SPOKANE, Wash. – The Gonzaga baseball team heads to Malibu, Calif., to take on Pepperdine in a three-game West Coast Conference series, starting April 16 at 3 p.m. Both Saturday and Sunday games are set for a 1 p.m. first pitch.
 
GONZAGA (20-12, 9-3 WCC) at PEPPERDINE (11-11, 4-2 WCC)
MALIBU, CALIF. | EDDY D. FIELD STADIUM
APRIL 16 | 3 P.M. | LIVE STREAM | LIVE STATS
APRIL 17 | 1 P.M. | LIVE STREAM | LIVE STATS
APRIL 18 | 1 P.M. | LIVE STREAM | LIVE STATS
 
PROBABLES
April 16 | 3 p.m. PT 
RHP Alek Jacob (2-1, 4.08 ERA, 39.2 IP, 56K) vs. RHP Trevor Hinkel (3-2, 3.16 ERA, 31.1, 20K)
 
April 17 | 1 p.m. PT 
RHP Gabriel Hughes (3-3, 3.59 ERA, 47.2 IP, 54K) vs. RHP Cooper Chandler (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 4.0 IP, 4K)
 
April 18 | 1 p.m. PT
TBA vs. TBA
 
West Coast Conference Outlook
- Gonzaga is currently on top of the West Coast Conference standings with an 9-3 mark in conference play. Portland and San Francisco follow with an 8-4 WCC record while San Diego sits in fourth with a 6-3 conference record. Loyola Marymount, which ranks ninth, has wins against both Gonzaga and San Diego.
- After opening WCC play on the road for back-to-back series at Santa Clara and Loyola Marymount, Gonzaga heads out for a WCC series on the road at Pepperdine for the first time since March. Pepperdine, which was picked to win the WCC Regular-Season, currently sits in fifth place with a 4-2 overall record.
- Gonzaga leads the WCC in strikeouts (308) and strikeouts per nine innings (10.17). Portland is the next closest with 283 strikeouts.
- The Bulldogs also lead the conference in fielding percentage at .982 with 817 putouts, which ranks second behind Portland (825). The Zags also have the fewest errors in the league with 20 and rank second league in double plays with 23. Pacific leads the league in double playse with 29.
- The Bulldogs rank second in the WCC in batting average at .286; San Diego leads the league with a .312 average while Pepperdine ranks third at .267.
- The Zags rank second in RBI with 192 and lead the league in hits with 317. Brett Harris ranks fifth in the conference in batting average at .352 and third in RBI with 28. Andrew Orzel ranks tied for fifth in the WCC in RBI with 26, while Stephen Lund (22 RBI, T-8), Guthrie Morrison (20 RBI, T-12), Tyler Rando (20 RBI, T-12) and Ernie Yake (20 RBI, T-12) all rank inside the top 15.
- GU also leads the conference in runs with 217; San Diego ranks second with 212 while San Francisco ranks third with 167 total runs.
- Gonzaga ranks second in the conference in double plays with 25 behind Pacific (29)
- Gonzaga was picked to finish the WCC second behind Pepperdine.
 
Nationally Speaking...
- Gonzaga is 33rd in the RPI rankings (as of April 12), the highest RPI for any team in the WCC. San Diego ranks 63rd, while Pepperdine ranks 87th.
- Brett Harris has been hit by pitches 14 times on the year to rank tied for third nationally.
- As a team, GU batters have been hit by pitches 64 times; that number ranks third in the country and leads the West Coast Conference.
- Gonzaga ranks third nationally and leads the WCC in doubles with 71. Last week, GU recorded 13 doubles; Ernie Yake led the charge with three doubles, all of which came in GU's 21-3 rout of Saint Mary's on Saturday.
- The Bulldogs also rank among the top 15 nationally in fielding percentage with a .980 fielding percentage. That number ranks eleventh nationally.
- With five shutouts on the year, Gonzaga ranks first in the WCC and third nationally.
 
Last Time Out
In the last outing at Washington State, Gonzaga dominated the Cougars on the road. The Zags picked up five hits and capitalized on 10 walks from five different pitchers to build a 9-0 lead before the game was called in the top of the sixth inning due to a leg injury to Zags catcher Stephen Lund.
 
Zags at a Glance
- Brett Harris leads the Zags in batting average (.352) and OPS (1.003), while Ernie Yake ranks second with a .333 batting average.
- Tyler Rando leads the fielding effort with a team-high 209 putouts with 14 assists and a .996 fielding percentage. Andrew Orzel ranks second with 123 putouts, 29 assists and a .993 fielding percentage while Gabriel Hughes and Guthrie Morrison each have 79 putouts.
- On the mound, Alek Jacob leads the team and the West Coast Conference in strikeouts with 56 with a 4.08 ERA and 2-1 overall record. Gabriel Hughes ranks second on the team and third in the conference with 54 Ks in 47.2 innings pitched.
- The Zags have had multiple Player of the Week and Pitcher of the Week honors this season. Most recently, the Zags have earned back-to-back WCC Pitcher of the Week awards, with Alek Jacob earning the honor on April 5 and Gabriel Hughes taking it home on April 12. Hughes was also named Pitcher of the Week back on March 23, while William Kempner was named Pitcher of the Week on March 9. Stephen Lund (March 16) is the only Zag to take home Player of the Week honors this season.
 
Upcoming Series Info
Since 2000, Gonzaga leads the all-time series with Pepperdine 37-34 and has won four of the last six meetings. The last time these two programs met was in 2019 at Pepperdine; the Waves took the series 2-1, but Gonzaga stole the final game with a 3-2 win.