2-seed Gonzaga (36-17) vs. 3-seed Columbia (30-16)
FRIDAY, JUNE 3 | 10 A.M. PT | BLACKSBURG, VA | ENGLISH FIELD AT ATLANTIC UNION BANK PARK
TELEVISION: ESPN+
LIVE VIDEO | LIVE RADIO | LIVE STATS
 
LEADING OFF
- Second-seeded Gonzaga opens the 2022 NCAA Tournament against third-seeded Columbia in the first game of the Blacksburg Regional in Blacksburg, Va., Friday at 10 a.m. Pacific Time.
- The Bulldogs appear in the NCAA Tournament for the 12th time in program history, and for the fourth time in the last six tournaments (2022, 2021, 2018, 2016).
- The Zags clinched their second straight regular season conference title and the sixth in program history. GU has won either the WCC's regular season or tournament title in five of the last six seasons.
- Mark Machtolf was named the WCC Coach of the Year, while Connor Coballes and Cade McGee were named the league's Defensive Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year.
- Gonzaga won all nine of its West Coast Conference series this season. It marks the first time the Bulldogs have ever won every WCC series in a season since joining the league in 1996. The Zags lost only one weekend series this season, dropping a pair of games to Long Beach State on the road in March.
- GU matched its record for most West Coast Conference wins in a season at 20. The Bulldogs were 20-7 in WCC play in 2017 and last season.
- The Bulldogs are 10th in the country with six shutouts and seventh with 10.7 strikeouts per nine innings. They lead the WCC in both of those stat categories. GU is 15th in the nation in Earned Run Average (3.95) and 19th in Fielding Percentage (.979).
- Gabriel Hughes is sixth in the nation with 131 strikeouts, while Trystan Vrieling is 32nd with 104. They are first and fourth in the WCC in that stat category. Hughes is 15th in strikeouts per nine innings (12.82)
- The Bulldogs' No. 10 ranking is the highest under Mark Machtolf's 19 seasons at the helm.
- 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, the highest-ranked foe the Zags have ever beat.
- The Zags are 26th in the RPI with a 14-9 record versus Quads 1 and 2 (4-5 in Quad 1) and an 20-9 road record. GU's non-conference strength of schedule ranks as the 15th most difficult in the nation.
- Gonzaga's 20 road wins are the fifth-most in the nation. Eastern Illinois leads the country with 25.
 
BULLDOGS IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
- Including this season, Gonzaga has advanced to the NCAA Division I Baseball Championships 12 times in program history. The Zags are 11-22 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
- The Bulldogs made their first post-season NCAA appearance back in 1971 when they advanced to the NCAA Districts; Gonzaga has appeared in three NCAA Districts in 1971, 1973 and 1974.
- In 1976, Gonzaga advanced to its first-ever NCAA Regional. That year, the Bulldogs traveled to Tempe, Ariz., and was eliminated after two losses--one to ASU and another to Minnesota.
- The Zags also made appearances in an NCAA Regional in 1978, 1980, 1981, 2009, 2016, 2018 and 2021.
- Last season, second-seeded GU opened a Regional in Eugene with a 4-0 shutout win over third-seeded LSU. Top-seeded Oregon then beat the Bulldogs, 7-3. LSU eliminated Gonzaga 9-4 on Day 3.
- The Zags' two-seed this season matches the highest in program history. Before last season, GU was the No. 3 seed in three-consecutive appearances.
- Gonzaga has gone 1-2 in the four appearances in the NCAA Tournament since the format changed to 64 teams, winning the first game in three out of those four appearances.
 
SERIES AT A GLANCE
- This is the first-ever matchup between Gonzaga and Columbia.
- The Zags are 7-2-1 all-time against members from the Ivy League, with the last matchup coming versus Brown in 2013. GU split a doubleheader against Brown in Spokane that season, 3-6 and 6-5.
- This is the first time Gonzaga is playing in the state of Virginia.
 
LAST TIME OUT
- Top-seeded Gonzaga battled late into extra innings in a back-and-forth game against No. 3 seed San Diego in a West Coast Conference Tournament elimination game on May 28, but a pair of homers in the 11th lifted the Toreros to a 15-12 win and a Tournament Championship.
- The Bulldogs outhit USD 18-12 and led 10-7 going into the eighth, but a late rally undid one of the Zags' most explosive offensive outings of the season even after they battled to tie it up in the ninth and force extras.
- Grayson Sterling (3 RBI, 3 runs) and Savier Pinales (one run) led GU with three knocks apiece, and Enzo Apodaca (one RBI, one run), Shea Kramer (2 runs), Connor Coballes (one RBI, one run) and Ezra Samperi (3 RBI) all picked up two each. Four other Zags got at least one hit to round out the effort.
 
ON DECK
- With a win Friday, the Zags advance to the fourth game of the Blacksburg Regional at 4 p.m. PT, and face the Game 2 winner. If GU were to fall in Game 1, they would face the non-advancing team from Game 2 Saturday at 10 a.m. PT.
 
SLUGFEST IN STOCKTON
- Gonzaga entered the West Coast Conference Tournament in Stockton, Calif., with 27 home runs. The Zags hit 10 home runs while inside Banner Island Ballpark during the four games. Six Bulldogs hit a home run in the event.
- The Zags hit 24 extra-base hits (12 doubles, 2 triples) in the tournament with a .633 slugging percentage.
- In the opening game versus Loyola Marymount, GU had 12 extra-base hits, including five home runs.
- Cade McGee had six hits in his 17 at-bats, with three home runs and two doubles.
- Savier Pinales had a team-high seven runs, along with seven hits and two home runs.
- Grayson Sterling had his first two home runs of the season and a team-high six RBI.
 
BULLDOGS RACK UP ALL-WCC HONORS
- Mark Machtolf was named the West Coast Conference Coach of the Year, Connor Coballes was the WCC Defensive Player of the Year and Cade McGee earned Freshman of the Year honors.
- Machtolf earned the honor for the fifth time, and second straight season, and for the third time since 2017.
- Gabriel Hughes and Tyler Rando were tabbed First Team All-Conference, while Trystan Vrieling was second team.
- Enzo Apodaca, McGee, Savier Pinales, Ezra Samperi, Michael Spellacy and Owen Wild were all honorable mention.
- Apodaca and McGee were both on the West Coast Conference All-Freshman Team.
- All five major individual awards – along with the All-Conference Teams and the All-Freshman Team – were voted on solely by the league's 10 head coaches.
 
HUGHES NAMED GOLDEN SPIKES SEMIFINALIST
- Gabriel Hughes was named as a Golden Spikes Semifinalist USA Baseball announced.
- The award goes to the top amateur baseball player of the year. The 44th Golden Spikes Award will be presented on June 24 on ESPN. Twenty-six different universities are represented by the 31 semifinalists.
- Arkansas' Kevin Kopps took home the prestigious award most recently in 2021.
- Beginning with the announcement of the semifinalists, a ballot will be sent to a voting body consisting of baseball media members, select professional baseball personnel and USA Baseball staff, and the previous winners of the award, representing a group of more than 150 voters. As part of this selection process, all voters will be asked to choose three players from the list of semifinalists. On June 8, USA Baseball will announce the finalists, and voting for the winner will begin that same day.
- Fan voting will once again be a part of the Golden Spikes Award in 2022. Beginning with the semifinalist announcement and continuing through the finalist round voting deadline, fans from across the country will be able to vote for their favorite player on GoldenSpikesAward.com.
 
ZAGS WRAP UP REGULAR SEASON TITLE IN SAN DIEGO
- Gonzaga needed one victory in the three-game regular season finale series at San Diego, and the Bulldogs picked up a pair of wins. GU took care of business winning the first game in the series, 8-4, on May 20.
- The Zags have won back-to-back conference titles for just the third time in program history and the first time as a member of the West Coast Conference.
- The Bulldogs have now shared or won outright six WCC regular season titles, including three of the last four.
 
THE THIRTY-WIN CLUB
- Gonzaga reached its 12th 30-win season under Mark Machtolf against Santa Clara. Prior to Machtolf as the head coach, the Bulldogs reached the 30-win plateau 14 times.
- The Zags have reached 30 wins in six of the last seven seasons, with the exception coming in the shortened 2020 season that was cancelled after just 16 games.
 
RECORD WATCH
- Gonzaga's pitching staff shattered the record for single-season strikeouts, now up to 568 on the season — the previous record was 501 in 2016.
- After his five-frame one-hit performance against USD, RHP Will Kempner's ERA sits at 0.81‚ the third-best single-season ERA in program history if the season ended today.
- Jacob Rutherford is holding opposing batters to a .149 batting average, which would stand as the lowest single-season opposing batting average by a GU pitcher in program history. Kempner's .179 would be third.
- Gabriel Hughes' 131 strikeouts are the third-most in program history, seven away from second and 14 from first.
- The Bulldogs broke the single-game record for team strikeouts (19) in their series finale with Oklahoma State on March 7 and repeated the feat twice more this season, most recently doing so at home against Santa Clara on May 14. They also broke the record for single-game double plays (6) against Cal State Fullerton on April 2.
 
KEMPNER KEEPING IT DIFFICULT
- Since returning from injury, William Kempner has not allowed a run in four straight appearances on the mound on May 1, May 15, May 21 and May 27.
- Over those four appearances he has thrown 17.1 innings, allowing just eight hits.
- In his last appearance versus Portland in an elimination game in the West Coast Conference Tournament, he struckout 14 of the 19 batters he faced with one walk.
 
DIGGING INTO THE STATS
- Gonzaga is 27-1 this season when leading after the sixth inning, 26-2 when leading after five innings, 26-4 when out-hitting its opponent, and 9-2 versus a left-handed starter.
- The Bulldogs have won 19 of the 21 games when they have scored at least six runs. GU is 30-3 when holding its foe to four or less runs.
 
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 four 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.
 
SWEEPING IN STILLWATER
- In its first-ever sweep over a Top-10 team, GU knocked off No. 4 Oklahoma State 4-3 on March 4, 2-1 in the tenth inning on March 5 and 2-1 on March 6 in Stillwater, Okla.
- Thanks largely to dominant starts from starting pitchers Gabriel Hughes (7 IP, 3 ER, 1 BB, 11 K), William Kempner (6.1 IP, 0 ER, 3 BB, 5 K) and Tyrstan Vrieling (5 IP, 0 ER, 4 BB, 13 K) and shutdown infield defense that held the Cowboys to just five runs on 17 hits over the series.
- The Bulldogs never trailed in any game of the three-game road series.
 
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 10 first-place votes.
-  Catcher Stephen Lund and pitchers Gabriel Hughes, Trystan Vrieling and William Kempner were named to the Preseason All-WCC Squad.
- 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.