Gu Returns Home To Host Baseball Tournament
Gonzaga University baseball coach Steve Hertz is happy the university will be hosting a baseball tournament. And in light of the fact that the Bulldogs have played just one of their first 17 games at home, he’s estatic.
“This is such a great community to bring people into and to show them our hospitality for events like this,” Hertz said. “And playing at home - gosh, we’re road warriors right now.”
Gonzaga will host the three-day Evans Craven & Lackie College Baseball Invitational today through Saturday.
Brigham Young, Lewis-Clark State College and Pac-10 Conference North rivals Oregon State and Portland will be participating in the tournament.
Under the tournament format, every team will play four games, with the winner to be determined by the team with the best record. In the event of a tie, head-to-head match-ups, followed by the team yielding the least amount of runs and hits, will serve as the tie-breaker.
Thursday and Saturday games will be played at Pecarovich Field, with Friday’s games at Seafirst Stadium.
Hertz is satisfied that his team has been competitive, but “close only counts in horseshoes,” he said. “When you play a team like (top-ranked) Cal-State Fullerton tough for two nights in the row at their place, that’s a sign you’re doing some good things. But in order to get to the next level, we need to stop making so many mistakes on defense, and we need to start scoring more runs.”
Some of the top players to be showcased in the tournament will be Gonzaga’s Brendan Hare (catcher, outfielder, .386 avg.) and Andy Norton (catcher, .343).
BYU’s Brad Winget (outielder, first baseman, .378) leads the Cougars (12-14-1) attack while L-C State, the top-ranked NAIA school in the Far West, is 5-1 against Division I teams. The Warriors (20-2) are led by Miguel Inzunza (shortstop, .448). He is one of five Warriors hitting better than .400.
Oregon State (8-6-1) is led at the plate by Pat Meiwss’ .388 average, 19 hits and 13 RBIs, and Portland (8-6) shortstop Less Dennis is hitting .415 with 12 RBIs and 10 stolen bases.