Gonzaga vs. #13 Oklahoma
FEB. 28 - March 1 | 2 P.M., 12 P.M. and 11 A.M. PT | NORMAN, OKLAHOMA 
TV: SEC NETWORK+ | LIVE STATS | GAME NOTES

LEADING OFF
- Gonzaga is traveling to Norman, Oklahoma to take on a three game series with #13 OU. This is the first time GU has played a game in Norman. 
-This is GU's first matchup with a ranked team this year, and the first of three series with a team that won a game in an NCAA regional last season (Creighton and Saint Mary's). 
- The first game will take place almost exactly two years since Gonzaga last beat a ranked team, with the Zags most recently defeating then-#6 Vanderbilt by a score of 9-8 in Nashville on February 25, 2024.
-The Zags have won a solid 44.6% of matchups with top 25 teams under coach Mark Machtolf, going 41-51-1 in such games
 -The last meeting between these OU and Gonzaga took place in Spokane in 2023, which set the second highest scoring marks in a game ever played at GU's Patterson Baseball Complex, with 37 combined hits and 31 combined runs both accounting for second most in facility history.

POSITIVE PITCHING PERFORMANCE
-The Zags currently rank in the top 50 in Division 1 in ERA and hits allowed per nine innings
- Gonzaga currently gives up only 6.79 hits per nine innings, putting them at 28th in Division 1.
- The GU pitching staff has a .211 batting average against, while the Zags are hitting .236
- The team ERA of 3.47 is currently 36th in the nation.
-Last year the Zags had the lowest ERA of any team in the WCC with 5.89. Only one other WCC team had an ERA below 6.
- Zag arms will be crucial in this matchup, as OU ranks in the top ten in D1 in walks, on base percentage, stolen bases, and scoring
- On the batting side, Luca DiPaolo enters the game on a five game hitting streak, while Mikey Bell has reached base safely in all seven games this year

HEAT FROM HOOD
-Landon Hood picked up the first weekly conference award for the Zags, earning WCC Freshman of the Week on Monday.
-Hood, the Gatorade Player of the Year for Arizona, made his first collegiate apperance last Sunday, going 6.1 innings in relief to pick up the win.
-Hood finished that game with a line of 6.1 innings, 8 strikeouts, no runs and only 2 hits.
-He has not allowed a run in 8.1 straight innings to start the season, the longest current streak on GU

MACHTOLF CLOSES IN ON GONZAGA RECORD
- Gonzaga Head Coach Mark Machtolf currently has 625 career wins, ranking second in all time program history behind Steve Hertz, who holds the high mark with 637.
- Coach Machtolf brings a .541 win percentage into his 23rd season at the helm in 2026, the third-highest in Gonzaga history.
-Machtolf is the all time leader among active WCC coaches in career wins
- He also holds more than double the career WCC wins of every other active head coach in the league.
-Machtolf earned his 600th career win on March 14 last season in a 4-3 victory over Washington

ZAGS TO LEAN ON 2025 WCC PLAYER OF THE YEAR
-Mikey Bell returns as the WCC Player of the Year and will man the hot corner for the Zags all year
- Bell was also named to the ABCA All-West Region Second Team. D1Baseball ranked him as the 13th overall 3B in the nation.
- A breakout star in his first year at GU, Bell hit .436 with a 1.291 OPS in WCC conference games
- Mikey led the conference in RBIs (32) and hits (41) in WCC conference games in 24 games of league play.
-Bell ended last year on a 21 game hitting streak and led the team with 125 total bases and 11 home runs on the season.