Zags Host Saint Mary’s in Weekend Series Beginning Friday at 6pm

[TerpZag]

Zags Host Saint Mary’s in Weekend Series

Gonzaga 2021 Baseball Schedule Link

SPOKANE, Wash. – The Gonzaga baseball team returns home fresh off a big win over #20 Oregon State to host WCC foe Saint Mary's in a three-game home series April 9-11 at Patterson Baseball Complex and Coach Steve Hertz Field. Live stats and live video links are available on GoZags.com.

Probables

April 9 | 6 p.m. PT
RHP Alek Jacob (2-1, 4.01 ERA, 33.2 IP, 50K) vs. RHP Carlos Lomeli (2-4, 4.70 ERA, 38.1 IP, 34K)

April 10 | 6 p.m. PT
RHP Gabriel Hughes (2-3, 4.20 ERA, 40.2 IP, 44K) vs. RHP Sam Bower (4-2, 1.96 ERA, 46.0 IP, 31K)

April 11 | 12 p.m. PT
RHP William Kempner (1-1, 2.42 ERA, 22.1 IP, 23K) vs. LHP Ky Bush (3-2, 2.95 ERA, 36.2 IP, 48K)

West Coast Conference Outlook

- The series against Saint Mary's will be the second home conference series for the Zags. Previously, Gonzaga swept visiting Pacific with two shutouts in the series victory, a 9-0 win on April 1 and a 6-0 shutout on April 2.

- Gonzaga leads the WCC in strikeouts (280) and strikeouts per nine innings (10.09). Portland is the next closest with 246 strikeouts.

- The Bulldogs also lead the conference in fielding percentage at .983 with a league-leading 748 putouts. The Zags also have the fewest errors in the league with 17 and rank second league in double plays with 22.

- The Bulldogs rank second in the WCC in batting average at .279; San Diego leads the league with a .317 average while Pepperdine ranks third at .267.

- The Zags rank second in RBI with 155 and lead the league in hits with 274. Brett Harris ranks eighth in the conference in batting average at .349 and fourth in RBI with 24. Andrew Orzel ranks sixth in the WCC in RBI with 23, while Tyler Rando (19 RBI, T-11th), Stephen Lund (18 RBI, T-13), Guthrie Morrison (15 RBI, T-20th) and Ernie Yake (15 RBI, T-20th) all rank inside the Top 20 in the conference.

- GU also ranks second in runs with 179; San Diego leads the category with 199 total runs.

- Gonzaga ranks second in the conference in double plays behind Pacific (25)

- Gonzaga was picked to finish the WCC second behind Pepperdine.

Nationally Speaking...

- Gonzaga is 23rd in the RPI rankings (as of April 8), the highest RPI for any team in the WCC. San Diego ranks 40th, while Santa Clara ranks 82nd.

- Brett Harris has been hit by pitches 13 times on the year to rank third nationally.

- As a team, GU batters have been hit by pitches 57 times; that number ranks third in the country.

- Gonzaga ranks eighth nationally and second in the WCC in doubles with 60.

- The Bulldogs also rank among the top 10 nationally in fielding percentage with a .983 fielding percentage. That number ranks sixth nationally.

- With four shutouts on the year, Gonzaga ranks tied for first in the WCC and eighth nationally.

Zags at a Glance

- Brett Harris leads the Zags in batting average (.349) and OPS (.939), while Ernie Yake ranks second with a .349 batting average and .848 OPS, respectively.

- Two Zags carry a perfect fielding percentage as Guthrie Morrison (71 putouts, 1 assist, no errors) and Stephen Lund (50 putouts, 4 assists, no errors) are 1.000 on the season. Tyler Rando ranks second at .995 with 179 putouts, 14 assists and one error while Andrew Orzel ranks third with 91 putouts, 28 assists and one error.

- On the mound, Alek Jacob leads the team in strikeouts with 50 with a 4.01 ERA and 2-1 overall record. Gabriel Hughes ranks second with 44 Ks in 40.2 innings pitched.

- The Zags have had multiple Player of the Week and Pitcher of the Week honors this season. Most recently, Alek Jacob was named Pitcher of the Week following a super outing against Pacific. After spending the Bulldogs' first two WCC series as a reliever, Jacob nearly went the distance in his return to the starter role against Pacific, posting a season-high tying 11 strikeouts – five of them looking – to cement GU's third shutout of the season. The sidearming righty faced an average of only 3.38 batters per inning, holding the Tigers to three total hits. Gabriel Hughes (March 23) and William Kempner (March 9) have also earned WCC Pitcher of the Week honors while Stephen Lund (March 16) was Player of the Week.

Upcoming Series Info

The Bulldogs lead the series against Saint Mary's 45-28, but the Gaels are currently on a three-game win streak and have won five of the last six contests with each of the final two games as part of the WCC Championships in 2019. The two programs did not meet during the 2020 season due COVID-19 shortening the season.

Gonzaga Article Link

[TerpZag]

St. Mary's scores 7 runs in the top of the 9th and defeats Gonzaga 10-6 this evening...

https://gozags.com/sports/baseball/stats/2021/saint-marys-college-of-california/boxscore/7792

[TerpZag]

Zags Drop Game One to Saint Mary’s

SMC’s seven-run 9th derails Bulldogs

St. Mary's 10 - Gonzaga 6 Box Score Link

SPOKANE, Wash. – Gonzaga fell to visiting Saint Mary's 10-6 Friday evening at the Patterson Baseball Complex and Coach Steve Hertz Field. The Gaels exploded for a seven-run ninth inning to derail the Zags' advantage and steal the first game of the West Coast Conference series.

Gonzaga (17-12, 7-3) got its first run of the game in the first inning following two quick outs from Ernie Yake and Guthrie Morrison in the first two at-bats. Brett Harris advanced to second on a wild pitch after being hit by a pitch, and Tyler Rando sent him home with an RBI single.

The Bulldogs continued to control the game, adding four runs to their lead in the third frame with two big plays—Andrew Orzel doubled down the left field line to score Morrison and Harris, and Stephen Lund followed with a deep center-field single that earned two more runs from Orzel and Rando.

Saint Mary's (14-13, 4-6 WCC) responded in the top of the fourth. The Gaels loaded the bases and capitalized for a two-run frame, with Eric Smelko getting home on a double play grounndout and Christopher Campos driving in Jacob Talamante with a single before Chris Santiago flied out to right field for the final out.

Both the Zags and the Gaels would each score another run before the ninth, with Gonzaga scoring of a sacrifice fly from Grayson Sterling to send Orzel home while Talamante doubled to send Smelko home. Scoreless innings in the seventh and eighth gave GU the 6-3 lead heading to the final frame.

With two runners on bases for SMC following a walk and a throwing error, SMC's Nathan Chong sent in the first run of the inning with an RBI single. The Gaels went on to score four more runs in the inning before Trystan Vrieling struck out Smelko, and two more before the Zags' secured the final out, again with a strikeout from Vrieling.

In the bottom of the ninth, Yake reached on a single to left field but was out at second on the ensuing play after Morrison reached on a fielder's choice. With one out, Harris grounded into a double play to end the inning and give Saint Mary's the 10-6 come-from-behind win.

"Really tough loss tonight," Head Coach Mark Machtolf said. "Only option now is to bounce back and have a quick memory."

Gonzaga returns to play for the second game of the conference series against Saint Mary's Saturday, April 10 at 6 p.m. at the Patterson Baseball Complex and Coach Steve Hertz Field. Visit GoZags.com for up-to-date game time information.

Gonzaga Article Link

[sittingon50]

Ouch.

[TerpZag]

Ouch.

Ouch, indeed...

[TerpZag]

Gonzaga romps over St. Mary's 21 to 3...Zags with 21 hits including 9 doubles and 4 home runs...

Zags starter Gabriel Hughes goes 7 complete innings...Gives up only 3 hits and strikes out 10...

Zags could have used some of this pitching and hitting last night...

https://gozags.com/sidearmstats/baseball/media;category=batting

[TerpZag]

Gonzaga Baseball highlights:

https://twitter.com/i/status/1381113510650765314

[TerpZag]

Gonzaga Dominates Saint Mary's in Game Two

Season-high [21] runs

Gonzaga 21 - St. Mary's 3 Box Score Link

SPOKANE, Wash. — Just as it did Friday, Gonzaga piled on the offense early and often Saturday evening at Patterson Baseball Complex and Coach Steve Hertz Field. But this time, the Bulldogs didn't let off the gas pedal on either side of the ball, thrashing Saint Mary's 21-3 with a 21-hit effort that included four homers and nine extra base hits.

Less than 24 hours after a ninth-inning collapse gave the Gaels a series lead, GU's batters put up 20 runs before Saint Mary's could find a response — a four-run second was followed by four more in the third and a combined 12 runs in the fifth and sixth to snap a four-game losing streak to SMC that dated back to 2019.

Making his first Saturday start of the season after swapping his usual Friday duties with RHP Alek Jacob, Zags RHP Gabriel Hughes found little difficulty imposing his will on the opposing lineup. The 6'4 righty allowed two hits in the first inning but only gave up one more through the rest of his time on the mound, striking out 10 and quashing any attempts by the Gaels to regain traction.

Grayson Sterling finished 4-for-4 at the plate, driving in six runs and scoring three more himself to lead a comprehensive effort on offense. Ernie Yake added three hits — all of them doubles — and three RBI, and Stephen Lund matched that, adding a home run and a hit by pitch.

With runners on first and third and no outs in the second frame, Lund belted a fastball on a 2-0 count to score Tyler Rando and give the Zags a 1-0 lead. Jack Machtolf followed with a well-placed sacrifice bunt that moved Lund and Andrew Orzel to second and third, respectively.

Orzel was put out at home after a fortunate snag from SMC pitcher Sam Bower off contact from Mason Marenco, but Sterling came through in the next at-bat, floating a massive two-out homer over the right field wall to quadruple the lead.

Harris pulled the Zags' second homer in as many innings with a solo slam that exited the park over the left wall to make it a 5-0 lead, and Lund smacked yet another — his sixth of the year — in the same location for run No. 6. Sterling and Mason Marenco both proceeded to drive in two more before the inning could close, but that was only the start.

Sterling and Yake both doubled for the second time in the game in the fifth to score Lund and Marenco, and Guthrie Morrison pulled a breaking ball over the fences for the Zags' fourth homer to score both himself and Yake, extending the lead to make it a 13-0 game with Hughes still rolling on the other side of the ball.

The sixth brought more of the same offensive firepower — Marenco, Sterling, Yake and Morrison drove in a combined five runs with one out, and Riley Livingston, entering the game as a pinch hitter for Rando, made contact with a pitch that got Morrison home on a throwing error for the biggest lead GU has held in a game this spring, 20-0.

Saint Mary's got on the board in the eighth, scoring three runs without getting a hit on any. A walk, an error and a flyout made it 20-3, but Harris scored the final run of the game on an RBI flyout from Livingston.

Pitching the final frame in relief, Jacob Rutherford struck out two swinging and Jack Murphy grounded out to end the game.

Next Up

Gonzaga can earn its third WCC series win of the season in the rubber match on Sunday. RHP William Kempner (1-1, 2.42 ERA, 22.1 IP, 23K) will get the start for the Zags against Saint Mary's XHP LHP Ky Bush (3-2, 2.95 ERA, 36.2 IP, 48K)

Follow the Game

Sunday's game is set for a noon start. Live streaming will be available via the WCC Network, and Sunday's game will be televised on SWX. Check GoZags.com for up-to-date game information and live stats.

Gonzaga Article Link

[TerpZag]

Zags Take Series Against Saint Mary’s

Gonzaga 2 - St. Mary's 1 Box Score Link

SPOKANE, Wash. — A hot start proved to be all Gonzaga needed in its series finale with Saint Mary's at Patterson Baseball Complex and Coach Steve Hertz Field Sunday afternoon as the Zags defeated SMC 2-1 for the series win.

After earning two runs in the first frame, the Zags didn't score again, and ultimately didn't need to, holding on for a 2-1 win as the game shifted into a battle between pitching staffs highlighted by another shutdown outing from Zags starter William Kempner.

The 6'0 freshman righty gained momentum frame by frame, striking out three and holding the Gaels (14-15, 4-8 WCC) to five hits in just over six frames of work. GU's fielders took care of the rest, collecting 12 groundouts to keep Saint Mary's scoreless through the first four for the third game in a row.

On the other side of the ball, GU's lineup followed Saturday's record-breaking 21-hit performance with a more subdued outing, led by Guthrie Morrison and Mason Marenco with two hits apiece. Brett Harris drove in a run to lead four other Zags who finished with one hit.

The Bulldogs (19-12, 9-3 WCC) produced all of their offense in the game's first three at-bats — Yake was walked as leadoff hitter and Morrison tripled in the next at-bat for a 1-0 game with no outs. A sac fly from Harris came next, getting Morrison home to make it 2-0.

The Zags loaded the bases in the fourth, fifth and eighth, but timely putouts from SMC's infield closed each inning before they could make a difference in the score.

"[Saturday] we had so many clutch, two-out RBI's and today we just had runners in scoring position a ton and just didn't bring them home," Head Coach Mark Machtolf said. "So that's just baseball. You gotta win all kinds of ways."

The Gaels got within one in the seventh, with Eric Smelko flying out to center field for a score from Nick Mistone, but relievers Bradley Mullan (one K, one walk, 0 hits) and Brody Jessee (3 K's, one walk, one hit) finished the game without giving up a tying run.

With two outs and runners on base for Saint Mary's, Jessee threw three strikes in a row in the game's final at-bat to secure the series win.

Inside the Series

After snapping a four-game losing streak to the Gaels Saturday night and winning again on Sunday, Gonzaga is now 47-29 against Saint Mary's all-time and winners of two straight against them for the first time since 2017.

Next Up

The Zags head to Pullman, Wash., for a weekday matchup against local rival Washington State. The Cougars (15-11, 3-8) are coming off a 2-1 series win against Utah, their first series win since topping Seattle U in the first weekend of March.

Follow the Game

Live streaming will be available on GoZags.com, with Tuesday's start set for 3:05 p.m.

Gonzaga Article Link