SPOKANE, Wash. – Gonzaga Baseball hits the road again this weekend for a crucial three-game West Coast Conference series with Portland at Joe Etzel Field April 21-23, looking to continue an active streak of seven consecutive series wins over the Pilots.

The Bulldogs (13-20, 9-6) and Pilots (20-16, 9-6) are locked into a tie for second place in the WCC standings along with Saint Mary's (15-17, 9-6). Gonzaga dropped its last two conference series to San Diego (1-8, 3-2, 2-9) and LMU (0-4, 8-10, 7-2) after winning 12 consecutive WCC series dating back to the 2022 season – the first time the Zags have lost back-to-back series since 2015. Meanwhile, the Pilots are coming off a series win at home against San Diego and a walkoff 10-9 upset win over No. 23 Oregon on Tuesday.

A series win would go a long way to help the Bulldogs to keep pace with first-place LMU (19-16, 12-3) in the league standings – BYU and San Francisco are the only two other WCC teams that have been able to avoid getting swept by the Lions in conference play after GU snapped a four-game skid with a 7-2 win in Los Angeles on Sunday. GU has gone 23-2 against the Pilots since 2016, but both of UP's wins in that span have come in the last two seasons.

After a 7-2 start to WCC action, GU went 2-4 against USD and LMU in their last two series and are 3-7 in their last 10. Nonetheless, the Bulldogs are still hitting .293 as a team in conference play -- the best average in the league -- led by Sam Stem (.400), who has connected on 10 extra base hits against WCC foes and is tied with Enzo Apodaca for the most overall triples in the league (3). Brian Kalmer (.389) has the most overall RBI's in the league (38) and the second-most homers (11) after slamming two against LMU on Saturday, and Brock Bozett (.365), Donovan Ratfield (.321) and Connor Coballes (.305) are all batting above .300 against conference foes. GU is averaging 10.1 hits a game in WCC play, with 2.9 extra base hits per game. Kalmer also ranks third in conference slugging percentage (.762) and second in conference hits (48), riding a 17-game hit streak and 22-game on-base streak.

Last season, Head Coach Mark Machtolf's Bulldogs earned a program-best No. 10 ranking and their second straight year with a win in the NCAA Tournament  — the first time in program history they've done so under the current format  — after appearing as a #2 seed in the 2022 Blacksburg Regional. The Zags are defending WCC Regular Season Champions and picked by the league's coaches to repeat for the second straight season after matching their best record in conference play (20-7) the past two seasons.

All three games will be broadcast via the WCC Network on Stadium, with first pitch Friday set for 6 p.m. Live stats and streaming options are available on GoZags.com — follow @ZagBaseball on Instagram and Twitter for live updates, highlights and more.

GONZAGA (13-20, 9-6 WCC) VS. PORTLAND (20-16, 9-6 WCC)
Joe Etzel Field | Portland, Ore.
April 21, 6 p.m | Live Stats | Stream
April 22, 3 p.m | Live Stats | Stream
April 23, 1 p.m | Live Stats | Stream

PROBABLE STARTERS
GAME ONE
RHP Owen Wild (5.26 ERA, 2-5, 53.0 IP, 61 K) vs. RHP Joey Gartrell (4.67 ERA, 4-2, 52.0 IP, 42 K)
GAME TWO
LHP Matthew Mueller (5.35 ERA, 2-1, 35.1 IP, 42 K) vs. TBD
GAME THREE
RHP Jacob Rutherford (4.78 ERA, 3-0, 43.1 IP, 36 K) vs. TBD

ALL-TIME SERIES
- After going 3-1 against the PIlots in 2022, Gonzaga leads the all-time series between the two teams 60-15 since 2000 and has won 23 of the last 25 meetings.
- In 2021, before sweeping the conference series in Portland, Zags won an earlier non-conference matchup against the PIlots in March at home, dropping the first game 2-0 before winning two straight to clinch the series. 
- Before dropping that 2-0 decision on March 5, 2021, GU had strung together 12 straight wins over the Pilots dating back to 2016. They're winners of seven consecutive series against UP.

ON DECK
After the series with the Pilots, GU stays in the state of Oregon for two midweek matchups with nationally-ranked Oregon. This will be the fifth straight season that the Zags and Ducks square off at least once in nonconference action, not counting the 2020 season in which the two teams' scheduled meeting was canceled.

LAST TIME OUT (at LMU, vs. WSU)
A shutdown complete-game outing on the mound from LMU ace Diego Barrera and an early three-spot proved too much for Gonzaga Baseball to overcome in its West Coast Conference series opener on Friday night at Page Stadium, with the Bulldogs  falling 4-0.
Brian Kalmer hit two homers – including a grand slam that tied things up in the seventh – and Gonzaga took a 7-6 lead in its second game with Loyola Marymount at Page Stadium on Saturday night, but a four-spot in response from the Lions ultimately sunk the Bulldogs to clinch a series win for LMU.
GU's bats bounced back in a big way in the series finale with Sunday afternoon, plating six runs on eight hits in the second and third innings to jump out to an early lead and never looking back en route to a 7-2 win while Jacob Rutherford (7.0 IP, 1 ER) and Ty Buckner (2.0 IP, 0 ER) held the Lions to four hits.
On Tuesday, GU plated the first run of the game and went hit-for-hit with Washington State in midweek action at Patterson Baseball Complex but couldn't fully capitalize on a crucial bases-loaded situation in the eighth en route to a 4-2 loss.

ZAGS SWINGING HOT BATS
The Bulldogs are hitting .293 as a team in conference play -- the best average in the league -- led by Sam Stem (.400), who has connected on 10 extra base hits against WCC foes and is tied with Enzo Apodaca for the most overall triples in the league (3). Brian Kalmer (.389) has the most overall RBI's in the league (38) and the second-most homers (11) after slamming two against LMU on Saturday, and Brock Bozett (.365), Donovan Ratfield (.321) and Connor Coballes (.305) are all batting above .300 against conference foes.
GU is averaging 10.1 hits a game in WCC play, with 2.9 extra base hits per game.

WILD NAMED WCC PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Wild, who was named a 2023 Preseason All-American by Collegiate Baseball in February, is the first Zag to pick up weekly honors from the league this season. GU had a player win Player or Pitcher of the Week seven times in the 2022 season, with five Pitchers of the Week.
Owen Wild's 12 strikeouts were one short of a career-best in seven innings of work during GU's 5-1 series-opening win over BYU, holding the Cougars to one run and four hits to earn the win. 

RUTHERFORD KEEPS ROLLING
- R-Jr. RHP Jacob Rutherford is 3-0 on the season, pitching his way into a Saturday starting role for the Zags and posting career-best numbers against high-caliber offenses in his first two starts and maintaining the momentum heading into conference play. In his six starting appearances, Rutherford carries a 3.86 ERA with 30 punchouts over 35 innings of work.
- A week after posting career high in innings pitched (6.0) and strikeouts (6) against a loaded Tennessee lineup in his first career start on March 4, Rutherford bested both against an Anteaters offense that was averaging 11.1 runs and 11.7 hits per game over its last seven. The 6-1 righty held UCI to just two earned runs on six hits over a full nine innings while posting a new career high in strikeouts with seven, ending the game with six consecutive scoreless frames to put the Zags in position to go ahead late. He tossed four innings that ended without a UCI runner getting on base, only walking two batters in the entire outing.
- Prior to Rutherford's performance, the Zags hadn't gotten a complete game from a pitcher since 2021, when RHP Alek Jacob threw a nine-inning shutout against LSU in the NCAA Tournament.
Rutherford picked up his third win of the season in a start against LMU on Sunday, holding the Lions to just one run on just four hits while striking out six.

'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. 
- After four games with the Raiders, GU faced Grand Canyon and Ohio State in Phoenix before hosting UC Irvine and heading to 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 had 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, before two more big ones against first-place LMU last weekend and second-place Portland next weekend on the road.
- A road trip to Corvallis, Ore. for a midweek games with Oregon State was up next on April 11, marking the 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, 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 entering 2023 is the highest of any GU pitcher with at least 10 games of record, and the fourth-highest in a single season.