Martin gives Gonzaga a save haven
With 17 regular-season games remaining, Gonzaga University’s Cody Martin has already equaled the single-season school record for saves established by Randy Bostic 26 years ago.
But to assure himself of getting a shot at topping Bostic’s longstanding record of seven saves, Martin (1-0) might want to throttle back a bit.
Why?
Because the 6-foot-2, 200-pound freshman right-hander from Dos Palos, Calif., is on the cusp of pitching himself into the Bulldogs’ starting rotation, according to GU pitching coach Steve Bennett.
“He’s doing a great job for us, that’s for sure,” Bennett said of Martin, who has made 18 relief appearance for the Zags (20-16, 2-6 West Coast Conference) this spring and leads the team with an earned run average of 1.84.
“He didn’t have a great fall, but his first time out this spring he came in and shut the door on the team we played. And ever since, he’s been on an even keel. He’s probably earned the opportunity to start, either later this year, or early next, because you want him on the mound.”
Martin has logged 29 1/3 innings this spring, allowing just 22 hits and six earned runs while striking out 35 – just one less than team leader and starter Matt Fields, who has pitched 50 innings. Opponents are hitting a paltry .210 against his wide assortment of pitches.
“He has four pitches he can throw for strikes, and he has the confidence to throw them with any count,” Bennett said. “But even more impressive is his demeanor on the mound – especially for a freshman. … Nothing seems to affect him. He can strike a batter out or give up a hit, and his demeanor stays the same.”
Martin, whose father, Charles, played for Santa Clara University and the Atlanta Braves, was an outstanding starting pitcher in high school but accepted his bullpen assignment without hesitation once he arrived at GU.
“He understood coming into college that he wasn’t the big man on campus right away, and that he’d have to earn his stripes before getting into the starting rotation,” Bennett said.
Martin tied Bostic’s save record in last Saturday’s 5-4 home win over WCC rival Santa Clara.
He pitched the final two scoreless innings of Tuesday’s 8-4 non-conference home win over Washington, but was not eligible for a save.
His next opportunity could come Friday, when the Bulldogs open a three-game WCC weekend series against Portland that will cap a nine-game homestand – unless GU head coach Mark Machtolf decides to reward him with a start.
Devil of a time
Washington State coach Donnie Marbut probably figured his Cougars had the visiting Arizona State Sun Devils right where they wanted them in last Sunday’s rubber game of their three-game Pac-10 series at Bailey-Brayton Field.
Leading 13-8 in the top of the ninth inning with saves leader Ross Humes taking the baseball, the Cougs looked to be a lock to win the game and the series. But the Sun Devils, who had lost a five-run lead earlier in the game, torched Humes, a junior left-hander, for six hits – including three homers – and eight runs, all of them earned, in just two-thirds of an inning and went on to win the game 16-13.
Humes struck out the first batter he faced in the ninth, and after giving up a three-run homer to Marcel Champagnie, retired the next hitter on a groundout. He then worked the count to 2-2 to Raoul Torrez, before giving up an infield hit and the ensuing two-run homer to Ryan Sontag that tied the game.
Two batters later, Ike Davis connected for his second homer of the game, a three-run shot.
“It was a devastating loss,” Marbut said. “We were in a position we wanted to be in with our guy (Humes) we wanted on the mound, and we were a strike away.”
Quick pitches
Last weekend’s three game series between Arizona State and WSU drew 5,313 fans, the most to watch a series in at Bailey-Brayton Field since 1990. … Heading into Wednesday’s non-conference matchup against Lewis-Clark State in Lewiston, Whitworth University had lost eight consecutive games, all to Northwest Conference rivals. … Whitworth’s margin of victory in six of his 11 wins has been one run, while the Pirates’ average margin of defeat in their 23 losses has been eight. … All 10 teams in the Pac-10 Conference boast winning records.