May 8, 2008

Game Notes and Stats in PDF Format

Game 49

Lewis-Clark State at Gonzaga

Patterson Baseball Complex and Washington Trust Field (3,500)

Spokane, Wash.

Monday, May 12, 6 p.m.

Series Record:

LCSC leads 59-51-1

Last Meeting:

@LCSC 8, GU 7 (exhib.)

Live Stats: www.gozags.com

Radio: 1510 KGA

 

Game 50

Washington State at Gonzaga

Patterson Baseball Complex and Washington Trust Field (3,500)

Spokane, Wash.

Tuesday, May 13, 6 p.m.

Series Record:

WSU leads 111-69

Last Meeting:

@WSU 9, GU 8

Live Stats: www.gozags.com

Radio: 1510 KGA

 

UP TO BAT: Monday and Tuesday Gonzaga University will wrap-up the home slate of the 2008 season with games against Lewis-Clark State College and Washington State University. Monday, the Zags will host the Warriors in a rescheduled contest at 6 p.m. The game was originally scheduled for April 23, but due to weather was pushed to a later date. Tuesday, GU will wrap-up a four-game season series with the Cougars at Patterson Baseball Complex and Washington Trust Field. Game time is scheduled for 6 p.m.

 

LAST OUTING: Gonzaga University dropped a three-game West Coast Conference series to the University of San Francisco 2-1 last weekend in the final weekend of home games for the Bulldogs. In the series opener on Friday, the Dons scored five runs in the fourth inning to earn a 7-5 victory. Drew Heid led the Zags on the evening, going 3-for-5, while Ryan Wiegand drove in three runs. Saturday, a walk-off home run by Jason Chatwood decided the 9-6 Gonzaga victory, before a three-run home run by USF posed to be the deciding factor in a 9-6 GU loss.

 

ON DECK: Gonzaga will wrap up the 2008 campaign next weekend, as the Zags travel to Los Angeles for a three-game West Coast Conference series with Loyola Marymount University. The series will open Friday at 3 p.m. before games Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m.

 

LIVE ON THE RADIO: The Gonzaga University baseball team will have two remaining games aired live on the radio in the greater Spokane area this season. This week's re-scheduled contest with Lewis-Clark State College and game against Washington State University will be aired live on 1510 KGA. The broadcasts will begin 15 minutes prior to the scheduled first pitch. Calling games for the Bulldogs will be Tom Hudson with former head coach Steve Hertz providing color commentary.

 

HEID EARNS CONFERENCE ACCOLADES: Outfielder Drew Heid has been named the West Coast Conference Player of the Week for the second consecutive week. Heid earned the accolade after leading the Zags  last week with a .558 average. The sophomore with 10-for-17 in seven games, including going 5-for-10 as the Zags swept two-time defending national champion Oregon State University. The native of Goldendale, Wash. also drove in four runs, while scoring seven. The honor was the second in as many weeks for Heid and the sixth weekly league honor for a Zag this season.

 

SCOUTING THE COUGARS: The Washington State Cougars head into the weekend with a 26-20 record, including going 8-10 while playing as the visiting team. Jared Prince heads up the WSU offense, hitting .337 with 56 hits. Paul Gran is also posting an impressive season; batting .331 with 56 hits and a team-leading 44 runs batted in. Matt Way bolsters the Cougars' pitching staff, posting a 3-3 record in 15 appearances while also earning two saves. In three games against Gonzaga this season, WSU holds a 2-1 series edge. All-time, the Zags are behind in the series as WSU leads 111-69.

 

THIS SEASON VS. WASHINGTON STATE: The Gonzaga University and Washington State University baseball teams have met three times already this season, with the Cougars leading the season series 2-1. Ryan Wiegand and Grant Kveder each logged two hits a piece for the Zags in the opening game of the series as GU fell 6-2 in Pullman. Two weeks later, the Bulldogs welcomed WSU to Spokane, as Gonzaga posted an 11-8 victory. Down 8-4 heading into the eighth inning, the Zags scored seven runs in the frame to earn the victory. A grand slam by Ryan Wiegand highlighted the inning, as the junior finished the night going 4-for-5. During the most recent meeting, on April 22 in Pullman, the Cougs scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth to earn a 9-8 victory.

 

BULLDOGS VS. PAC-10 FOES: Gonzaga University has posted a 5-2 record in seven games against Pacific-10 Conference opponents this season, including going a perfect 5-0 against members of the conference. Ryan Wiegand leads the Bulldogs at the plate hitting .567 with 17 hits and a dozen runs batted in against Pac-10 foes.

 

SCOUTING THE WARRIORS: Lewis-Clark State College heads into the weekend with a 47-5 overall record. The defending NAIA national champions are paced by Kyle Greene, who is hitting .455 with 76 hits, 12 home runs and 74 runs batted in on the season. In total, the Warriors have six members of their roster posting a .350 batting average or better. The pitching staff for LCSC is anchored by Ryan Woods, who boasts a 7-1 record in 13 appearances. Woods also maintains an impressive 1.91 earned run average in 47 innings with 54 strikeouts. All-time against the Zags, LCSC holds a slight 59-51-1 edge.

 

THIS SEASON VS. LEWIS-CLARK STATE: Gonzaga University and Lewis-Clark State College have played once already this season, in an exhibition contest at Lewiston, Idaho on Mar. 2. The Warriors won the game 8-7. Freshman Brett Nicholas led the Bulldogs in the game, going 3-for-5 with one run batted in and a run scored. Evan Wells, Ryan Wiegand, Mark Castellitto and Anthony Synegal each posted two hits in the contest.

 

IN SEARCH OF 30: Gonzaga University enters the week on the cusp of finishing the 2008 season with 30 or more wins. Should the Zags reach the plateau, it will mark the second consecutive season that GU has won 30-plus games. Last season was the first time since 1990 that the Bulldogs earned 30 or more victories. The 1994, 1995 and 2006 teams all finished their respective seasons with 29 victories.

 

BULLDOGS HITTING THEIR WAY INTO THE RECORD BOOKS: The Zags are on pace to set the program record for hits per game in a single season. Currently, GU is averaging 11.25 hits per game thanks to 540 hits in the 48 games to date. Gonzaga set the record with 10.98 hits per game during the 2002 season. This year, the Bulldogs have posted 10 or more hits in 32 contests, including posting a season-high 21 hits twice.

 

ZAGS POST STRONG SEASON AT PLATE: As a team, Gonzaga University is hitting .315 at the plate. Since 1974, the Bulldogs have only finished seven seasons hitting over .300 including only three in which GU hit over .310. In 1987, the Zags posted a .311 average, while hitting .310 during the 1981 campaign. The Gonzaga record for team batting average in a season was set in 1974, when GU posted a .329 average.

 

WALK-OFF LIFTS GONZAGA: A solo walk-off home run by Jason Chatwood lifted Gonzaga over the University of San Francisco on May 3. After the Zags surrendered three runs over the final three innings, including the tying run in the top of the ninth, GU earned a 6-5 victory. With one out in the bottom of the ninth, Chatwood stepped in and connected for his fourth home run of the season over the left field wall to give the Zags the victory. The walk-off was the first since Mark Castellitto hit a game-winning long ball last season against Loyola Marymount University. Prior to Castellitto's walk-off, GU hadn't seen one since Kevin Richardson hit a walk-off during the 2001 season.

 

GONE STREAKING: Second baseman Evan Wells heads into the week looking to extend a team-leading 21-game hit streak. Wells' streak started Apr. 4 at the University of San Diego. During the streak, the junior has hit at an impressive .412 clip, going 33-for-80 with 16 runs batted in and 22 runs scored. Wells is also working on an even longer streak, as he has reached base safely in all but two games this season, including the past 23 contests. The hit streak is five games short of the school record of 26 games, set during the 2000 season by Barry Matthews (1999-01). Wells' streak is the longest streak since Matthews' 26-hit record.

 

WIEGAND HEADLINES WCC BATTERS: Junior Ryan Wiegand leads the West Coast Conference in four offensive categories. The first baseman is tied for first in all games with 74 hits, tied for first in doubles with 18, is first in total bases with 129 and leads the league in runs batted in with 59. Teammate Evan Wells also leads the league in an offensive category, as the junior has drawn 47 walks this season. Wells is also tied for first in on-base percentage with a .502 average.

 

ROOKIE BREAKS SINGLE SEASON SAVE RECORD: Freshman Cody Martin has become the Gonzaga University single season saves leader thanks to his eighth save of the season on April 30 against Oregon State University. Martin broke the 26-year old record of seven games that was held by Randy Bostic (1982).

 

HARMON BECOMES ALL-TIME LEADER: Brandon Harmon has become the Gonzaga University all-time career appearance record holder thanks to an inning for relief on April 27 at Saint Mary's. Harmon has seen time on the mound in 85 games of his Bulldog career. Harmon, who has started eight games this season and made 10 relief appearances, was tied for fourth with Craig Miller (1979-82) with 67 appearances to start the season. Matt Siwek (1996-00) held the school record with 81 appearances prior to Harmon surpassing the mark.

 

MARTIN CRACKS SINGLE SEASON RANKS: Freshman Cody Martin, a right handed pitcher for Gonzaga, has cracked the single season top-10 appearance list. With five games remaining in the season, Martin has already made 23 appearances this season, ranking him tied for ninth on the list. Prior to his appearance Sunday against the University of San Francisco, Martin was tied for ninth with six other former Zags. Currently, the rookie is tied for nine with Mike Caldwell, who made 23 appearances in 1993. Also on the single season list is current Zag Brandon Harmon, who appeared in 26 games during the 2006 season.

 

WIEGAND DRIVES INTO CAREER LIST: Ryan Wiegand, first baseman for the Zags, continues to be a run producer for Gonzaga University as the junior has driven in 59 runs this season. For his career, the native of San Diego has posted 148 RBIs, placing him tied for ninth on the career top-ten. For his career, Wiegand has posted 42 multiple-RBI games, including 18 this season. Wiegand drove in a season-high six runs on Mar. 9 at the University of the Pacific.

 

COUGAR CONNECTIONS: Freshman Reedy Berg is connected to the Washington State University athletic department despite wearing a Gonzaga University uniform. Berg's father, Reedy Berg, Sr., was a varsity basketball player (1978-80) for the Cougars, while his grandfather, Bill Rich, played baseball for WSU (1955-56).

 

ZAGS EARN NATIONAL HONORS: Marcus McKimmy and Drew Heid have each earned national accolades this season thanks to outstanding performances. McKimmy was named the Collegebaseballhub.com West Region Player of the Week, and the Collegebaseballinsider.com West Region Player of the Week for the week of March 25. More recently, Heid was named the College Baseball Foundation National All-Star Line-up for the week of April 29.

 

CONTINGENCY PLAN: Due to inclement weather in Spokane, the scheduled three-game West Coast Conference series between Gonzaga University and Pepperdine University that was scheduled for the last weekend of March had to be modified. The series was shortened to a two-game set in Spokane. The third game of the series will be played, if needed, later in the season should the game be necessary to determine seeding for the WCC Championship. Most likely, the game will be made up at a neutral site in Southern California at the end of the season when the Zags take their already scheduled trip to Los Angeles to face Loyola Marymount University May 16-18.

 

ZAGS EARN WEEKLY WCC HONORS: Grant Kveder, Marcus McKimmy, Cody Martin, Ryan Wiegand and Drew Heid of the Gonzaga University baseball team have each been awarded West Coast Conference Player of the Week or Pitcher of the Week Accolades this season. Kveder earned the honor on Mar. 17 as the junior led GU to the 2008 Pepsi/Johnny Quick Classic title after batting at a .500 clip with five runs batted in, five runs scored and two stolen bases. McKimmy earned the honor on Mar. 14 as the senior led the Zags to series victories over Utah Valley University and Sacramento State University. During the week, he hit .423, going 11-for-26, with four doubles, a home run and 13 runs batted in. Last week, Martin was awarded Co-Pitcher of the Weeks honors after posting two saves, including tying the school record for saves in a single season. Wiegand was named last week's Co-Player of the Week after posting a .429 average, while Heid has been named the player of the week for two consecutive weeks. For the week of April 28, Heid posted a .667 average, before earning the accolade again on May 5 after hitting .588 in five games.

 

KVEDER NAMED TOURNAMENT MVP: Junior Grant Kveder of the Gonzaga University baseball team was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2008 Pepsi/Johnny Quick Tournament. Kveder was named the MVP after posting an impressive .500 batting average during the six-game event. The Alberta native went 10-for-20 with five runs batted in, five runs scored and two stolen bases. Nine of Kveder's 10 hits came as singles and the junior recorded only one extra-base hit - a double. Kveder's strongest performance at the tournament was a 5-for-5 outing against New Mexico State University on Mar. 14.

 

IN HONOR OF JACKIE ROBINSON: Gonzaga University junior Anthony Synegal commemorated the 61st anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in baseball by wearing Robinson's number 42. Across the nation on April 15, all Major League Baseball teams paid tribute to Robinson by recognizing "Jackie Robinson Day" as a way of honoring his pioneering achievements and civil rights contributions. Synegal, a transfer who normally wears number 30, is in his first season with GU.

 

BULLDOGS EXCEL IN CLASSROOM: Two members, including one current member, of the Gonzaga University baseball team were awarded All-West Coast Conference academic accolades last season. Former Bulldog Aaron McGuinness and current second baseman Evan Wells each earned the distinction. McGuinness earned a 3.48 grade point average in exercise science while Wells posted a 3.95 GPA in journalism, which also placed him on the University's president's list.

 

PATTTERSON BASEBALL COMPLEX AND WASHINGTON TRUST FIELD: The 2008 season marks the second year of play at Patterson Baseball Complex and Washington Trust Field. The new home of Bulldog baseball is a state-of-the-art facility that also incorporates an old-time baseball feel. The new stadium includes 1,300 theater-style seats and includes classic brick detailing. Major League amenities include a state-of-the-art infield, a professional candle lighting system and authentic home and visitor dugouts with underground passages to full-service clubhouses. The first game at the new facility was March 15, 2007 against Rider University. The facility also features eight light poles, two which are 90 feet tall while the other six stand at 80 feet.

 

HEAD COACH Mark Machtolf: Mark Machtolf is in his fifth season as the head coach of the Gonzaga University baseball and 17th season as a member of the Bulldogs' coaching staff. Since being named head coach, Machtolf has posted a 142-122 record for a .538 winning percentage, placing him third all-time in Gonzaga history. During his tenure with the Zags', he has led the Zags to four-top five finishes and produced the 2004 WCC Player of the Year, Kiel Thibault, and the 2007 WCC Pitcher of the Year, Clayton Mortensen. He has overseen 33 Zags who have signed professional contracts, including 22 that were drafted into the Major Leagues. Under his guidance, Gonzaga has also landed 69 all-conference selections in addition to 15 All-WCC Academic honors. During the summer of 2006, Machtolf served as an assistant coach for Team USA. Under his guidance, the team posted a 28-2-1 record, including going a perfect at 8-0 record the Federation Internationale du Sport Universitaire (FISU) World Championships in Havanna, Cuba. A 1987 graduate of Stanford University, Machtolf was a member of the Cardinal's 1987 College World Series championship team and was an All-CWS selection.