SPOKANE, Wash. – No. 11 Gonzaga plays host to Loyola Marymount this weekend for a West Coast Conference series between two of the top teams in the conference standings.
Coming off a series win over San Francisco, the Lions (25-14, 11-7) are one of two teams tied for second in the league, two games behind the first-place Bulldogs (26-12, 13-5), who downed Saint Mary's in Moraga over the weekend.

LEADING OFF
- No. 11 Gonzaga baseball welcomes Loyola Marymount to the Patterson Baseball Complex and Coach Steve Hertz Field for a West Coast Conference series Thursday through Saturday.
- After a six-game road swing, the Zags are home for seven straight beginning Thursday.
- The Bulldogs' No. 11 ranking is the highest under Head Coach Mark Machtolf's 19 seasons at the helm.
- GU has won all six of its West Coast Conference series this season, most recently taking two of three at Saint Mary's last weekend (W, 4-0 | L, 2-4 | W, 4-2). The Bulldogs have only lost one weekend series all season, dropping a pair of games to Long Beach State on the road in March.
- The Zags are off to their best 18-game start to WCC play in program history at 13-5.
- Gonzaga's 18 road wins are tied with two other programs for the second-most in the nation. Eastern Illinois leads the country with 21 road victories, while UCONN and North Dakota State have 18.
- The Bulldogs are 14th in the country with four shutouts and 17th with 10.6 strikeouts per nine innings. They lead the conference in both of those stat categories.
- Gabriel Hughes is fifth in the nation with 97 strikeouts, while Trystan Vrieling is 17th with 83. They are first and fifth in the WCC in that stat category.
- GU boasts three wins over Top-5 teams this season, going 4-1 versus Top-10 competition, including a 13-6 victory at No. 2 Oregon State on April 18. That win at OSU was the highest-ranked foe the Zags have ever beat.
- The Zags are 11th in the RPI with a 13-7 record versus Quads 1 and 2 (5-4 in Quad 1) and an 18-6 road record.

PROBABLE STARTERS
Friday, April 29  |  6 p.m.
RHP Gabriel Hughes (6-1, 63.1 IP,  97 K, 2.42 ERA) vs. RHP Diego Barrerra (2-2, 48.1 IP, 34 K, 2.05 ERA)
Saturday, April 30  |  6 p.m.
RHP Trystan Vrieling (4-2, 61.1 IP, 83 K, 3.38 ERA) vs. RHP Jimma Galicia (1-4, 44 IP, 34 K, 7.16 ERA)
Sunday, May 1 |  12 p.m.
RHP William Kempner (0-1, 16 IP, 12 K, 1.69 ERA) vs. RHP Quinn Lavelle (0-2, 47 IP, 30 K, 6.32 ERA)

WITH JUST ABOUT A MONTH LEFT ...
- Gonzaga has a two-game lead in the West Coast Conference standings over LMU (11-7) and San Diego (11-7).  Santa Clara comes up May 13-15 in Spokane, and the Broncos are currently in fourth at 10-8. The top six teams in the league advance to the WCC Tournament in Stockton, Calif.
- D1Baseball.com's most recent projections have GU as a No. 8 overall seed, meaning they would host a Super Regional if they were to win a hypothetical Spokane Region as a Top-8 seed. Gonzaga has never hosted a regional in the NCAA Tournament.

SERIES AT A GLANCE
- The Zags are 40-37 against Loyola Marymount since 2000, but have won four of the last six in Spokane in the series. Since 2000, GU is 23-11 at home against the Lions.
- The programs have not met in Spokane since 2018. The last six meetings have been in Los Angeles.
- Gonzaga is 31-28 against LMU under Mark Machtolf.
- Loyola Marymount won two of three in last season's series, winning the first two games 7-1 and 8-4, before the Bulldogs took the finale 14-2. Alec Gomez picked up the win on the mound in that third game. Mason Morenco hit .600 in the series in 10 at-bats, with two RBI and three runs.

HUGHES NAMED WCC PITCHER OF THE WEEK ... AGAIN
- Gonzaga RHP Gabriel Hughes added another West Coast Conference Pitcher of the Week Award to his collection after matching a career-high 13 K's in a dominant 4-0 win against Saint Mary's last Friday.
- This is the third time Hughes has won the award this season, and the fifth time in his career. 
- Last Friday, Hughes held the Gaels scoreless for seven frames, earning his sixth win of the season. So far, GU has come away with a win in eight of Hughes' ten starts. The 6'4 righty was tagged four four hits and two walks while leading the Zags to their fourth shutout victory so far this season.
- Hughes is the only pitcher in the conference to win the award multiple times, and he and RHP Trystan Vrieling are one of two same-team duos to win the award along with Santa Clara's Cole Kitchen and Nick Sando.

LAST TIME OUT
- No. 11 Gonzaga battled until the final out of a back-and-forth affair with a red-hot Washington State team in a midweek matchup Tuesday, but ultimately the Cougars held off their in-state rivals off with a runner on third for a 6-5 win.
- Starting on the mound and as a designated hitter, Cade McGee struck out two while allowing one earned run over two frames while two hits and an RBI. 
- Enzo Apodaca led the Bulldogs in the leadoff spot, going 3-for-4 with three RBI to go with a run.

ON DECK
- Gonzaga remains at home, hosting Washington for a single game Monday at 3:35 p.m.
- The Huskies have a 27-21 edge in the series since 2000, but GU has won the last three meetings. The Zags won last season's meeting in Spokane, 7-2, and claimed a 3-0 shutout victory in Seattle.
- The Bulldogs have won the last three matchups in Spokane.
- The game scheduled for earlier this season in Seattle on March 1 was postponed due to inclement weather.

HISTORY IN CORVALLIS
- On April 18, Gonzaga traded blows early with No. 2 Oregon State, but cruised to an 11-6 lead after a seven-run third frame and didn't look back en route to a 13-6 win — the highest-ranked opponent they've beaten in program history.
- Jake Rutherford and Nico Zeglin combined to hold the Beavers scoreless for seven consecutive innings, calming down a chaotic back-and-forth that saw 10 total runs scored by both teams in the span of an inning and a half.
- Rutherford put together the best performance of his career over 4 ⅔ frames on the mound, striking out a career-high six while holding the Beavers to just one run in that span for his second win of the season. Zeglin earned the save with three frames of scoreless relief, striking out five more in the process.
- Five different Zags batters finished with multiple RBI — Enzo Apodaca, Grayson Sterling, Stephen Lund, Jack Machtolf and Ezra Samperi — Tyler Rando and Cade McGee led the lineup in hits with three knocks and two runs apiece.

STAFF CHECK-IN
- Four GU pitchers were ranked among the Top 150 prospects in the nation in D1Baseball.com's Midseason Rankings, tied for the third-most total ranked prospects from one team in the nation. Weekend starters Gabriel Hughes (26), Trystan Vrieling (36) and Will Kempner (59) all cracked the Top 60, with reliever Brody Jessee clocking in at No. 127.
- GU's pitching staff ranks 60th in the nation with a 4.36 ERA., striking out 10.3 batters per nine innings – good for No. 32 in the nation. 
- Gonzaga's Friday guy Gabriel Hughes (5-1) ranks fourth in the nation in total strikeouts (84) and 21st in strikeouts per nine innings (13.23), with RHP Trystan Vrieling (4-1) just behind at fifth (79) and 27th (13.04). 
- The Bulldogs' go-to closers – RHP Michael Spellacy and RHP Brody Jessee – have combined for five wins over 20 appearances, with Spellacy earning a team-high seven saves and Jessee striking out the fourth-most batters on the squad (30) over only 20.2 IP. Recently earning his seventh save of the season, Spellacy cracked the top 15 in the nation in saves (T-14).
- Midweek starters LHP Bradley Mullan (1-1, 21.1 IP) and RHP Nico Zeglin (2-0, 10 ⅔ IP) are the next most-used throwers out of the pen. 
- From 2018-2022, 22 different pitchers for Gonzaga have finished seasons with under a 3.50 ERA (minimum 3 games pitched). As of right now, seven GU pitchers would make that standard.

BALANCED OFFENSE
- Nine Bulldogs have driven in double-digit runs and four have connected on double-digit extra base hits, led by redshirt freshman Enzo Apodaca (25 RBI, 13 2B, two 3B) and redshirt sophomore Grayson Sterling (22 RBI, 10 2B). 
- The Zags have one of their most youthful lineups in recent memory, with three underclassmen hitting above .300. Freshman McGee leads the lineup in average (.327) with a team-high .960 OPS and the most homers on the team (4) and third-most RBI (19).
- Connor Coballes is among the toughest to strike out in the nation, ranking No. 44 nationally with only 10 K's in 110 at-bats so far this season. He is second on the team in base on balls (14) while notching double-digit runs (23) and RBI (15). 
- Savier Pinales has been one of the hottest bats in the lineup for GU, hitting for a .358 average in WCC play while picking up at least a knock in nine of his last ten. His eighth-frame two-run homer clinched the Zags' win over Portland in the series opener last Friday.
- Ezra Samperi has also been swinging a hot bat, leading the lineup in average in WCC play at a .440 clip while driving in 11 runs on 11 hits.

STRONG SLATE
- The Zags have only faced two opponents below 200 in the RPI rankings, with a cumulative 12-7 record in Quad 1 and 2 games. 
- GU's current strength of schedule ranks 38th in the nation (per Warren Nolan), and they're tied for the 36th-most Q1 wins in the nation with 5. Their nonconference SOS ranks 18th nationally.
- The West Coast Conference is also enjoying a strong year, with the eighth-highest non-conference win percentage (NCWP) in the nation at 0.5699.
- Even against the challenging opponents, the Zags' defense is holding opponents to an average of 5.0 runs per nine innings, 64th in the nation, and 8.6 hits per game, 88th-best in the nation.

QUICK FACTS
The Bulldogs have made two of the last three NCAA tournaments that have been held, and are nationally ranked in multiple polls for the second season in a row.
Since 2016, GU boasts a 194-126 record, with four WCC titles (2016, 2017, 2018, 2021) and three NCAA Tournament appearances (2016, 2018, 2021). 19 former Zags have been selected in the MLB Draft since then, with four making their major league debuts during the 2020 and 2021 seasons. The Zags have a 101-76 record against WCC opponents in that span.
Since 2019, Gonzaga scored 437 total runs against WCC opponents, which leads the conference. The Bulldogs have led the WCC four separate times in strikeouts since 2016, including Brandon Bailey's 125 strikeouts in 2016, which was tied-7th for the most in Division I NCAA Baseball.
In the past decade, 52 Zags have been selected as All-WCC members, with eleven earning WCC First-Team honors, ten making the WCC Second Team, and 19 honorable Mentions. In 2021, GU picked up a program-record nine All-WCC honorees while taking three of the five major awards.
Coach Mark Machtolf has earned WCC Coach of the Year four times during his tenure at Gonzaga, including twice since 2017. In addition, GU has had two WCC Players of the Year, two WCC Defensive Players of the Year, and three WCC Pitchers of the Year in the past decade.
GU has had five Collegiate Baseball All-American selections in the past decade, including two second-team and three third-team selections. Gonzaga has also had two Academic All-Americans and two Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American selections since 2011 to go with seven total All-West team selections, including Marco Gonzales' 2012 All-West Coast Player of the Year season.

PRESEASON ACCOLADES / 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 531-420-2.
- 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.
- 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.