzaga hit the 30-win barrier for the fourth straight season and seventh time in the last nine years in 2019, combined for a 31-24 overall record. 
- During head coach Mark Machtolf's now 16 years at the helm, GU has won at least 30 games 10 times. 

2019 Recap
- Gonzaga is made its sixth trip to the WCC Tournament in the seven-year history of the four-team format, falling to Saint Mary's a game shy of the championship. 
- GU finished in second in the West Coast Conference with an 18-9 league record.
- Gonzaga finished ninth nationally in doubles per game at 2.22, led by draftee Troy Johnston's 27 on the year. Returners Guthrie Morrison (13), Ernie Yake (12) and Brett Harris (12) had the next three highest totals. 
- Gone from the 2019 squad are three MLB draftees, including eighth-round selection Casey Legumina, 17th-round pick Troy Johnston and 22nd-rounder Austin Pinorini.