FRIDAY, FEB. 23 | 2:30 P.M. |Â HAWKINS FIELD | NASHVILLE
SATURDAY, FEB. 24 | 12 P.M. |Â HAWKINS FIELD | NASHVILLE
SUNDAY, FEB. 25 | 11 A.M. |Â HAWKINS FIELD | NASHVILLE
- Gonzaga travels to Vanderbilt for a three-game series starting Friday. First pitch times will be 2:30pm, 12pm, and 11am PST.
- Friday's opener marks the first-ever meeting between Gonzaga and Vanderbilt.
- Gonzaga's series against Vanderbilt marks the second straight series against a Top 25 ranked opponent. Their six-straight games against ranked opponents is the longest stretch of ranked games at least under the Machtolf era.
- The Bulldogs are coming off a series in Los Angeles where UCLA earned a three-game sweep over GU. After a back-and-forth game one that saw UCLA win 8-7, the Bruins won games two and three by scores of 10-3 and 6-0.
- 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.
BULLDOGS/COMMODORES SERIES HISTORY
- Gonzaga and Vanderbilt will square off for the first time in this three-game series beginning on Friday.
- This marks the second straight season that the Zags travel to Tennesee, playing a three-game series in Knoxville last season.
ON DECK
- After their series in Nashville, Gonzaga will make the short trip to Clarksville to take on Austin Peay Monday at 11am PST.
- The Zags will then begin a three-game series in Provo, Utah at BYU starting Thursday, Feb. 29.
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SCOUTING THE COMMODORES
- Vanderbilt enters the series after two mid-week matchups this week. On Tuesday, the Commodores fell to Dayton, 8-5 before bouncing back in a 5-3 win against Eastern Kentucky on Wednesday. Vanderbilt opened their 2024 season with a series win at home against Florida Atlantic.
- The Commodores are ranked in the top ten of five national polls. They are ranked sixth in the D1Baseball, Coaches and Perfect Game polls, seventh in Baseball America's poll, and tenth in the NCBWA poll.
- Davis Diaz leads Vanderbilt's offense over the first week of the season, batting .357 (minimum 12 plate appearances) with a 1.072 OPS, four RBIs and four runs scored. The Commodore's highest run production has come from Jonathan Vastine and RJ Austin, who have combined for 11 RBIs this season.
- Vanderbilt has won two national championships under head coach Tim Corbin. their first came in 2014 and their second came five years later in 2019.
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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.
- 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.
MACHTOLF EYES 600TH WIN IN 2024
Â- 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.
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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.
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