Gonzaga Baseball hits the road again for four games at Brazell Field at GCU Ballpark in Phoenix, Ariz. this weekend – two road matchups with Grand Canyon (2-2) on Feb. 24-25 along with two neutral-site matchups with Ohio State (2-2) on Feb. 24 and 26.

The action will begin with a doubleheader on Friday, with the Bulldogs (0-4) facing Ohio State at 1 p.m. and Grand Canyon at 6 p.m. Saturday, they'll rematch with the Lopes at 1 p.m. with a finale against the Buckeyes at 11 a.m. Sunday.

Grand Canyon is coming off a loud upset win over No. 2 Tennessee on Feb. 18, but has lost two straight since, falling to Michigan and Michigan State. The Lopes, similar to the Zags, are coming off two straight NCAA Regional appearances, most recently falling to No. 2 seed Missouri St. in the Stillwater Regional to conclude a 41-21 year. Meanwhile, Ohio State went 21-30 in 2023, finishing 11th in the Big 10. The Buckeyes split a four-game neutral-site series with UConn in Florida to open the season.

Head Coach Mark Machtolf's Bulldogs are coming off a program-best No. 10 ranking and their second straight year with a win in the NCAA Tournament in 2022  — the first time in program history the Zags have done so under the current format  — after appearing as a #2 seed in the 2022 Blacksburg Regional. The Bulldogs were eliminated by #3-seed Columbia in Game Three after rallying to eliminate #4-seed Wright State in Game Two. The Zags are defending WCC Regular Season Champions for the second straight season, matching their best record in conference play (20-7) the past two seasons.

Gonzaga's matchups with Grand Canyon on Feb. 24-25 will be streamed on ESPN+. Live stats for the games can be accessed by clicking on the live stats link located on the baseball schedule page on GoZags.com.

GONZAGA (0-4) VS. OHIO STATE (2-2)
Brazell Field at GCU Ballpark | Phoenix, Ariz.
Feb. 24, 1 p.m. - Live Stats
Feb. 26, 11 a.m. - Live Stats 

GONZAGA (0-4) VS. GRAND CANYON (2-2)
Brazell Field at GCU Ballpark | Phoenix, Ariz.
Feb. 24, 6 p.m. - Live Stats | Stream 
Feb 25, 1 p.m. - Live Stats | Stream

ALL-TIME SERIES
Friday and Sunday's matchups with Ohio State will be the first between the Bulldogs and Buckeyes on the diamond.
The Zags are 2-2 all-time against Grand Canyon, last squaring off in a four-game series in Phoenix in 2016. Neither team won two in a row in that series, with GU cracking double-digit runs in both wins, including a 21-9 win in game two and an 11-2 win in the finale.

PROBABLE STARTERS
GAME ONE | GON VS. OSU | FEB. 24  | 1 p.m. PST  
RHP Payton Graham (1.1 IP, 0-0, 6.75 ERA) vs. OSU RHP Justin Eckhardt (5 IP, 0-1, 5.40 ERA)
GAME TWO | GON VS. GCU | FEB. 24  | 6 p.m. PST  
RHP Owen Wild (4.1 IP, 0-1, 8.31 ERA) vs. RHP Daniel Avitia (3 IP, 1-0, 0.00 ERA)
GAME THREE | GON VS. GCU | FEB. 25  | 1 p.m. PST
LHP Bradley Mullan (3.1 IP, 0-1, 5.40 ERA) vs. RHP Brodie Cooper-Vassalakis (1.1 IP, 1-0, 0.00 ERA)
GAME FOUR | GON VS. OSU | FEB. 26 | 11 a.m. PST
TBD vs. OSU LHP Gavin Bruni (3.1 IP, 0-0, 5.40 ERA)

LAST TIME OUT
Gonzaga started to find some rhythm on offense near the tail end of its season-opening four-game series with Texas Tech, but was overpowered late in each game by the Red Raiders' lineup, going 0-4 to start the season.
GU rallied to take a 8-6 lead late in the series finale with 5 runs off homers from Kalmer and McGee, but the Red Raiders tied the game again in the bottom of the inning and completed the sweep with a bases-loaded walk.
Enzo Apodaca and Cade McGee both lead the Bulldogs' batters with a .375 average. Apodaca tripled in his first at-bat and hit a homer and a double in succession over the next two games, and McGee 
2022 NJCAA Player of the Year Brian Kalmer made a lasting impression in his GU debut, slamming a two-run homer in Friday's opener and repeating the feat on Monday while batting .286 with 6 RBI over 14 at-bats. McGee also has 6 RBI on the weekend.
Fellow JuCo newcomer Brock Bozett scored a pair of runs despite batting .091 with one hit over the weekend, drawing four walks.
Connor Coballes has yet to strike out after 14 at-bats, picking up 4 hits and 4 walks and batting .286 with a team-high .444 OB%.
No GU pitcher went longer than 4 ⅔ innings on the mound over the weekend and 14 saw action over the weekend, with Friday starter RHP Owen Wild (4.2 IP, 4 ER, 4 H, ) and Monday starter RHP Ty Buckner () going the longest and Reagan Haas (2.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 ER) and Nate Weeldreyer (2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER) posting the most efficient outings of the weekend.

SEASON-OPENING NOTES / EARLY RETURNS
- Gonzaga was picked to win its third straight WCC Crown in the 2023 Coaches' Poll, receiving 6 of 10 first-place votes. San Diego, which won the 2023 WCC Tournament to get an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, earned the other four.
-A league-leading four Zags were named to the WCC Preseason Team, with Grayson Sterling, Savier Pinales, Cade McGee and Owen Wild all earning nods.
- GU is coming off a program-best No. 10 ranking and its second straight year with a win in the NCAA Tournament in 2022  — the first time in program history the Zags have done so since 1984 — after appearing as a #2 seed in the 2022 Blacksburg Regional. The Bulldogs were eliminated by #3-seed Columbia in Game Three after rallying to eliminate #4-seed Wright State in Game Two.
The Zags are defending WCC Regular Season Champions for the second straight season after winning their sixth WCC title in 2022, matching their best record in conference play (20-7) the past two seasons as well as cracking thirty wins for the sixth consecutive full season. Since 2016, GU has the most regular-season conference wins (112), the highest regular season conference winning percentage (.691), the most WCC Tourney appearances (5), Regular or Tournament Championships (5) and Regional appearances (4) among West Coast Conference teams.
- The Zags return 22 players from 2022 (38 on roster).
- Owen Wild was named a Preseason Second Team All-American by Collegiate Baseball News. GU was ranked No. 38 nationally in Collegiate Baseball's Preseason Poll, and received votes in the USA Today Preseason Coaches' Poll.

'MADE-FOR-RPI' SCHEDULE
- 13 of GU's 19 opponents in 2023 finished last season in the Top 150 in the NCAA's final RPI ranking, with two of those opponents  — Tennessee and Oregon State — finishing No. 1 and No. 2 in those final rankings before hosting NCAA Regionals. GU will play 22 games that currently project as Quad 1 and Quad 2 games.
- After four games with the Raiders, GU will face Grand Canyon, Ohio State, UC Irvine and Minnesota for multiple games each before entering WCC play.
- Other highlights include a three-game series with 2022 College World Series Runner-Up Oklahoma in Spokane and a two-game midweek matchup with Oregon in Eugene.
- Zags will have a pair of crucial home series back-to-back with BYU (March 30-April 1) and 2022 WCC Tournament Champions and NCAA Regional qualifiers San Diego (April 6-8) coming to Patterson.
- A road trip to Corvallis, Ore. for two midweek games with Oregon State is up next on April 10-11, marking the 13th and 14th time they've squared off in the last five years. The Zags went 1-3 against the Beavs in 2022, dropping a pair of neutral site games in Surprise to start the year but splitting a pair on the road, with GU's 13-6 win becoming their highest-ranked win in history.

OWEN WILD NAMED PRESEASON ALL-AMERICAN
- Gonzaga RHP Owen Wild was named a Preseason Second Team All-American by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, the outlet announced.
- The honor makes it back-to-back years that a GU pitcher picks up preseason All-America honors from the outlet after Gabriel Hughes did the same in 2022. 
Initially appearing as a reliever last spring before taking over as a starter in the absence of William Kempner due to injury, Wild gained momentum as the season went on, accumulating a 9-1 record to go with a team-best 3.03 ERA and 83 strikeouts in 16 appearances. Wild's breakout year culminated in an All-Blacksburg Regional Team nod after pitching six shutout innings of relief to help cue a Bulldogs rally in an NCAA Tournament game against Wright State, as well as All-WCC Tournament and All-WCC Honorable Mention honors.
-Wild's .900 career winning percentage is the highest of any GU pitcher with at least 10 games of record, and the fourth-highest in a single season.

PITCHING ROUNDUP
- The Zags lost three starters (Gabriel Hughes, William Kempner and Trystan Vrieling) and a crucial reliever (Brody Jessee) to the MLB Draft as well as two more (Michael Spellacy and Nico Zeglin) to graduation, but return RHP Owen Wild (9-1 in 2022, 3.03 ERA), who will move into the Friday starting role after a strong finish to 2022 that saw him pick up All-WCC Tournament and All-Blacksburg Regional honors.
- GU brings in some experienced newcomers in RHP Ty Buckner (Missouri St transfer, ) and RHP Jeff Nelson, who was the NWAC Pitcher of the Year in 2022 at Mt. Hood CC (Ore.).
- Jacob Rutherford, who held opposing batters to a .169 average in 2022, the third-best in a single season in program history.  
- Blue-chip freshmen Payton Graham (No. 8 overall recruit in WA on Perfect Game, No. 5 RHP) and Matthew Mueller (No. 1 LHP in WI, No. 12 overall) also look to make an impact in their first year at GU. 

RETURNER-FILLED LINEUP
- GU returns 5 of its top 6 hitters by average from last spring, led by 2022 Freshman All-American Cade McGee, Savier Pinales, Grayson Sterling, Enzo Apodaca and Ezra Samperi, who all started more than 30 games each last season.
- The Zags get back starters at every position except first base, including WCC Defensive Player of the Year Connor Coballes at shortstop, who finished the season ranked among the Top 50 in the nation's toughest to strike out and 130 assists to just 7 errors.
- DH Brian Kalmer, the 2022 NJCAA Player of the Year out of Wabash Valley, brings some power to the lineup to help replace the loss of 2022 All-WCC C/DH Tyler Rando to graduation. Kalmer batted .421 to go with 20 homers and 109 RBI against JuCo opponents in 2022.

2022 HIGHLIGHTS  
- The Zags' 37 wins match the fifth-most in program history and are the most under Head Coach Mark Machtolf. The 37 victories are also the most in 32 years when GU won 37 games in 1990.
- The Bulldogs appeared 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.
- The Bulldogs appeared 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).
- 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. Machtolf earned the honor for the fifth time, and second straight season, and for the third time since 2017. 
- Gonzaga won all nine of its West Coast Conference series  in 2022, finishing 20-7 in conference play. It marked 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, 2021, and 2022.
- The Bulldogs were 10th in the country with six shutouts and seventh with 10.7 strikeouts per nine innings. They led the WCC in both of those stat categories. GU was 15th in the nation in Earned Run Average (3.95) and 19th in Fielding Percentage (.979).
- The Bulldogs' No. 10 ranking was the highest under Mark Machtolf's 19 seasons at the helm.
- GU boasted three wins over Top-5 teams, 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 beaten. GU also swept No. 4/6 Oklahoma State in a three-game series in Stillwater.

30 WINS AGAIN IN 2022
Gonzaga surpassed 30 wins for the sixth straight full season and ninth time in the last 11 seasons in 2022, finishing the season with a 37-19 overall record. During head coach Mark Machtolf's now 20 years at the helm, GU has won at least 30 games 12 times.