For his second straight season, two-way all-star sophomore Marco Gonzales earned the West Coast Conference Pitcher of the Year award. As one of the finalists for the Golden Spikes Award, which honors the nation’s best player, he is the only two-way man to make the list. Gonzales finished the season with an overall WCC record of 4-1 and the 15^thbest ERA in the country at 1.51.

Marco Gonzales stood out among the rest in WCC awards

As part of the 25 man All-WCC First Team roster, Gonzales is joined by seniors Royce Bolinger and Alex Stanford, along with junior Clayton Eslick. Senior pitcher Tyler Olson and junior short-stop Steven Halcomb were given Honorable Mention.

Bolinger, who was the primary center-fielder for the Bulldogs, led the league, and team, with a .392 batting average. The Arizona native was at the top of almost every conference statistic this season. As the senior second-baseman, and his first year as a starter, Alex Stanford had quite the offensive season. He racked up a .341 conference batting average, while gathering 31 RBI’s on the year. In his junior season, Eslick was all over the field on defense; as he was found playing first, second, third, and left field throughout the year. He began the season as the DH for the Zags, and maintained his role in the clean-up spot for most of the season with a .340 batting average and the second highest OBP in the league at .495.

While these gentlemen where honored for their work on the field, it is also important to recognize the team members who made the WCC All-Academic roster as well. Gonzales earned a slot on the honorary academic list with a 3.34 GPA. He was joined by senior catcher Maxx Garrett who accumulated a 3.54 grade point average. Andy Hunter, another two-way player for the Bulldogs, is a senior who finished his career with a 3.48GPA.

It was a long spring for the Zags, but they sure were successful on and off the field. Congratulations on a great season and for finishing out the year with a 34-22 record.

After a statement victory Friday night, the Bulldogs bulldozed through Saturday and Sunday with wins to move into third place in the conference with an overall record of 32-21. In the second game of the three match series, GU racked up a 5-3 win, and then closed out the weekend with close 7-6 edge over Portland.

In Saturday’s win, sophomore starter Marco Gonzales whipped out eight innings, just as Tyler Olson did Friday. He let up two earned runs, but helped himself out as he led off the GU batting order and drove in one run. Gonzales tossed eight strikeouts in his stint on the mound.

It was junior utility player Clayton Eslick, who brought the offense; going 2-3 at the plate, while scoring two runs. Eslick started at third base on the defensive end, but has played first, second, left field, and has been assigned designated hitter this season.

Steven Halcomb, Alex Stanford, and Maxx Garrett also notched RBI’s for the night, as Stanford, Billy Moon, and Alex Bonczyk crossed home plate to put runs up on the board.

Teammates Marco Gonzales and Clayton Eslick welcom back Royce Bolinger after he crushed a three run homer

On Sunday, which was senior day for the Bulldogs, Andy Hunter followed the lead of Olson and Gonzales in staying on the mound into the eighth inning. While he was credited with all six earned runs, he managed the win. In his last home game at Patterson Baseball Complex, Hunter did all he could manage to do, lasting eight and a third innings, while DHing for the team. He earned two hits and an RBI, as he moved to 4-2 as a starter.

The other offense was provided by fellow senior honoree, Royce Bolinger as he cleared the fence and the bases with a three run homer in the fourth inning. Bolinger racked up three hits in his last game in Spokane. He finished the night with four runs batted in. Garrett, the senior catcher, drove in a teammate, as did Bonczyk, the junior center fielder.

Gonzaga will face BYU in Provo next weekend to close out WCC play, but first they will head 70 miles south to Pullman to take on regional rival Washington State, on Tuesday. The two teams are making up a game that rained out earlier in the season. It’s time to take four games from the awful Cougar mascot.

After a weekend of losses in nonconference play and  the first week of summer break this past week, the Zags got back on track with a big win over Portland in the first game of a three game series. Friday night the Bulldogs took down Pilots 12-4.

Tyler Olson pitched eight innings giving up only one run

Tyler Olson started on the mound for the Zags tossing eight innings, while earning eight K’s and only giving up one earned run. His stint limited Portland to only five hits and one walk—quite a night for the senior hurler, who is now 5-3 on the year.

On the offensive end, the Gonzaga bats were alive as they collected 17 hits. Senior second basemen Alex Stanford was a perfect 4-4 from the plate, with three RBI’s. Senior catcher Maxx Garrett also drove in multiple runs with his 2-5 effort.  Junior Clayton Eslick was a solid 2-3 with one run batted in. Five other Bulldogs drove in teammates: Marco Gonzales, Steven Halcomb, Andy Hunter, Mitchel Gunsolus, and Alex Bonczyk.

Gonzaga, now 30-20 for the season and 12-10 in WCC play face Portland at home Saturday at 3pm.

It’s one of those days that sports fans mark on their calendar—opening day of the college baseball season. Gonzaga headed to Arizona to face off with Nebraska in the first series of the year. The Bulldogs pulled out the win with a 7-4 victory.

Redshirt freshman Derek Peterson got the W for GU

Marco Gonzales started on the mound for the Zags. He pitched five innings and kept GU in the game, but did not have his best performance. The sophomore will likely start at first base Saturday, as he has a great glove and swing to go with his arm—Gonzales is basically one of the best all-around players in college ball.

The Zags led the game 1-0 at the end of the second inning thanks to Steven Halcomb driving in Andy Hunter with an RBI single. Nebraska took a 4-3 lead in the sixth, but Derek Peterson, a redshirt freshman, entered the game to replace Gonzales. Peterson clinched the win for GU.

 

Junior Clayton Eslick was 2-2 from the plate and scored 2 runs for the Zags

On the offensive side, Clayton Eslick filled in for Travis Forbes as the DH in the top of the 7^th. He     went 2-2 and scored two run in his short appearance for the Zags.

Eric Lane, Payden Cawley Lamb, and Maxx Garrett each drove in a run too. Senior center-  fielder Royce Bolinger brought in two teammates Friday night.

Freshman Zach Abbruzza closed the game for the Bulldogs—he didn’t relinquish a hit and struck out two Huskers in his two innings.

There really is no better feeling than starting off the season with a victory—the Zags did just that with great substitutions to seal the win. GU is on the road in various series around the country until March 16^th when they host their first game at the Patterson Baseball Complex against University of the Pacific.

The Oregon Ducks shut out the Bulldogs in the midweek matchup

Billy Moon has a 10 game hit streak going for the Zags. Some freshmen got some quality field time for the Bulldogs.

And that’s about all you need to know about the final two non-conference games Gonzaga played Tuesday and Wednesday.

At the University of Oregon, the Ducks blanked the Zags 6-0 Tuesday and 9-0 Wednesday.

In the first game, three Bulldogs notched hits: Billy Moon, Steven Halcomb, and Maxx Garrett. Starting pitcher Andy Hunter recorded five strikeouts in his four innings on the mound. He gave up only one run.

Wednesday’s afternoon contest was a little more productive in the hitting category for the Zags; yet scoring appeared to be unattainable.

As a team, they tallied seven hits. Moon rallied for two, as did Eric Lane. Freshmen Marco Gonzales and Payden Cawley Lamb each earned a hit. Sophomore Clayton Eslick collected the other Zag hit.

Gonzaga’s pitching crew showed their inexperience in the loss. Freshman Aaron Brooks started his first game of the season and gave up five earned runs in five innings.

There were two rare appearances on the mound for the Zags as redshirt sophomore Ryan Leahy and redshirt freshman Karl Myers filled in as relievers for two innings. Each gave up an earned run.

Senior Cody Martin closed the game for the Zags tossing the ninth inning.

Gonzaga closes out their 13 game road trip at Pepperdine this weekend. As the Bulldogs resume conference play against the Waves, their race for first place in the WCC resumes as well.

Gonzaga's senior catcher Cameron Edman went 4-5 Tuesday against WSU.

Tuesday night the No. 24 ranked Zags baseball team dropped their first home game of the season to Washington State in an 11-6 decision.

While Gonzaga’s pitchers struggled to find a consistent rhythm, the umpires couldn’t get their act together either.

A very controversial three run homer was given to the Cougs in the top of the fifth inning that really shifted the momentum of the game.

Significant winds the entire game caused batters to struggle to keep their hits inside the poles. With two outs in the top of the fifth, WSU’s short stop Cody Bartlett drove the ball to left field. Winds carried the ball, and to the Gonzaga crowd, it looked like the ball clearly curved outside of the left field pole prior to clearing the fence.

The home plate umpire didn’t see it that way. He ruled the ball fair and three more runs were on the scoreboard for the Cougars.  It was 10-3 going into the bottom of the fifth.

A seven run deficit is rather difficult to see as surmountable when you are past the half way point of the ball game. It is even harder to overcome when the team is struggling to find a pitcher that can get you through the game. Now, if those three runs hadn’t counted, it would have only been 7-3, not such a daunting task.

Gonzaga went through five pitchers in their final game before starting conference play. Sophomore Billy Moon started the game for the Bulldogs, but after giving up six runs in three innings, senior Mark Phillips came to the mound.

Phillips started off great, earning a “K” for the final out of the third inning. He then retired the first three batters of the fourth inning. However, the fifth inning rolled around and four runs later Phillips didn’t look so good. After a leadoff double in the sixth, freshman Aaron Brooks came in to pitch.

Brooks gave up a sacrifice RBI in his one and a third innings on the mound.

Junior Andy Hunter came in the game to start the eighth inning. Despite two walks Hunter got out of the inning without giving up a run.

Senior ace Cody Martin came in to close out the game for the Bulldogs. He struck out the first two batters, and the third grounded out. Gonzaga headed into the bottom of the ninth down 11-4.

Despite the deficit, the Zags pulled out some offense in their final at bats. Junior Royce Bolinger singled to get things started for the Bulldog’s desperate offense. After stealing second, Bolinger scored off an RBI double by Freshman Marco Gonzales. Right after that, Cameron Edman, the senior catcher for GU, doubled to drive in Gonzales.

The controversy that lies with Edman’s at bat is that he had a so-called “foul ball” in left field that many in the crowd believed looked a lot like the hit in the fifth inning by WSU. The umpire ruled it a foul ball, but had it been declared fair like Bartlett’s earlier three run homer, the Zags would have been down 11-7 with only one out. However, Edman’s at bat ended up in an RBI double, and the score was 11-6.

Maxx Garrett struck out swinging in the next at bat.

With two outs looming, sophomore Clayton Eslick reached first on a fielding error to keep the Bulldog’s hopes alive. Edman advanced to third, and sophomore short stop Steven Halcomb came to the plate.

Halcomb was walked and the bases were loaded. Optimism was all the Zags could hold on to.

Lead-off hitter Eric Lane was up. Lane grounded out, and the game ended. The final score 11-6.

Despite the frustrations of pitching inconsistencies and leaving runners on base all throughout the game, the controversial calls made by the blues really changed the pace of the game.

Had WSU not received the three runs in the fifth, they would have only had eight runs in the ninth. If Edman’s hit deemed outside the left field post were called fair, Gonzaga would have tallied seven runs in the ninth. A much closer score and much less momentum for the Cougars could have really helped the Bulldogs’ rally.

Gonzaga (16-9-1) will host University of San Diego (7-19) this weekend in the WCC opener. The first pitch is scheduled for Friday at 6pm.