SPOKANE, Wash. – With nine games left in West Coast Conference play, Gonzaga Baseball returns home from a five-game road swing in Oregon to play host to Pacific for three games at Coach Steve Hertz Field and Patterson Baseball Complex April 28-30.

The Bulldogs dropped to 14-24 and 10-8 in WCC play after a series loss to Portland and a two-game midweek sweep at No. 20 Oregon, but remain in the hunt for a Top-two seed at the WCC Tournament in Las Vegas May 24-27 with three conference series left in the regular season. GU's lineup is led in average by Brian Kalmer and Cade McGee, both batting .356 on the season just ahead of freshman Sam Stem (.354).

In WCC play, GU is hitting at a .283 team average, with Brock Bozett (.365) leading four Zags batting above .300 against conference opponents. Kalmer has driven in a league-high 40 RBI so far this season and ranks in the Top 10 in the WCC in hits (53), homers (11), doubles (12), runs scored (33), slugging percentage (.685) and walks (25). Stem and Enzo Apodaca are tied for the most triples in the league with three apiece, with Stem cracking the Top 10 in batting average and total hits (45).

Meanwhile, the Tigers are coming off a series win at home vs Pepperdine last weekend (8-2, 7-16, 14-11) and a midweek win against UC Davis on the road. Their series-opening win against the Waves snapped a seven-game skid – they've won three of their last four since then. Ben Nemivant leads the team in hitting at .409 and is second in the WCC in batting average. Nemivant leads the WCC in hits with 63 and is tied for second in doubles with 14. Graduate Jeremy Lea leads the conference in triples with four and HBPs with 16. Juniors Chaz Myers and Jacob Weiss are tied for the team lead in home runs with four apiece. Myers leads the team with eight stolen bases. 

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 (14-24, 10-8 WCC) VS. PACIFIC (13-25, 5-13 WCC)
Hertz Field at Patterson Baseball Complex | Spokane, Wash.
April 28, 6 p.m | Live Stats | Stream
April 29, 6 p.m | Live Stats | Stream
April 30, 12 p.m | Live Stats | Stream

PROBABLE STARTERS
GAME ONE
RHP Owen Wild (5.16 ERA, 3-5, 61.0 IP, 69 K) vs. LHP Grant Stevens (5.20 ERA, 4-5, 62.2 IP, 43 K)
GAME TWO
RHP Nathan Deschryver (5.48 ERA, 3-4, 42.2 IP, 35 K) vs. TBD
GAME THREE
RHP Jacob Rutherford (4.67 ERA, 3-0, 52.0 IP, 47 K) vs. RHP Marcus Guarin (6.00 ERA, 0-6, 39.0 IP, 40 K)

ALL-TIME SERIES AT A GLANCE
After sweeping Pacific last year in Stockton, the Bulldogs are 22-6 against the Tigers since 2000 and 18-3 against them in conference matchups, having won seven straight in a streak that dates back to 2019. GU also swept the series in Spokane in 2021, recording two shutouts in the process with 9-0 and 6-0 wins in the first two games before a 2-1 win on Sunday. 

ON DECK
After the series with Pacific, GU heads to Bailey-Brayton Field in Pullman for the Zags' third and final meeting with in-state rival Washington State on May 2 – the two teams split the first two matchups, both in Spokane.

WCC OUTLOOK
The Zags are looking to bounce back after dropping three straight WCC series for the first time since 2010 – all to the three teams above them in the conference standings. GU sits in a tie with Saint Mary's (17-19, 10-8) for fourth in the league after winning the opener at Portland but dropping the next two, with Sunday's 5-4 loss coming after the Pilots rallied to nullify a 4-2 lead with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to end the game on a walkoff single. A sweep of the Tigers () could help get the Bulldogs back in the hunt for a Top-2 seed at the WCC Tournament in Las Vegas, Nev., with a home series with the Gaels and a road series at Santa Clara () on the docket for the next two weekends. 

SAMPERI SHINES IN HOME STATE
Ezra Samperi broke out of a hitting slump in a big way in front of the hometown crowd during the Zags' trip through Oregon – the Gresham, Ore. native went 3-for-3 in his first start since April 6th against the Pilots in the series opener, going yard twice on the weekend and coming through with a clutch two-run single in the finale that put GU up 4-2 in the ninth. He batted .333 with six RBIs over the Zags' three games against UP and two against Oregon after batting .074 on two hits with no RBIs in his previous ten games.

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. In his seven starting appearances, Rutherford carries a 3.92 ERA with 41 punchouts over 43.2 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.
- In GU's series finale at Portland, Rutherford came one out short of another CG outing, striking out a career-high 11 while holding the Pilots to four earned runs in 8.2 frames.

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. 

'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.