2-seed Gonzaga (26-25) vs. 3-seed Saint Mary's (32-23)
THURSDAY, MAY 22 | 6:05 P.M. | LAS VEGAS BALLPARK | LAS VEGAS, NEV.
- Gonzaga will trek to Las Vegas as the No. 2 seed in the WCC Tournament.
- The Bulldogs will begin competition on Thursday at 6:05 p.m. on ESPN+.
- The Zags finished second in West Coast Conference play with a 16-8 record.
- GU will face the highest advancing seed from Wednesday's action in Vegas.
- In 2024, GU went 2-2 in the WCC Tourney and one win shy of the title game.
- Last weekend, the Bulldogs won two of three at Portland, 7-5, 5-12, 6-4.
- Bell is the first Gonzaga WCC Player of the Year since 2016 (Jeff Bohling).
- Eight total Zags earned All-WCC Honors (2nd-most in program WCC history).
- GU pitching is allowing 9.01 hits per 9.0 IP, is 1st in the WCC (70th in D-I).
- Gonzaga's 1.50 WHIP leads the WCC and ranks 82nd in NCAA Division-I.
- 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).
- 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 TOURNAMENT FIELD
- San Diego enters the tournament as the No. 1 seed after a 19-5 finish in regular-season West Coast Conference play.
- 1B Jack Gurevitch was named to the All-WCC First Team on Tuesday after slashing .380/.484/.680 in WCC play.
- Saint Mary's enters the tournament as the No. 3 seed after a 15-9 finish in regular-season WCC play.
- 1B Eddie Madrigal led the league in home runs (19) and RBI (66) this season, earning First Team All-WCC Tuesday.
- Loyola Marymount enters the tournament as the No. 4 seed after a 14-10 in regular-season WCC play.
- 1B Beau Ankeney led the conference in runs scored (65) this season, earning a First Team All-WCC nod Tuesday.
- Portland enters the tournament as the No. 5 seed, finishing with a 13-11 record in WCC play this season.
- C Tyler Howard led the West Coast Conference with a .372 batting average, earning Second Team All-WCC.
- San Francisco enters the tournament as the No. 6 seed, finishing with a 9-15 record in WCC play this season.
- INF Patrick Keighran was named First Team All-WCC, finishing first in OPS (1.160) and seventh in average (.355).
BELL NAMED WCC PLAYER OF THE YEAR, EIGHT BULLDOGS EARN ALL-WCC HONORS
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Mikey Bell was named the West Coast Conference Player of the Year, the league announced on Tuesday.
- Bell is the first Gonzaga WCC Player of the Year since Jeff Bohling earned the honor in 2016.
- In what turned out to be a must-win series, Gonzaga took two of three from Portland May 15-17 on the road.
- With Saint Mary's sweeping Santa Clara, the Bulldogs needed two wins to secure the No. 2 seed in Las Vegas.
- GU won Thursday's opener 6-4, dropoed game two 12-5 before taking the deciding game 7-5 on Saturday.
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.
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.
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
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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.
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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
- 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.
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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
- 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.
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