SPOKANE, Wash. – Gonzaga Baseball (11-14, 7-2 WCC) continues its six-game West Coast Conference homestand this weekend with a three-game set with San Diego (12-14-1, 5-4) at Coach Steve Hertz Field at Patterson Baseball Complex April 5-7.

Thursday's series opener and Saturday's series finale will both be televised – Thursday's matchup will be broadcast nationally on ESPNU, with Saturday's broadcast available locally via SWX.

The Bulldogs and Toreros have gone 1-2 in the conference standings the last two seasons, with the Bulldogs picked to win their third straight WCC Crown in the 2023 Coaches' Poll, receiving 6 of 10 first-place votes. San Diego, which won the 2022 WCC Tournament to get an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, earned the other four. The Toreros will be one of six 2022 NCAA Regional teams GU will face during the regular season in 2023.

The Bulldogs have found their rhythm in conference action, winning eight of their last 10 after a 3-12 start to the season that included four multi-game series with Top-60 RPI opponents – three of which were on the road. They're winners of three straight WCC series after taking two of three from BYU at home last weekend, and have won 12 consecutive conference series dating back to last season. After Portland dropped two games to Saint Mary's last weekend, the Zags moved into a tie for first place in the league standings.

GU has won 12 straight conference series dating back to last season. The last time they lost a conference series was 2021 at home vs San Diego, when they clinched a regular season WCC Championship and a NCAA Regional Berth in a 10-0 win in Game One before dropping the next two.

Thursday's series opener is set for an 8 p.m. (PT) start, with Friday's game two at 6 p.m. and Saturday's finale at noon. Thursday's game will be broadcast nationally on ESPNU, with Saturday's finale available locally via SWX. Live stats and streaming options are available on GoZags.com — follow @ZagBaseball on Instagram and Twitter for live updates, highlights and more.

GONZAGA (11-14, 7-2 WCC) vs. SAN DIEGO (12-14-1, 5-4 WCC)
Coach Steve Hertz Field and Patterson Baseball Complex | Spokane, Wash.
April 5, 8 p.m | Live Stats | Stream
April 6, 6 p.m | Live Stats | Stream
April 7, 12 p.m | Live Stats | Stream

PROBABLE STARTERS
GAME ONE 
RHP Owen Wild (4.73 ERA, 2-3, 40 IP, 53 K) vs. LHP Austin Smith  (1.46 ERA, 1-0, 12.1 IP, 15 K)
GAME TWO 
LHP Matthew Mueller (5.24 ERA, 1-1, 22.1 IP, 30 K) vs. RHP James Sashin (4.04 ERA, 2-1, 35.2 IP, 36 K)
GAME THREE
TBA vs. RHP Garrett Rennie (4.03 ERA, 1-2, 38.0 IP, 33 K)

QUICK HITS
- The Bulldogs (11-14, 7-2 WCC) are hitting their stride heading into a crucial stretch of WCC play, having won 8 of their last 10 and their first three WCC series after a 3-12 start to the season. 
They're led by a white-hot start to conference play from Sam Stem (.514 12 RBI, 7 XBH) along with Brian Kalmer (.448, 6 RBI, 9 R), Brock Bozett (.429, 8 RBI, 8 R), Savier Pinales (.344, 7 R, 4 RBI) and 6 other Zags above .300. 
- Owen Wild was named WCC Pitcher of the Week after a seven-frame start against BYU last Thursday that saw him strike out 12 and hold the Cougars to just one run.
Brian Kalmer continues to power the heart of the Zags' lineup, batting .398 on the season with a team-high nine homers and currently ranking No. 40 in the nation in RBI per game (1.41) and No. 40 in total RBI (31). He's batted .444 in his last 10 games and gotten on base multiple times in each, driving in 10 runs in that span. He also leads the WCC in RBI and homers.
- After losing three starters and a reliever to the MLB Draft in 2022, GU's pitching has improved significantly from that opening stretch to start the season as throwers have found their roles. In the first 15 games of the season, GU pitchers posted a 8.24 ERA. In the 10 games since, they've posted a 5.26 ERA.

SERIES AT A GLANCE
The Toreros have a 42-35 edge in the series since 2000, and the teams have split the last 10 meetings. Gonzaga clinched a regular season WCC Championship in its series win over USD last season in San Diego (8-4, 4-7, 1-0), but fell to the Toreros twice in the WCC Tournament in Stockton, Calif. a week later.
Prior to USD's series win in Spokane in 2021 (10-0, 0-9, 2-10), Gonzaga had won eight consecutive series against the Toreros at home. The Zags are 16-9 against San Diego at Patterson Baseball Complex since its opening in 2007.

WCC OUTLOOK
The Bulldogs (11-14, 7-2 WCC), are tied for first place in the league standings with Portland (17-10, 7-2) and LMU (14-11, 7-2) after the Pilots dropped a series to Saint Mary's and LMU defeated USF 2-1 in a series. USD (12-14-1, 5-4) and Saint Mary's (10-13, 5-4) are just behind in a tie for fourth. 
The Bulldogs and Toreros have gone 1-2 in the conference standings the last two seasons, with USD winning the 2023 WCC Tournament in Stockton, Calif. last June to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. USD is one of six 2023 NCAA Regional teams GU will face during the regular season in 2023. 

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. 
Since 2016, GU has the most regular-season conference wins (115), 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.
- Four GU pitchers were selected in the 2022 MLB Draft -- Gabriel Hughes (10th overall), Trystan Vrieling, William Kempner and Brody Jessee.
-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.

LAST TIME OUT (VS. BYU)
- GU pulled away in the sixth inning of its West Coast Conference series opener with BYU at Hertz Field at Patterson Baseball Complex Thursday night behind a dominant seven-frame start from RHP Owen Wild (12 K, 1 ER) and a timely four-spot, winning 5-1.
- The Zags jumped out to a 5-1 lead after plating runs in each of the first three innings of its second game on Friday, but the Cougars responded with five unanswered of their own and a strikeout that ended the ninth with the tying and go-ahead runs aboard for a 5-6 setback for the Bulldogs (10-4, 6-2 WCC) that tied up the weekend series at a game apiece.
- GU secured its third straight West Coast Conference series win in its finale on Saturday night, getting shutdown outings on the mound from RHP Nathan Deschryver (5.0 IP, 2 ER, 10K) and RHP Ty Buckner (4.0 IP, 0 ER, 8 K) and a three-hit night from Donovan Ratfield that included a double and a homer en route to a 8-2 win.

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 last Thursday, holding the Cougars to one run and four hits to earn the win. 

ZAGS SWINGING HOT BATS
8 Zags are batting above .300 in conference play, with Sam Stem (.514),  Brian Kalmer (.448), Brock Bozett (.429) and Tommy Eisenstat (.353) leading the charge.
Stem has shown impressive power for a true freshman, with a team-high 18 hits and 13 RBI in that span. In conference play alone, he's hit four doubles and three triples.
After not appearing in the Zags' home-opening series against UC Irvine, Bozett played his way back into the lineup with a seven-game hit streak, including back-to-back three-hit performances against the Gophers on March 15 and the Dons on March 17 with multiple runs in both games. Bozett has gotten on base 21 times in the 12 games he's started.

MULLAN MOVES TO CLOSER ROLE
LHP Bradley Mullan pitched 13.2 innings over six appearances in the last two weeks, including a career-high six scoreless frames against Minnesota to help keep the Zags afloat in extra innings. He earned his first win of the season after closing out GU's series-sealing 8-7 win on Saturday, and struck out three in the final frame of GU's midweek win over Washington State, and picked up his first save in Friday's series-opening win against BYU.
In those six appearances Mullan touts a 2.63 ERA with 15 strikeouts. The Zags have won all six.

PINALES AND COBALLES STAY HOT
- Savier Pinales is batting .304 after returning to the lineup after an 0-16 start to the season. He's racked up 21 hits in those 17 games, 7 of them extra-base hits.
- Connor Coballes has gotten on base in 15 straight games while scoring multiple runs six times and striking out only four times in that span. He ranks No. 46 among the toughest batters to strike out in the nation. After hitting just one double in the 2022 season, he has hit 4 through 18 games in 2023.

RUTHERFORD KEEPS ROLLING
- R-Jr. RHP Jacob Rutherford is 2-0 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 four starting appearances, Rutherford carries a 4.50 ERA with 22 punchouts over 26 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.

'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 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, 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.

2022 HIGHLIGHTS  
- The Zags' 37 wins matched 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.
- 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.
- 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).
- 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.