Gonzaga (17-23, 12-6 WCC) at Washington (16-20-1, 8-13 Pac-12)
TUESDAY, APR. 30 | 4 P.M. | HUSKY BALLPARK | SEATTLE
LIVE STREAM |
LIVE STATS
LH Matthew Mueller (2-0, 6.52 ERA) vs. RH Jase Evangelista (0-0, 3.72 ERA)
LEADING OFF
- Gonzaga continues their eight-game road stint with a midweek game at Washington on Tuesday. First pitch is set for 4pm.
- The Zags and Huskies have not met since 2022 in Spokane, where Gonzaga won 5-2.
- Gonzaga will look to go undefeated against the in-state schools (UW/WSU) for the first time since 2021.
- The Zags are coming off a tough series at San Diego, where they were swept 4-5, 2-14, 0-19 by the Toreros.
- Despite the USD sweep, Gonzaga is in second place in the West Coast Conference with two weeks left.
- The Zags are all but locked into the WCC Tournament on May 22-25, but looking for the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye.
- Last week, Gonzaga completed their season sweep of Washington State in Pullman, pulling out the 6-4 win.
- In their win over WSU,
Matthew Mueller threw a strong five and one-third innings, allowing just two runs on two hits.
- Over his last five appearances,
Payton Graham has combined for 13.2 innings, allowing just three runs on eight hits while striking out 15 and walking just two.
- True freshman
Payton Knowles leads Gonzaga with a .319 batting average, including .375 in West Coast Conference play.
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Justin Feld is touting a 3.28 ERA, which is fourth-highest in the WCC. In conference play, his 2.12 ERA leads the WCC.
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
- Washington is coming off a big series win at home against #16 Arizona, dropping the first game 2-3 before winning 4-3 and 9-8.
- Sunday's finale against Arizona was a 13-inning affair where UW scored five runs in the eighth to tie before walking it off in the 13th.
- Washington's .247 team batting average ranks 11th in the Pac-12, slashing .247/.340/.379.
- Aiva Arquette is fifth in the Pac-12 in slugging (.654), fifth in average (.353), eighth in home runs (11), and tenth in hits (55).Â
- Washington's 5.04 team ERA is sixth in the Pac-12 with the second-lowest total in hits allowed with 336.
- The Huskies have the highest fielding percentage in the Pac-12 (.979), averaging just 0.77 errors-per-nine-innings.
ON DECK
- Gonzaga will wrap up their eight-game road trip with a series at Pacific this weekend.
- The Zags will return home for a quick turnaround on May 6 against Oregon State.
ZAGS STUMBLE AT SAN DIEGO
- Gonzaga was swept over the weekend at San Diego, dropping a one-run game on Friday before a couple of lopsided losses.
- On Friday, the Zags led 3-0 early, but USD battled back to tie before taking a 5-4 lead in the eighth inning.
- On Saturday and Sunday, San Diego was firing on all cylinders, outscoring Gonzaga 33-2 to earn the series sweep.
- Gonzaga's 19-run defeat is the most under Machtolf, and the highest since 2010.
GONZAGA COMPLETES SEASON SWEEP OF WASHINGTON STATE
- Gonzaga defeated Washington State 6-4 on the road on Apr. 23, their first win at Bailey-Brayton Field since April 13, 2021.
- Tied entering the ninth inning, Gonzaga scored four runs before shutting down a WSU rally to hang on for the two-run win.
- In their two meetings in 2024, Gonzaga outscored Washington State 28-11 while outhitting them 29-12.
- In the win,
Tommy Eisenstat extended his hit streak to 11 games.
EISENSTAT, GRAHAM NOTCH WEST COAST CONFERENCE WEEKLY HONORS
- Eisenstat continued his hot hitting against Oregon and Portland, extending his hit streak to ten games. Between Apr. 9 and 22, Eisenstat batted .567 (17-for-30) with nine runs batted in and nine runs scored. During those eight games, Eisenstat compiled seven multi-hit games, including six straight from Apr. 9 - Apr. 21.
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Payton Graham's lone appearance came in perhaps Gonzaga's highest-leverage situation in their series against Portland. Graham entered in Friday's game with a 1-1 tie with two outs in the sixth and the go-ahead run on first base, ending the threat immediately with a strikeout. He earned his first-career win while holding Portland scoreless over three and one-third innings as the Zags earned the 2-1 win.
GONZAGA WINS KEY SERIES OVER PORTLAND
- In a West Coast Conference series that pitted the top two teams in the standings, Gonzaga earned a big series win over Portland.
- On Friday,
Justin Feld battled Pilots starter Nick Brink in a hefty pitcher's duel. While Feld was unable to earn a decision, the Zags prevailed in a 2-1 win to hand Brink his second-straight losing decision.
Payton Graham entered in the sixth and shut down the Pilots over the final three and one-third innings to earn his first career win.
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Liam Paddack battled Carter Gaston on Saturday, with Gaston avenging Friday night's loss as Portland won 4-3 to even the series.
- What looked to continue on Sunday didn't happen, as the bats came alive for both teams in a 22-run, 28-hit combined outing. Trailing by as many as five early, Gonzaga rattled off eight unanswered runs to take a 9-6 lead before Portland eventually knotted the score once again. Four more unanswered runs for the Zags fueled the 13-9 win as
Treyson Peters locked down the Pilots to earn a four-inning save.
PROTECTING THE HOME TURF
- With their 2-1 win over Portland on Apr. 19, Gonzaga tied the Patterson Complex record with their ninth straight win at home.
- Gonzaga is 8-1 at home to begin WCC play for the first time since joining the conference in 1996.
- Since the Patterson Complex opened in 2007, Gonzaga owns a .652 win percentage and a .689 WCC win percentage at home.
WHERE WE CURRENTLY RANK IN THE WCC
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Justin Feld is fourth in the WCC in ERA (3.28), tenth in opposing batting average (.253), and third in earned runs allowed (17).
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Liam Paddack is fourth in the WCC in opp. batting average (.220), sixth in strikeouts (63), and tenth in innings pitched (51.2).
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Erik Hoffberg is tied for second in the WCC in saves with 4, while
Daniel Sotelo is tied for sixth with 3.
ZAGS SWEEP SAN FRANCISCO ON THE ROAD
- Gonzaga earned its third West Coast Conference sweep of the season after defeating San Francisco 2-1, 8-0, 3-0 on Apr. 12-14.
- The Zags opened WCC play 10-2 for the first time under
Mark Machtolf after sweeping back-to-back conference series.
- Gonzaga won seven straight games, sweeping Santa Clara, defeating Washington St. and sweeping San Francisco.
- In the final two games of the USF series, GU recorded back-to-back shutouts for the first time since April of 2021.
- During that 2021 season, Gonzaga achieved the back-to-back shutout feat twice (9-0, 6-0 vs. Pacific and 9-0, 10-0 vs. WSU/PEP).
- The lone San Francisco run came on a home run in the ninth inning of game one on Friday.
PITCHING STAFF DOMINANCE ON THE HILLTOP
- Gonzaga's pitching combined to allow just one run in their series sweep over San Francisco last weekend.
- The Zags' starting pitchers combined for three shutout apperances of 20 1/3 total innings, nine hits allowed and 24 strikeouts.
- As a staff, Gonzaga struck out 30 San Francisco hitters in the series.
- The one allowed run is tied for the lowest in a three-game series under Head Coach
Mark Machtolf.
MACHTOLF NOTCHES 300TH WEST COAST CONFERENCE WIN
- Head Coach
Mark Machtolf earned his 300th West Coast Conference win on April 14 at San Francisco.
- Machtolf becomes just the second coach in WCC history to reach 300 (Rich Hill, USF/USD).
- Now in his 21st season, Machtolf is the third-longest tenured WCC coach in history (Rich Hill, 28 yrs and Nino Giarratano, 24 yrs).
- Entering 2024, Machtolf's WCC win percentage (.613) is 12th all-time, yet he owns over 100 more wins than any of the other 11.
