Baseball Opens 2024 Season at #22 UCLA This Weekend

Friday, February 16

Los Angeles, Calif.

5 p.m.

Gonzaga University

#22 UCLA

Baseball Opens 2024 Season at #22 UCLA This Weekend

2/14/2024 10:32:00 AM | Baseball

Gonzaga Notes

Zags and Bruins facing off for the first time since 2018

- Gonzaga kicks off their 2024 slate with a three-game series at UCLA Friday-Sunday. Friday's opener is set for a 5 p.m. first pitch and will mark the 26th all-time meeting between Gonzaga and UCLA.

- Gonzaga is 8-12 on opening day under Mark Machtolf.

- Three of Gonzaga's 2024 opponents appeared in the D1 Baseball preseason Top 25. UCLA opens the season at No. 22. Gonzaga's next opponent, Vanderbilt, begins in the Top Ten at No. 6 while regional foe Oregon State is ranked at No. 7.

- Of the Zags' 50 slated games, 18 will be played at Patterson Baseball Complex and Coach Steve Hertz Field, with the first series set for March 7-9 against Minnesota.

- Gonzaga is ranked sixth in the West Coast Conference preseason poll. Receiving 37 points, the Bulldogs were just one point shy of sharing a three-way tie for fourth in that poll.

- GU two-way transfer Jordan Hamberg was ranked 88th on D1 Baseball's Top 100 Outfielders list. Hamberg is one of 14 incoming transfers on Gonzaga's 2024 roster, making his way to GU with former Coppin State teammate Josh Hankins.

SCOUTING THE BRUINS

- UCLA ended with a 28-24-1 record last season, finishing seventh in the Pac-12 (12-16-1). They owned a 19-9-1 record at their home ballpark in Jackie Robinson Stadium, accumulating a 103-36-1 home record over the last five seasons.

- As a defensive team, the Bruins finished 33rd in the country in ERA, ninth in strikeout-to-walk ratio, and 12th in walks allowed per nine innings. Some notable returners for UCLA include Junior Duce Gourson, who owns a career .303/.437/.480 (AVG/OBP/SLG), and sophomore pitchers Michael Barnett and Cody Delvecchio.

- UCLA ranks 22nd in D1 Baseball's 2024 preseason rankings after finishing the 2023 season unranked.

- UCLA's freshman class ranks second in the nation, according to D1Baseball.com. Shortstop Roch Cholowsky arrives to campus as the No. 7 ranked freshman and one of nine on the Bruins roster who are ranked in the Top 150 from the class of 2023.

ON DECK
- After their three-game series in Los Angeles, the Zags will travel to Nashville, Tenn. to face Vanderbilt on Feb. 23-25. This will be the first time in program history that the Bulldogs and Commodores will face off.
- Gonzaga will remain in Tennessee to take on Austin Peay on Feb. 26 in Clarksville.

BULLDOGS PICKED SIXTH IN WCC

- Gonzaga was slated sixth in the West Coast Conference's preseason poll for the 2024 season. Receiving 37 points, the Zags were one point behind LMU and Saint Mary's, who were tied for fourth place.

- 2023 WCC Tournament Champion Santa Clara was selected to capture the 2024 crown, receiving 58 points and five first place votes. San Diego and Portland weren't far behind, each receiving 54 points.

- The WCC preseason poll and team were selected solely by a vote of the conference's nine head coaches. Coaches cannot vote for their own teams and student-athletes.

ABOUT THE 2024 SCHEDULE

- Gonzaga's 50-game spring slate includes 18 games at Patterson Baseball Complex and Coach Steve Hertz Field and eight games against teams who participated in the 2023 NCAA Tournament.

- 12 of the 21 GU opponents in 2024 finished in the Top 150 in the NCAA's RPI rankings from last season.

- Gonzaga Head Coach Mark Machtolf enters his 21st season at the helm for the Bulldogs, currently holding 577 career wins since taking the reigns in the fall of 2003.

- Machtolf is just 23 wins from eclipsing 600. He currently holds the second-most wins in program history behind Steve Hertz, who has 637 (24 seasons, 1978, 1981-2003). Machtolf's .551 win percentage is third-highest in Gonzaga history behind Larry Koentopp's (1970-77) .677 and Jim Lawler's (1979-80) .667.

- Throughout his 20-year tenure, Machtolf has won 30 games in 13 of those seasons. One of those other seven was the 2020 season that was cut short by Covid.

NEW FACES ON THE ROSTER

- Gonzaga's 2024 roster includes 14 incoming transfers and 16 freshman.

- Among the transfers are former Coppin State teammates Jordan Hamberg and Josh Hankins. Hamberg, a two-way senior, earned All-HBCU Freshman of the Year in 2021 and twice was the John Olerud Award Two-Way National Player of the Year Finalist in 2022 and 2023. Hamberg owns a career .337/.456/.561 slash with 34 multi-hit games while recording seven 10+ strikeout outings on the mound.

- Hudson Shupe, an in-state native and transfer from Seattle University, batted .333 with 72 hits in his freshman season with the Redhawks. Hailing from Hanford High School in West Richland, Shupe earned a pair of Mid Columbia Conference honors his junior and senior seasons.

- Other notable NCAA transfers on Gonzaga's 2024 roster include Peyton Miller - a sophomore infielder from Pacific, Vincent Temesvary - a junior outfielder from CSU Dominguez Hills, and Jace Phelan - a redshirt junior from Washington State and Spokane-area native.