Three Zags were drafted into the MLB on day 2!

They may be western boys at heart, but it’s time to pack up the bags and move east, because they have the opportunity of a lifetime calling them to the Eastern Seaboard.

In the second day of the MLB First-Year Player Draft, three Zags were selected by three different East Coast teams.

Cody Martin, Ryan Carpenter, and Cameron Edman were all drafted into the Major Leagues.

Cody MartinÂ

Martin, an ace closing pitcher this past season, was drafted in the seventh round by the Atlanta Braves.

With the 236^th overall pick, the California native moved up nearly 400 spots from last year’s draft. In 2010 he was selected by the Minnesota Twins in the 20^th round, but chose to finish out his education and career at Gonzaga. Martin had 12 saves and a 2-1 record in his senior season.

Just four picks after Martin, Carpenter “Carp,” was chosen by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Ryan CarpenterÂ

Considering his high round selection, and stellar season as a starting on the mound, it is likely that Carp will forgo his final season for the Zags to pursue a professional baseball career.  The Arizona kid completed his season with an 8-2 record.

Edman was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 29^th round of the draft.

The catcher from Montana broke through this past season topping the Gonzaga offense with a .346 batting average. He hit a team high of nine homeruns. Cam started all 52 games for the Zags and notched 402 putouts from behind the plate in his red-shirt senior season.

Cameron Edman

All three of the young men earned a multitude of honors this past season, including each of them making the All WCC First Team.

Carp was awarded the WCC Pitcher of the Year with his conference record of 5-1. He also led the league in strikeouts, at 107, which was 21^st in the nation.

Martin’s earned run average earned him national honors. He had the lowest ERA in the country at 0.86. In conference play, he nearly cut that number in half with an impressive 0.47 in 20 innings. He was also named to Baseball America’s 2011 Mid-season All-American Team.

Edman collected numerous WCC awards throughout the season, including the player of the month title for April. His team high of 23 doubles propelled Gonzaga to a final record of 32-19-1.

As young boys in the west, they surely dreamt of making it to the Big Leagues. And now, the East beckons to answer that childhood dream for the three young men.

Gonzaga's season came to an end with a 4-2 loss to USF in the WCC championship game Sunday.

So close, yet so far. That was the feeling that filled the Gonzaga baseball community Sunday after a 4-2 loss to San Francisco.

In a must win West Coast Conference championship game at the Patterson Baseball Complex, the Bulldogs attempted to make their final home game the best one yet. Unfortunately, the loss not only gave the WCC title to the Dons, but also the bid to the NCAA tournament—thus ending the Zags’ great season.

It didn’t take long for USF to take control of the game. In the second inning, they scored three runs—started by a leadoff homerun. That lead was never relinquished.

Gonzaga got on the board with an RBI by Tyler Chism in the bottom of the third.

After six and a third innings on the mound, GU’s Tyler Olson was replaced by Cody Martin, and then the 3-1 score changed.The Don’s managed an unearned run in the top of the seventh to make the score 4-1.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Zags had the bases loaded with one out. This was the Bulldog’s chance to comeback!

Yet, Chism and Billy Moon, the next two batters, both struck out swinging—stranding all three base runners.

One inning later, Gonzaga had the same opportunity. Bases were loaded and there was only one out.

Once again, the chance to score was wasted, as Marco Gonzales flied out, and Steven Halcomb struck out looking.

Despite the lack of scoring in the seventh and eighth innings, in the bottom of the ninth the Bulldog’s started a rally.

Thomas Henderson came in late in the game and his addition into the lineup started off the final inning of the 2011 season. He was walked, followed by Chism taking a base after getting hit by a pitch.

Moon was the next Zag batter and reached first base, moving Henderson to third—Chism was out a second on a fielder’s choice.

With runners on the corners, Cameron Edman came up to bat, and did his job. An RBI single to the left field gap allowed Henderson to score making it 4-2.

There was one out, runners on first and second, and the air filled with hope in Spokane. Disappointment followed though, as the next two batters, Eric Lane (flied out) and Andy Hunter (grounded out) were unable to move their teammates forward.

Just like that, everything was over. The aspirations of the season all came crashing down with the final out. No WCC championship. No post season. Nothing but memories resulted from this season.

Gonzaga finished the 2011 season with an impressive 32-19-1 record. They were second in the WCC at 15-6.

It was a fun and successful four months for the Zag baseball program. Congratulations  on a great season gentlemen!

Freshman starting pitcher Marco Gonzales had 12 strikeouts in the Zags win Saturday.

In baseball, this is what you call a “do or die” situation. If the Zags won, their title hopes would remain alive. A loss would give the WCC crown to the USF Dons.

The Saturday game in Spokane proved to be the most pivotal game of the season. USF managed a 4-2 win Friday evening to gain a one game advantage in the conference standings over the Bulldogs. The overall winner of the series will become the West Coast Conference Champions—and earn the automatic bid to the NCAA post season tournament.

Since the game was a must win for Gonzaga, the coaches made a very wise decision in starting Marco Gonzales as the pitcher. Typically, Gonzales pitches the final day of three game series. He has been a lights out pitcher this season compiling a 10-2 starting record.

Tyler Olson, the typical game-two starter for the Zags, has struggled with consistency this season, and has not been the most reliable as of late. Coach Machtolf and his staff definitely demonstrated their coaching talent by adjusting the starting rotation. Starting Gonzales instead of Olson was the best bet for a win.

Obviously the Zags wanted the win Saturday, but the necessity of victory was due to the loss Friday night.  Ryan Carpenter started the game on the mound for the Bulldogs. In six and a third innings he gave up three earned runs and struck-out seven batters.

Andy Hunter finished the pitching for the Zags, as he notched four strikeouts and gave up one earned run.

Five Bulldogs earned hits, with Keegan Acker going 2-3 at the plate; he also drove in a run. Tyler Chism had the other RBI and a hit for the Zags. Gonzales, Billy Moon, and Steven Halcomb were the other Gonzaga batters to collect a single hit.

Saturday afternoon started exactly how the Zags would have dreamt it would. Gonzales struck out the first three batters in the first inning—talk about a perfect start!

The second inning, well, it wasn’t so perfect. An early run and then a double with runners on first and second gave the Dons a 3-0 lead.

In the bottom of the second, Gonzaga got one run on the board with three consecutive singles. Clayton Eslick scored after he, Andy Hunter, and Halcomb all connected for base hits.

Acker tripled and then scored on a sac fly by Chism to make the score 3-2 Dons in the bottom of the fifth inning.

In the top of the seventh, a leadoff home run by USF’s Jason Mahood put the Don’s up 4-2. The seventh inning stretch must have really boosted the Zags though, because the boys came out and rallied in the bottom of the seventh inning!

Chism singled to start things off for the Zags. Moon doubled, and then Cameron Edman followed with a double—tying the ball game at 4.

An RBI single by Eric Lane gave the Bulldogs a 5-4 edge. Three more consecutive singles by Royce Bolinger, Eslick, and Hunter resulted in two more runs and 7-4 lead heading into the top of the eighth.

Gonzales pitched one and two thirds shutout innings before Cody Martin came into the game for the final out.  Marco also finished the game with a career high 12 K’s.

One run scored making it 7-5. Then the bases were loaded. (Let’s just say I was freaking out a lot at this point.)

Martin did his job though. With a 2-2 count and 2 outs, Moon caught the pop up to left field and the game was over. Zags won!

Now, it really all comes down to one game. The conference title and bid for the road to Omaha are on the line in the WCC finale. Gonzaga will host San Francisco at 1pm Sunday.

Freshman Marco Gonzales is extremely dynamic on offense and defense for the Zags.

He has been called the protégée. He is the freshman phenom from Ft. Collins, Colorado. Marco Gonzales is valuable and versatile for the Bulldogs, and proved it against Portland this weekend.

Gonzales produced plenty of offense and provided the necessary defense for the Zags to clinch the three game sweep at Portland.

The Bulldogs faced the Pilots Friday night, Saturday afternoon, and Monday. Sunday’s scheduled game was rained out forcing the unusual Monday matchup.

The first game of the series was yet another solid opening performance by starting pitcher Ryan Carpenter. He threw eight innings notching nine strikeouts.

His defensive efforts were complimented by a balanced offensive production by the majority of the hitting rotation.

Billy Moon and Gonzales each tallied an RBI for the Zags. Gonzales, Eric Lane, and Royce Bolinger had multi-hit games with two apiece. The nine hit effort by the Bulldogs boosted the team to a 3-2 victory.

Saturday’s matinee provided a bit more of an offensive showdown as the starting pitching was not all that reliable. Gonzaga’s Tyler Olson gave up four earned runs in three and two-thirds innings on the mound.

Reliever, Mark Phillips, pitched four shutout innings for the Zags.

Cody Martin, the consistent closer for the Bulldogs, finished the ninth inning up for the second straight game securing the Zags victory again.

On the offensive side of things, Gonzales continued his dynamic play with a three for four outing and two RBI’s.

Cameron Edman drove in three runs for the Zags and notched two hits. Moon had the other run batted in, as well as two hits in the game. All together, Gonzaga rallied for 12 team hits in the 7-5 win.

Monday, Gonzales took his talents from first base to the mound, where he pitched his fourth complete game of the season. The freshman not only struck out seven batters in his nine innings, but was two for two at the plate. He entered the batting order in the eighth to spark the much needed offense.

The Zags compiled three team hits prior to the eighth inning. Once Gonzales entered the batting order, the team racked in six hits, and produced their first runs of the game. All of the Bulldogs’ scoring happened in the eighth, as five Zags crossed home plate.

Andy Hunter’s lone hit of the game led off the eighth inning, followed by Gonzales’ single and solid bunt single by Steven Halcomb to load the bases. Eric Lane was walked after a Portland pitching change, and the Zags were finally on the board—trailing 2-1.

Tyler Chism came to the plate and belted a two run double to give the Bulldogs a 3-2 lead that would never be relinquished. Moon doubled following Chism’s at bat, driving in two more runs. That solidified the final score of 5-2; Gonzaga over Portland.

The series sweep gave Gonzaga the highest conference winning percentage in the WCC at .800. However, because USF (.778) has played one more conference games than the Zags, they sit atop the standings.

The Zags head to Eugene, Oregon for a mid-week, nonconference two game series against the University of Oregon Tuesday and Wednesday.

Friday, Gonzaga will resume WCC play at Pepperdine, kicking off the three game series against the Waves.

Cameron Edman had three home-runs and six RBI's against BYU Monday afternoon.

Cameron Edman is very familiar with home plate; he’s the catcher for the Bulldogs, so he is always protecting the plate on defense. In Monday’s game at BYU, Edman became comfortable attacking home plate as he drove in three home-runs for the Zags in the 12-5 Gonzaga victory.

He had a standout game, going 5-5 at the plate, collecting six RBI’s, and the three home-runs gave him a season total and team high nine. His stellar offensive effort moved him into first on the roster with a .371 batting average. Edman’s slugging percentage of .700 is the highest in the WCC.

Edman seems to be racking up all the attention for Gonzaga’s baseball team, as this week he also earned a spot on the Capital One Academic All-District 8 team.  The red-shirt senior is working on his master’s degree in Organizational Leadership and has a current GPA of 3.92.

Defensively against the Cougars, freshman pitcher Marco Gonzales notched eight strikeouts and gave up only one hit in his scoreless five innings on the mound. Junior Tyler Olson pitched three innings for the Zags giving up the five earned runs. Rookie sophomore Kenny Smith had a solid ninth inning as he struck out two in his stint on the mound.

On top of Edman’s impressive performance, the Bulldogs tallied a total of 17 hits and 11 runs batted in. Leadoff hitter Eric Lane went 4-6 and drove in one run, while right fielder Tyler Chism notched 3 RBI’s in his 3-6 outing at the plate.

The Bulldogs will face the Cougars for the second game of their two game series Tuesday at 5pm Pacific in Provo.

Gonzaga's weekend pitching staff at Santa Clara (from top left) Ryan Carpenter, Tyler Olson, Marco Gonzales, and Cody Martin.

They may not have thrown perfect games, but Gonzaga’s pitching staff was darn near perfect in their efforts this past weekend at Santa Clara.

WCC Rawlings Pitcher of the Week, Ryan Carpenter threw a complete game shutout Friday night as the Bulldogs took down the Broncos 8-0. This was the second straight start Carpenter finished an entire game, showing his dominance in the WCC. Offensively, Billy Moon tallied 3 hits and an RBI. Tyler Chism and Cameron Edman were the other Zags to have multi-hit games Friday, notching two hits and driving in one run a piece.

Saturday, was similar to Friday as the Bulldogs won 9-0 behind another complete game effort, this time by Tyler Olson. He had six strike outs on the mound and gave up only five hits the shutout. Moon and Chism continued their offensive production collecting two RBI’s each. Steven Halcomb also drove in two runs, and leadoff hitter Eric Lane went 3-4 on the day. As a team, the Zags collected 15 hits to guarantee the series win.

Freshman Marco Gonzales showed his tremendous potential on the mound Sunday, as he became the first pitcher in Gonzaga baseball history to record seven wins in a season. His six innings in the game consisted of two earned runs and five strike-outs. Cody Martin came into the game for the save. Not only did the senior closer, Martin, shutout Santa Clara, but he recorded his first ever college hit with a double to lead off the ninth inning. (He also “retired” a bird in the bullpen earlier in the day as he warmed up for the game—the poor animal never knew sitting on a fence at a baseball game would be the end to its life.)

Gonzaga rallied for 15 hits again as a team, sweeping the Broncos 8-3. Chism went 4-5 with two RBI’s and designated hitter Chris Sturdivant did his job driving in two runs while going 3-4. The Bulldogs are now 9-3 in WCC play and sit one game behind USF.

Next Monday and Tuesday, the Zags will travel to Provo, Utah to face BYU. The Cougars will be joining the WCC next season, so this two game series is a chance for the Bulldogs to see what their competition will be in the future. Gonzaga will return to WCC play May 13^th-15^th in Portland.

Cameron Edman hit two home runs in the Zags loss Saturday.

The expression fair-weather fans is typically applied to those spectators that support “their team” when they are winning. Well for the GU baseball team, their fair-weather fans come to the game when there is nice weather, not when they are winning. There was an abnormally large crowd at the Patterson Baseball Complex, despite most students being out of town for the Easter weekend.

In a sunny and pleasantly warm Saturday afternoon game, the Bulldogs lost to the Gael’s 7-6.

A few post ago I said that precipitation was the secret weapon for Gonzaga baseball’s home success. (The Elements to Winning: http://aeryssports.com/big-dance-crashers/2011/04/11/the-elements-to-winning/). Apparently that is true, because in the first moderately warm game of the season in Spokane, the Bulldogs dropped the game to arch rival St. Mary’s.

Yesterday, there was no precipitation either, and the Zags lost. Two straight days of sun and two straight losses; just saying there might be some weird connection there.

Going into the ninth inning it was tied 5-5. The Gaels tallied two runs to take the lead 7-5. Hope wasn’t lost in the bottom of the ninth though, when lead-off batter Cameron Edman hit his second homerun of the afternoon to cut the lead to one.

Unfortunately, after designated hitter Clayton Eslick struck out, the bottom of the order was left to try and tie, let alone win the game, which just wasn’t all that likely.

The first five batters for the Zags are averaging .332, and all above .300 with their batting averages. The bottom four batters in the ninth, average a .214 with none of them over .300. When that is what you are left with to win a game, can you really expect much? No.

So, as the Bulldogs lost to St. Mary’s for the second straight day, they also dropped their first conference series of the season. This puts the Zags (6-3) into second place in the conference behind USF (7-2).

To the Gael's credit, starting pitcher Kyle Barraclough threw a complete game and recorded seven strikeouts.

Even though the Bulldogs lost, some of the boys really stepped up offensively.  Edman had his two homeruns, making that a team high of six for the season.  They say baseball is a game of threes, and by looking at Edman’s stats from the game it was. He went 3-3 with three RBI’s and scored three runs himself.

Eslick also notched a three of his own, hitting a very nice RBI triple in his first at bat of the game. He tallied another RBI in the sixth inning with a single.

The team has Easter Sunday off, before they take on in-state rival University of Washington on Monday and Tuesday at home.

Gonzaga's athletic facilities.

A lot happened this week in Gonzaga’s athletic department. From golf, to basketball, to baseball, to former Zags, there are plenty of little stories to talk about.

Monday, Clayton Mortensen was brought up by the Colorado Rockies for their game against the San Francisco Giants. Mortensen played for the Bulldogs in 2006 as a junior pitcher. He then went into the MLB and bounced around playing in farm systems occasionally getting called up to play a game or two for the major team. After being called up Monday from his Triple A team in Colorado Springs, the Idaho native was the bright spot for the Rockies in their dismal 8-1 loss to the defending World Champs. Mortensen threw the final six innings, only giving up two hits, while notching one strikeout and walking two batters. His scoreless debut will hopefully keep him on the roster for a lengthily period time.

Tuesday, Gonzaga’s women’s golf program made a statement, finishing second in the WCC tournament. The highest finish in program history was greatly appreciated by the team, and most of the WCC, as Pepperdine and USF are always the top two teams in the conference, and never has any other school broken up their dominance. While Pepperdine did clinch the overall title for the 10^th straight year, Gonzaga played well, and earned quite a bit of recognition doing so. Coach Brad Rickel was the recipient of the WCC Coach of the Year Award. Victoria Fallgren, a sophomore, and TJ Kliebphipat, a freshman, earned first team WCC honors, while senior Sage Suffecool and juniors Stephanie Corey and Jessica Howe were honorable mentions.

Wednesday, a tweet surfaced about Mangisto Arop possibly leaving the basketball program and exploring opportunities elsewhere to continue his collegiate career. That rumor was confirmed Thursday, as the school released a statement saying the 6’6 sophomore was granted a release by head coach Mark Few. After a promising freshman season, Arop suffered a broken foot in the conference semi-final game. He came back with a decent first half of his sophomore season, but ultimately was not found in the favor of the coaching staff as his minutes dwindled to nearly nothing the final half of conference play.  Manny is not sure where he will attend school next year, but is in the process of finding the best fit for his future.

Thursday, a whole lot happened in the Zag sports bubble. Sophomore golfer, Travis Johnsen was named to the all WCC team with his fourth place finish in the conference tournament. Thursday night, the baseball team hosted St. Mary’s in the first of a three game series. The Bulldogs clinched a 5-2 win, with junior pitcher Ryan Carpenter completing the whole game. Seniors Tyler Chism and Cameron Edman both tallied an RBI in the win, as sophomore Billy Moon drove in two runs during the game.

In the late night highlights on ESPN, Gonzaga baseball got a shout out as former Zag Jason Bay made his season debut for the New York Mets. Bay left the Bulldogs after his one and only junior season in 1999, but has made an impact in the Big Leagues since he got there. In the Mets’ game against the Astro’s Thursday night, Bay hit a long shot to right field that should have been a high fly ball. Well, the right fielder bobbled the ball and it kept rolling back into the corner. Meanwhile, Bay sprinted around the diamond getting an unlikely inside the park home run off the four-base error play.

Friday, the baseball team will take the field against the Gaels again, as they try to clinch the series with a win. Tyler Olson is expected to be the starting pitcher for the Bulldogs.

After beating LMU 7-1 Sunday, Gonzaga’s baseball team took sole possession of first place in the WCC.

It seems as though the victory created a buzz about the Bulldogs, because my Twitter feed blew up with tweets about Gonzaga baseball Monday morning. From players congratulating and celebrating with each other, to the GU athletic department publicizing the success of the team, it seemed like every few minutes I was getting a tweet about something related to the team.

The Bulldogs got some national recognition, by earning a No. 24 ranking from Baseball America Monday. Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Top 30 ranked the Zags 29^th in its weekly poll.

Senior closer Cody Martin received the WCC’s Rawling’s Pitcher of the Week award. Martin earned the save on Sunday, to add to his season total of seven saves in 15 appearances. He also has the lowest ERA of all WCC pitchers at 0.76 in 35.1 innings pitched.

Since most of the baseball team has discovered Twitter and joined the social networking site, much of the chatter was directed at Martin (@zagsbaseball32).

Here is a bit of a recap from Sunday’s win for the Zag (Twitter names included).

Freshman Marco Gonzales (@mgonzo007) took the mound for 7.1 innings and gave up one run; a solo homerun to lead off the second inning for the Lions. The rookie standout only gave up three hits in his start.

Offensively, sophomore Billy Moon (@BillyMoon11) took control as he had three RBI’s for the Bulldogs. Royce Bolinger (@roycebolinger), Cameron Edman (@camedman47), and Andy Hunter all had RBI’s for the Zags as well. Tyler Chism (@tylerchism25) added three hits for the Bulldogs.

You can catch the Zags (@Gonzagabaseball) at home this weekend as they take on conference rival St. Mary’s Thursday through Saturday. The team will take Easter off, and then host the University of Washington Monday and Tuesday in a nonconference matchup.

The Zags dropped their first WCC game of the season at LMU Saturday in a 9-4 decision.

Starting pitcher for Gonzaga, Tyler Olson, gave up all nine earned runs.

In the second inning, LMU found a knack for hitting doubles. Three back to back to back doubles gave the Lions a 3-0 lead early on. The fourth inning was even better for them as they scored five runs. A two run homer and two more RBI doubles gave LMU an 8-1 lead.

While the home team was hitting doubles, the Zags were hitting into double plays. Gonzaga hit into three double plays over the course of the game. That was only part of the issue as the Zags left nine runners on base in the loss.

What is terribly frustrating is that despite the five run loss, Gonzaga had 14 hits in the game, the same number of hits as LMU. Not only did the Zags keep up with the hit total, but played an errorless game; LMU even recorded one error.

When offense produces hits, and defense doesn’t commit mistakes, it is ultimately two things that can cause a loss like that—pitching and bad luck. Olson, prior to the game, had the lowest ERA of Gonzaga’s starting pitchers. He is now second at 2.74. In his 49.1 innings pitched, Olson has given up eight doubles, five came in Saturday’s game. It was just not his game. Despite the struggles in the second and fourth innings, Olson still completed six full innings on 105 pitches.

Bad luck wasn’t just part of Olson’s game, but also a few of Gonzaga’s hitters as well. When you end three of the last four innings with double plays, including the fifth inning with the bases loaded, there just really isn’t much chance of scoring.

Billy Moon and Cameron Edman tallied the only two RBI’s for the Bulldogs. Tyler Chism and Eric Lane both earned three hits for the Zags.

LMU and Gonzaga face off Sunday at 1pm to fight for sole possession of first place in the WCC.