First-place Gonzaga riding seven-game win streak
What a difference a year makes.
Just last April the Gonzaga Bulldogs began a streak in which they would lose seven of nine games, eventually failing to make the West Coast Conference championships for the first time since the 2011-12 season.
After last weekend’s series sweep of the Portland Pilots, GU (20-10, 9-3 WCC) is tied for first place in the conference and riding a seven-game win streak. Furthermore, the fans have taken note, and the 3,724 fans who came out last weekend were a series record for the Bulldogs.
“I wouldn’t say that we’ve really changed anything because our goals are always the same. It’s more just baseball,” coach Mark Machtolf said. “Some of those one-run games that we weren’t winning last year, we’re winning this year. We’re a little bit older, a little bit more mature and that always helps.
“We’ve got good starting pitching at the front end and some bullpen guys that are starting to materialize.”
One of those bullpen arms belongs to Calvin LeBrun, who has thrown 12 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings, including five unmarked frames in Sunday’s 14-5 win over the Pilots.
LeBrun backs up a pair of 5-1 starting pitchers in Brandon Bailey (1.95 ERA) and Eli Morgan (3.95). At the plate the Bulldogs are led by Taylor Jones (1.020 OPS) and Jeffrey Bohling (1.031 OPS), who hit .533 with two doubles, three triples and a home run against Portland.
The Bulldogs have been led by their offense, which is averaging 7.37 runs per game and has scored in double digits 10 times this season. Last year GU averaged just under 5.2 runs per game.
Cougars behind the ball
Balls and strikes are the cause of Washington State coach Marty Lees’ headaches. The Cougars pitchers issue too many of the former, and the hitters are taking too many of the latter.
That’s somewhat to be expected, considering WSU (10-19, 3-9 Pac-12) mostly plays underclassmen, including 11 freshmen so far this season. But WSU’s youthful players are struggling with command and plate discipline, and the Cougars currently sit last in the conference.
The Cougars have gone 1-2 in each of their last three three-game series, after going winless at UCLA to begin Pac-12 play.
“All in all, I felt like we should have won two games,” Lees said of last weekend’s series at Arizona. “That’s the fourth weekend where I feel like we were right there, but we’ve got to get better on the last day. And we’ll have a chance this week against a good Oregon State team.”
While WSU’s young pitchers have big arms – Parker McFadden can pitch in the mid-90s and Ryan Ward was the Oregon high school pitcher of the year – they don’t have great command, and WSU ranks No. 265 out of 295 Division I teams by issuing 5.2 walks per nine innings.
At the plate, the Cougars rank No. 238 nationally with a .333 on-base percentage. WSU batters struck out 32 times in their three games against the Wildcats.
“That’s not competing, to me,” Lees said. “That’s giving in.”
Whitworth clinches berth
A seven-run rally in the fifth-inning was enough for the Whitworth Pirates whose 11-9 victory over visiting Pacific on Sunday clinched a berth in the NWC tournament.
The No. 10 Pirates (23-7, 15-6 NWC) lead the conference by two games. The league’s top four teams will participate in the postseason playoffs, with the tournament champion receiving an automatic berth to the NCAA tournament.
Whitworth won the inaugural NWC championship last season.