SPOKANE, Wash. -- Gonzaga Baseball plays host to Saint Mary's this weekend for their penultimate West Coast Conference series and last at home, with the series opener set for Friday at 6 p.m.

With six games left in WCC play, the Bulldogs (17-25, 13-8 WCC) sit in a three-way tie for second place in the league standings with San Diego (20-21-1, 13-8) and Portland (14-18, 13-8), but both hold tiebreakers over GU. LMU (22-20, 15-6) is two games ahead in first. 

The top six teams in the league all qualify for the WCC Tournament May 24-27 in Las Vegas, with the top two seeds getting a bye on the first day of single elimination action.

The Gaels (18-21, 11-10) are just behind in sixth, having dropped back-to-back one-run games to San Francisco on the road. They've lost their last two series on one-run extra-innings games, falling to LMU 2-3 in a ten-inning game on April 21 and falling to the Dons by the same score in a 14-inning game on April 29. Christian Almanza has the second-most homers in the league (13) and leads the team in batting average against conference foes (.333), with Gavin Napier just behind at .307. Jared Mettam and Dalton Mashore both rank in the top five in the league in stolen bases with 13 and 12, respectively, while RHP Connor Linchey has the second-best ERA in the league (2.88) over eight appearances.

The Zags snapped a four-game skid with three wins over Pacific (13-28, 5-16 WCC) last weekend, walking the Tigers off in Sunday's finale after Enzo Apodaca scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth to seal the sweep. Apodaca batted .545 on the weekend to lead four Zags who batted above .400 against Pacific, including Brian Kalmer (.500), Ezra Samperi (.400) and Tommy Eisenstat (.400). 

Kalmer has driven in a league-high 40 RBI so far this season and ranks in the Top 10 in the WCC in hits (58), homers (12), doubles (12), runs scored (38), slugging percentage (.692). On-base percentage (0.461) and walks (29). Stem and Enzo Apodaca are tied for the second-most triples in the league with three apiece, with Stem cracking the Top 10 in batting average and total hits (45).
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.

Friday's series opener will be broadcast via the WCC Network on Stadium, with first pitch 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 (17-25, 13-8 WCC) VS. SAINT MARY'S (18-21, 11-10 WCC)
Hertz Field at Patterson Baseball Complex | Spokane, Wash.
May 5, 6 p.m | Live Stats | Stream
May 6, 6 p.m | Live Stats | Stream
May 7, 1 p.m | Live Stats | Stream

PROBABLE STARTERS
GAME ONE
RHP Owen Wild (5.14 ERA, 4-5, 70 IP, 78 K) vs. TBA
GAME TWO
RHP Nathan Deschryver (5.26 ERA, 4-4, 49.2 IP, 41 K) vs. TBA 
GAME THREE
RHP Jacob Rutherford (4.73 ERA, 3-0, 59.0 IP, 53 K) vs. TBA

ALL-TIME SERIES
After winning last season's series in Moraga, the Zags are 37-30 against the Gaels since 2003 and are winners of five of their last six meetings, with last season's series breaking a stalemate on the road to take a 16-15 lead in games played in Moraga. GU is 10-3 against SMC in Spokane since 2013.

LAST TIME OUT (vs. Pacific, at Washington State)
- The Zags got back in the win column in Friday's West Coast Conference series opener against Pacific, with a complete game from Owen Wild and back-to-back homers from Cade McGee and Brian Kalmer in the fifth igniting an 8-5 win.
- GU clinched the series in Saturday's Game Two, going ahead with a three-run sixth and holding on with tight defense over the last three frames for a 4-3 win.
- Enzo Apodaca scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth to walk off the Tigers in the finale, with the Bulldogs winning 9-8 to secure their second series sweep of the season.
- Despite a dominant outing from RHP Kai Francis (5.0 IP, 5 K, 0 R) in his first start, Washington put up nine runs over the final two frames – including four on throwing errors – to surge ahead for a 9-6 midweek win.

KALMER HITTING TO ALL FIELDS
Kalmer ranks among the Top 10 in the WCC in seven different offensive categories:
No. 8 in Runs scored (39)
No. 3 in Hits (59)
No. 6 in Doubles (12)
No. 6 in Home Runs (12)
No. 2 in RBI (41)
No. 3 in Walks (30)
No. 6 in Batting Average (.362)

SAMPERI STAYS HOT
After breaking out of a hitting slump with two homers and six RBI against Portland in his home state of Oregon last week, Samperi stayed hot over the weekend, finishing with a team-high 5 RBI with two doubles. Samperi was also aggressive on the basepaths, going 2-for-3 on stolen base attempts – a team-best. Against Washington State on Tuesday, he connected on two doubles and finished 3-for-4.

ZAGS SWIPING BAGS
GU went 7-for-8 on stolen base attempts as a team over the weekend, the most bases they've attempted and stolen as a team over a weekend all season. Samperi went 3-for-4 on stolen bags after only stealing four in his first 38 games of the season combined.

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. 

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 five starting appearances, Rutherford carries a 4.08 ERA with 47 punchouts over 50.2 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.

'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.