BSB: Gonzaga Closes Regular Season at Portland

Thursday, May 15

Portland, Ore.

6 p.m.

Gonzaga University

Portland

5/15/2025 9:31:00 AM | Baseball

Gonzaga Notes Portland Notes

The Bulldogs are looking to clinch the second seed in the West Coast Conference Tournament

LEADING OFF

- Gonzaga will head to Portland for the final series of the 2025 regular season.

- The 2nd-place Zags and 3rd-place Pilots will battle for a two-seed in the WCC.

- Gonzaga took two out of three against Portland last year in Spokane.

- Portland knocked Gonzaga out of the WCC Tournament, 21-3 last season.

- The Pilots are coming off a series loss at San Francisco last weekend.

- Gonzaga dropped two of three at home against Saint Mary's last weekend.

- The Pilots finished 37-19 in 2024 and 19-5 in WCC play (second place).

- GU pitching is allowing 9.01 hits per 9.0 IP, is 1st in the WCC (74th in D-I).

- Gonzaga's 1.49 WHIP leads the WCC and ranks 83rd in NCAA Division-I.

- Ty Yukumoto is strutting a 25-game on base streak entering this weekend.

- Mark Machtolf earned his 600th career win on March 14 at Washington, becoming just the second coach in Gonzaga and WCC history to reach that mark.

- In the West Coast Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll, GU was picked to finish third behind San Diego and Portland. Just five points are what separated Portland (2nd), Gonzaga (t-3rd), Santa Clara (t-3rd), and Saint Mary's (5th).

- Tommy Eisenstat, Justin Feld were named to the All-WCC Preseason team.

- Gonzaga is coming off a 21-32 (14-10 in WCC play) season and a third-place finish at the West Coast Conference Tournament in Las Vegas in 2024.

- This season, the Zags return five of their starting eight position players, two of their three regular rotation starters, and three of their high-leverage bullpen arms. Six of Gonzaga's top seven hitters from 2024 also return this season.

- Gonzaga returns six All-WCC honorees from 2024: Tommy Eisenstat, Justin Feld, Miles Gosztola, Erik Hoffberg, Payton Knowles, and Vincent Temesvary.

SCOUTING THE PILOTS

- Portland dropped two out of three at San Francisco last weekend; enter the final weekend tied for third in the WCC.

- The Pilots then traveled to Corvallis to face #7 Oregon State, where they fell 5-3 on Tuesday.

- Brady Bean leads qualified hitters with a .306 average, also leading UP in hits (60), RBI (41), and stolen bases (10).

- In 35 games, Tyler Howard leads the team and WCC with a .385 average and .491 on base percentage.

- Through 49 games, Portland is batting .266 and is averaging 6.1 runs per game and 8.9 hits per game.

- Portland is sixth in the WCC in team average, fourth in team ERA, and sixth in team fielding percentage (.970).

- Pilots pitching owns a 6.06 ERA, striking out 362 and walking 174 over 416.0 innings pitched.

- In 2024, Saint Mary's finished 37-19 with a 19-5 record in West Coast Conference play (second place).

EIGHTH-STRAIGHT WCC TOURNAMENT ON DECK

- Gonzaga will leave for Las Vegas early Tuesday morning, but will hope to not play until Thursday.

- With two wins, or one win and one Saint Mary's loss this weekend, the Bulldogs will clinch the No. 2 seed.

ZAGS BLANK COUGARS TO CLOSE 2025 HOME SCHEDULE

- Backed by six shutout innings from Michael Cunneely, Gonzaga blanked Washington State 9-0 on Tuesday.

- With the win, the Bulldogs clinched the season series over the Cougars, 3-1.

- GU won the final two meetings with WSU after falling in game two in extra innings on April 1.

BULLDOGS/GAELS BATTLE IN THREE ONE-RUN GAMES

- Gonzaga and Saint Mary's concluded a gritty series last weekend, with each game decided by just one run.

- Trailing 8-5 in game one, Gonzaga rallied for four runs in the bottom of the ninth to walk off with a 9-8 win.

- The Bulldogs put together ninth-inning rallies in games two and three, but ultimately came up short by one run.

SENIOR SUNDAY

- Gonzaga recognized 13 seniors (ten players and three managers) on Sunday at Patterson Baseball Complex.

- Ryan Hernandez, Ty Yukumoto, Jace Phelan, Gage Mestas, Max Coupe, Vincent Temesvary, Josh Hankins, Garrett Gores, Tommy Eisenstat, and Kai Francis were recognized prior to the 3 p.m. first pitch.

TICKET PUNCHED TO VEGAS

- With their win over LMU on May 4, GU clinched their spot in the West Coast Conference Tournament May 21-24.

- The Bulldogs will make their WCC-leading eighth-straight tournament appearance (POR/USD will each make 4th).

- Since moving to a tournament format in 2013, GU leads the WCC with ten appearances (LMU will make their 8th).

- Gonzaga has qualified for ten of the 11 West Coast Conference tournaments, only missing the mark in 2015.

TOUGH REMAINING WCC SCHEDULE

- Gonzaga's second half of their WCC slate included four teams currently in the top five of the standings.

- The Zags will face San Diego and Saint Mary's at home and will travel to Loyola Marymount and Portland.

- The West Coast Conference Tournament will be played at Las Vegas Ballpark, home to the AAA Aviators (ATH).

- The top two seeds in the WCC Tournament receive a bye, while the remaining four face off in two play-in games.

ZAGS RALLY IN EXTRAS TO CLINCH SERIES AT LMU

- Gonzaga battled back after trailing by two in the eighth inning on Sunday at LMU to defeat the Lions 9-7 in ten.

- After opening the series with a 5-4 win and falling 7-1 in game two, GU took the deciding rubber match Sunday.

- With the win, GU remains in second place in the WCC with a two-game lead over third-place Portland.

COUPE MATCHES PATTERSON HOME RUN RECORD

- Max Coupe matched a Patterson Baseball Complex record on Apr. 27 against San Diego with three home runs.

- On a 3-for-3, 4 RBI, 4 R afternoon, Coupe became the first Bulldog with a three-homer game since 2023.

- Coupe's feat is the first done by a player at Patterson Baseball Complex since 2009 (Ryan Wiegand vs. LMU).

TURNED IT AROUND

- After a 2-12 start to the 2025 season, Gonzaga won their next 16 out of 19 to get back above .500.

- The Bulldogs strung together three separate win streaks of four or more during that stretch.

- GU began their run with a three-game sweep at Washington and a midweek win at Seattle U.

- Gonzaga won five out their next six series, including sweeps over Washington, Pacific, and San Francisco.

ZAGS CONTINUE HOT WCC START, CLINCH SERIES OVER SANTA CLARA

- After back-to-back WCC sweeps, Gonzaga won their series over Santa Clara to improve to 10-2 in WCC play.

- The Bulldogs won the first two games before dropping a heartbreaker in game three.

- Mikey Bell was 7-for-12 in the series, extending his home run streak to four games after one in each contest.

HANKINS, BELL EARN BACK-TO-BACK WCC PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS

- Josh Hankins (March 31) and Mikey Bell (Apr. 7) earned consecutive WCC Player of the Week honors this year.

- In four games, Hankins batted 10-for-16 (.625), adding a line of 6 R, 3 RBI, 3 2B, 1 HR, 2 SB, and a 1.632 OPS.

- Bell batted 7-for-9 (.778) performance in Gonzaga's sweep of San Francisco, where he compiled a 2.068 OPS.

BULLDOGS SWEEP SECOND-STRAIGHT WCC HOME SERIES

- Gonzaga's bats remained hot against San Francisco as they picked up their second straight WCC sweep Apr. 4-6.

- Despite trailing in games one and three, the Bulldogs battled back for two-run wins in each.

- In game two, the Zags put up 14 runs to earn the mercy rule win, their second of the season.

GONZAGA SWEEPS PACIFIC

- Gonzaga completed the three-game sweep of Pacific March 28-30 in their first WCC home series of the season.

- During that series, GU batted .370 and recorded a team OPS of 1.090 with a perfect 9-for-9 on stolen bases.

- The pitching staff combined for a 1.80 ERA with the Tigers hitting just .140 off the Bulldogs.

BULLDOGS OPEN WCC PLAY WITH SERIES WIN OVER PEPPERDINE

- After dropping the WCC opener at Pepperdine, Gonzaga battled back to win the series March 21-23 in Malibu.

- Sam Stem lifted a go-ahead home run in the tenth inning in game two despite entering late as a pinch-runner.

- Gonzaga's pitching staff combined for a 2.33 ERA in the series win, with the Waves batting .186 off of GU.

GONZAGA COMPLETES 4-0 WEEKEND IN SEATTLE

- After a stretch of eight consecutive losses, Gonzaga bounced back with a 4-0 weekend in Seattle March 14-17.

- The Bulldogs earned their first-ever road sweep of Washington at Husky Ballpark before defeating Seattle U.

- The Zags completed the weekend with a revenge win over Seattle U, who defeated the Bulldogs March 5.

MACHTOLF NOTCHES 600TH CAREER WIN

- Gonzaga Head Coach Mark Machtolf earned his 600th career win on March 14, a 4-3 victory over Washington.

- Machtolf becomes the second coach in Gonzaga and West Coast Conference history to eclipse 600 wins.

- Machtolf's win total ranks second in program history behind Steve Hertz, who holds the high mark with 637.

- Machtolf brings a .543 win percentage into his 22nd season in 2025, the third-highest in Gonzaga history.

SHUPE FIRST TO HOMER AGAIN

- For the second straight season, INF Hudson Shupe was the first on the team to hit a home run.

- On Feb. 16, Shupe hit a one-out solo home run at UC Davis to break the ice for the Zags.

- Exaclty one year prior, Shupe hit the first pitch of the season out to right field at UCLA on Feb. 16, 2024.

ZAGS PICKED THIRD IN WCC PRESEASON POLL

- Gonzaga was picked to finish third in the West Coast Conference Preseason Poll on Feb. 6.

- The Zags received 44 points, resulting in a tie for third with Santa Clara. Five points separated 2nd/5th place.

- San Diego topped the Preseason Poll with 64 points and eight first-place votes.

PAIR OF ZAGS PICKED PRESEASON ALL-WCC

- Tommy Eisenstat and Justin Feld were selected to the West Coast Conference Preseason Team on Feb. 6.

- Eisenstat led the Bulldogs in seven offensive categories in 2024: avg (.301), runs (34), hits (58), and RBI (30).

- Eisenstat also earned West Coast Conference Honorable Mention with one WCC Player of the Week honor.

- Feld is GU's leading returner in seven pitching categories and one of five All-WCC Honorable Mentions in 2024.

- Amongst WCC ranks, Feld's 4.16 was tenth last season while allowing the fourth-fewest total earned runs (29).

- Feld struck out 62 batters over 62.2 IP, averaging just under nine strikeouts per nine.

-GoZags.com-