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Bulldogs Struggle To Find Confidence Hertz: Losing Streak Stems From Lack Of Self-Esteem On Field

By Steve Bergum steveb@spokesman.com

It’s only mid-March, but Steve Hertz is already out of answers.

His Gonzaga Bulldogs are mired in a 14-game losing streak and all but eliminated from the West Coast Conference baseball race before playing a league game at home.

It’s a grim situation that has Hertz questioning everything - even the age-old adage that good things come to those who work hard - as he struggles to repair his team’s shattered confidence in time for today’s 2 p.m. WCC matchup against San Francisco at August/A.R.T. Stadium.

“It’s frustrating,” admitted Hertz, whose Bulldogs are 2-16 overall and 0-6 in the WCC heading into this weekend’s three-game series with the Dons (20-6, 7-2). “This team has worked very hard. I don’t understand why it’s coming so tough.

“At this point, I don’t know how many more ground balls we can hit, how much more batting practice we can take or how much more we can talk about battling and staying with it. We’ve done all of that.

“Now, it’s just a matter of when you get to a ballgame, you have to go out and play solid in every area, and we’re not doing that.”

The Bulldogs’ unsightly numbers show as much. Hertz, in his 19th season at GU, does not have a regular hitter over .264, or a starting pitcher with an earned run average under 4.90.

His team’s batting average of .226 is 119 points lower than the .345 posted by opponents, and his pitching staff’s ERA of 8.44 is nearly five runs higher than the opponents’ 3.13.

In addition, the Bulldogs have been outscored 169-75 and have lost games by such lopsided margins as 19-4, 18-4, 15-2, 14-3 and 15-8.

Part of the problem stems from a brutal early season schedule that featured 17 consecutive road games, including WCC showdowns against Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount, who both opened their seasons almost a month before GU.

But it is rooted, Hertz said, in a lack of confidence.

“We’re just not playing good baseball at all,” he explained. “We do for a couple of innings and it lulls you into thinking we might not be too bad, but then …

“That’s what happens when you’ve lost as many as we have and something bad happens. Suddenly, it’s all about character - How do you respond? Which way to you go? - and right now we don’t have a lot of confidence, so we go down.”

The Bulldogs are coming off a disappointing 19-33-1 season in which they finished 7-21 and last in the WCC. Hertz had hoped to improve his team’s fortunes by signing shortstop Bo Hart and catcher George Arnott, a couple of highly touted transfers from Cabrillo (Calif.) Junior College, along with Cheney’s Tucker Urdahl and Lewis and Clark’s Forrest Higgins, a pair of local prep pitching stand-outs.

None of his recruits have lived up to expectations so far, however.

Hart, who is hitting just over .260, has been the most impressive. Arnott is struggling to stay near the .200 mark, and Urdahl and Higgins are both giving up more than a hit an inning and six earned runs a game.

Still, with defending champion Santa Clara having already suffered five league losses, the WCC race appears to be wide-open.

Perennial national power Pepperdine has put up impressive power numbers in its 6-0 league start and could wire the rest of the field if the bats stay hot. Loyola Marymount (3-0) and USF (7-2) are the teams most likely to run down the Waves.

The league schedule has been expanded to 30 games and features home-and-home three-game series against three opponents and a single three-game series against the other four. GU will face Pepperdine, USF and San Diego in its home-and-home series.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: FAST FACTS Coach: Steve Hertz Coach’s record: 543-545-1 overall (21st year); 484-483-1 at GU (19th year). 1997 record: 19-33-1 overall; 7-21 West Coast Conference, 8th. 1998 record to date: 2-16 overall; 0-6 WCC, 8th Top returnees: OF Donnie Murrell, C Scott Asan, 3B Travis Knight, 1B-P Kevin Workman, P Steve Bennett. Top newcomers: P Forrest Higgins, P Tucker Urdahl, C George Arnott; IF Luke Gradishar, SS Bo Hart. 1998 outlook: The Bulldogs have plenty of pitching experience, but little in the way of seasoned position players. Big things are expected from Bennett, who missed last season after undergoing elbow surgery, but a lack of offensive pop will probably sentence GU to at least one more year in the WCC cellar.

This sidebar appeared with the story: FAST FACTS Coach: Steve Hertz Coach’s record: 543-545-1 overall (21st year); 484-483-1 at GU (19th year). 1997 record: 19-33-1 overall; 7-21 West Coast Conference, 8th. 1998 record to date: 2-16 overall; 0-6 WCC, 8th Top returnees: OF Donnie Murrell, C Scott Asan, 3B Travis Knight, 1B-P Kevin Workman, P Steve Bennett. Top newcomers: P Forrest Higgins, P Tucker Urdahl, C George Arnott; IF Luke Gradishar, SS Bo Hart. 1998 outlook: The Bulldogs have plenty of pitching experience, but little in the way of seasoned position players. Big things are expected from Bennett, who missed last season after undergoing elbow surgery, but a lack of offensive pop will probably sentence GU to at least one more year in the WCC cellar.