COLUMBIA, Mo. — Coming off its first-ever sweep of a Top-10 team after taking all three games from No. 6 Oklahoma State in Stillwater, Okla. and another non conference win over Missouri on Wednesday, Gonzaga baseball is set for three more games this weekend against Long Beach State (5-6) in Long Beach, Calif. The Bulldogs (9-2) are looking to continue an eight-game win streak that has catapulted them into the national discussion.

GU's 7-0 record on the road is tied for the longest road win streak in the nation, and their 10-2 start is the best 12-game start to a season since 2002. 
 
Due to expected weather conditions, the Zags' initially-scheduled four-game tilt with the Tigers was shortened to one game on Wednesday, with GU instead facing the Dirtbags for a three-game series March 11-13.  LBSU (4-6) began the season with a series win over then-No. 3 Mississippi State and have won three straight to claim a series win against North Dakota State at home and a midweek matchup over Pepperdine. GU will be the third Top-25 opponent they have faced this year after they fell to then-No. 20 UCLA in a one-game road matchup on March 1.

Streaming will be available for Saturday and Sunday's games, with live stats available via GoZags.com for all three matchups.
 
PROBABLE STARTERS
 
March 11 |  6 p.m.  |  Gonzaga vs. Long Beach State
RHP Gabriel Hughes (2-0, 19 IP, 30 K, 2.84) vs. RHP Luis Ramirez (1-0, 18 IP, 18 K, 0.5 ERA).
 
March 12  |  3 p.m.  |  Gonzaga vs. Long Beach State
RHP William Kempner (0-1, 16 IP, 12 K, 1.69 ERA) vs.  RHP Jack Noble (2-0, 15.1 IP, 16 K, 1.17 ERA)
 
March 13  |  1 p.m. |  Gonzaga vs. Long Beach State
RHP Trystan Vrieling (1-1, 17 IP, 29 K, 4.76 ERA) vs. RHP Juaron Watts-Brown (0-1, 12.1 IP, 19 K, 5.84 ERA)
 
LAST TIME OUT
Wednesday's win saw the Zags fall behind 5-1 at one point before an explosive seven-run eighth turned the game on its head and lifted GU to its eighth-straight win. GU's relievers combined to pitch six consecutive scoreless frames after Mizzou's lineup put up ten hits in the first to keep the Tigers from mounting a late comeback. 
In that massive eighth frame, GU got nine runners on base and capitalized with RBIs from Shea Kramer, Connor Coballes, Savier Pinales and Enzo Apodaca. The Zags batted .500 with runners on base and in scoring position, finishing with 12 hits in total. Apodaca (2 RBI, 1 run) and Connor Coballes (2 RBI, 2 runs) led the Bulldogs with three hits apiece, with Kramer (2 RBI, 1 run) adding two more. Eight different Zags scored runs, with six picking up at least a knock.
"Really proud of that effort today," said GU Head Coach Mark Machtolf. "Not the prettiest game but did a great job of staying with it and clawing back in the lead. Really nice to see Kramer and Apodaca have some big hits, especially Kramer who had some back luck earlier in the game."

DEFENSE RULES IN STILLWATER
The Zags held Oklahoma State to just five runs on the weekend in the sweep, thanks largely to dominant outings from GU's three starting pitchers. Gabriel Hughes earned WCC Pitcher of the Week honors after an 11-strikeout, seven inning start on Friday's series opener that held the Cowboys to three earned runs on three hits. RHP William Kempner touched 100mph in his Saturday start while holding OSU to one unearned run on four hits, striking out five. On Monday, RHP Trystan Vrieling notched the most strikeouts in a single game by a pitcher this season with a career-high 13 K's in five innings on Sunday, holding OSU to one unearned run on two hits.
GU's relievers didn't allow a single run across over the weekend, with RHP Michael Spellacy earning his second save of the season on Friday with two scoreless frames, RHP Brody Jessee striking out seven in 3.2 innings to clinch the series and earn the win, and RHP Owen Wild striking out six in 3.2 frames to secure the sweep in the finale.
Gonzaga scored first on in all three games of the series, with an opportunistic offense led by Stephen Lund (Team-high five hits, two runs, two RBI), Tyler Rando (Three hits, two RBI) and Cade McGee (Two hits, two runs, three RBI). 
 
GU ENTERS THE TOP 25
Gonzaga baseball cracked the Top 25 in rankings released by D1Baseball.com, Collegiate Baseball and Baseball America for the first time this season Monday, the culmination of a series-clinching upset against then-No. 4 Oklahoma State that lifted the Bulldogs to their sixth straight win and into the national discussion. GU went on to complete the three-game sweep later that day.
The Zags clocked in at No. 25 in D1Baseball.com's poll and No. 19 in Baseball America's ranking. GU's No. 15 ranking in Collegiate Baseball's poll is the Bulldogs' highest since GU earned a No. 9 ranking from Collegiate Baseball back in 1980. D1Baseball.com's ranking is the official Top 25 of the NCAA —In the computer-generated RPI rankings used by the NCAA, GU sits at No. 10 in the country.
This is the second straight season GU has been ranked amongst the top 25 teams nationally by all three publications. In 2021, the Zags jumped to No. 14 in the D1Baseball Top 25, to No. 19 in Collegiate Baseball's rankings and broke into the top 25 in Baseball America, coming in at No. 25. 
Gonzaga earned its first-ever national ranking during the 1971 season, earning the No. 15 spot in Collegiate Baseball's poll. GU's highest-ever national ranking came in the 1980 season when the Bulldogs were ranked ninth by Collegiate Baseball. Since 2010, Gonzaga has been ranked 19 times, reaching as high as 19th in both Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball national rankings. Last season, GU picked up five wins over ranked opponents (Dallas Baptist, TCU and Oregon State), and held an RPI ranking as high as No. 27
 
HUGHES NAMED WCC PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Gonzaga baseball RHP Gabriel Hughes was named the UCU West Coast Conference Pitcher of the Week for the first time this season and third of his career, the league announced Monday.
Hughes struck out 11 — one short of his career high and tied for the most in a single game by a Zags pitcher this season — in 7 frames of a 4-3 upset win against No. 4 Oklahoma State in the series opener on March 4, walking one while holding OSU to three earned runs on three hits. The 6'4 righty held the lineup hitless for five consecutive frames in the Zags' win.
 
NATIONALLY SPEAKING...
The Bulldogs rank in the top 50 in NCAA D-I in multiple statistical categories:
-4th in Quad 1 wins
-4th in double plays (13)
-46th in fielding percentage (.978)
-47th in ERA (3.36)
-40th in Triples (4)
With just one K in 39 at-bats so far this season, junior shortstop Connor Coballes ranks among the top 15 toughest batters to strike out in NCAA D-I  at 11th. Trystan Vrieling ranks 20th in the nation in strikeouts per nine innings (15.35), just ahead of Gabriel Hughes in 39th (14.21).
 
SEASON OPENING NOTES
- The Zags return 24 players from 2021 (42 on roster).
- GU was selected as the preseason West Coast Conference favorite by the league's 10 head coaches. GU earned nine of ten first-place votes. 
-  Catcher Stephen Lund and pitchers Gabriel Hughes, Trystan Vrieling and William Kempner were named to the Preseason All-WCC Squad. 
- Reigning WCC Coach of the Year Mark Machtolf is entering his 19th season at the helm of the program, and his 32nd season on the Gonzaga coaching staff overall. He has a career record of 530-418-2.

2021 RECAP
The Zags are coming off a 2021 season that saw them finish with a 34-19 record, winning a WCC title en route to their highest-ever Regional seed in their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2018. 
GU finished the season ranked in the top 50 nationally in several statistical categories:
    - Second in the nation in shutouts (8)
    - Seventh in fielding percentage (.981)
    - Sixth in HBP (100)
    - 47th in double plays (42)
    - 39th in doubles (108)
    - 41st in hits allowed per nine innings (8.19)
    - 44th in W/L percentage (.642)
GU returns 24 players from that squad, including 2021 All-WCC honorees Tyler Rando (C), Brody Jessee (RHP), Michael Spellacy (RHP), Grayson Sterling (OF) and Trystan Vrieling (RHP), but looks to replace three players selected in the 2021 MLB Draft and four lost to graduation. INF Brett Harris (Oakland Athletics), SS Ernie Yake (Minnesota Twins) and RHP Alek Jacob (San Diego Padres) all were selected in the 2021 MLB Draft — Harris was the 2021 WCC Defensive Player of the Year, Jacob was the Pitcher of the Year, and Yake earned All-Region honors, while GU Head Coach Mark Machtolf won his fourth WCC Coach of the Year Award. Overall, GU returns nine of its top ten pitchers by ERA and six of its top ten hitters by average from last season. Collegiate Baseball named Rando, Vrieling and Jessee as the Bulldogs' other top returners along with redshirt sophomore catcher/DH Stephen Lund, who led GU in homers in 2021, and sophomore RHP Will Kempner, who posted a 3.10 ERA in 11 appearances in 2021.

MORE PRESEASON ACCOLADES
GU's Friday-Saturday duo of sophomores Gabriel Hughes and William Kempner made Prospects Live's Preseason All-America list in January as a first-team starting pitcher and second-team reliever, respectively.
Hughes, who was one of five starting throwers on PL's First Team, was also projected to take home West Coast Conference Pitcher of the Year honors by Collegiate Baseball News earlier in the month and is on the 55-man Golden Spikes AWard Watchlist. The 6'4 righty also came in at No. 42 in MLB.com's 2022 Draft Prospect Rankings and No. 61 in a similar ranking by D1Baseball.com, the highest a GU player has been rated since Marco Gonzales in 2013.
Kempner, one of eight pitchers on the Second Team, made nine starts in 2021, going 3-3 with a 3.10 ERA over 40.2 innings pitched. A WCC Pitcher of the Week honoree after an eight-inning, 10-strikeout performance against Portland, the 6-foot righty is slotted to assume the Zags' Saturday starting role on the mound.
D1Baseball.com's Shotgun Spratling wrote that Kempner "might be the nastiest sidewinder on the West Coast since former Bulldogs closer Wyatt Mills … His heavy fastball can get into the mid-90s while darting and diving all over the place."