Gu, WSU Play 3-Game Set
Usually when Gonzaga and Washington State universities play baseball, it’s hard to tell who gets a better workout, the seven pitchers per side that are thrown into the game or the poor guy keeping the scorebook.
This week, it should be different. Instead of playing their usual midweek single game, the Zags and Cougs are going head-to-head in a three-game weekend series.
The first game is today at 2:30 p.m. at Gonzaga’s A.R.T. Stadium. Saturday, the series moves to Pullman for a 1 p.m. game. Sunday, it’s back to Spokane for the finale at 1 p.m.
“Steve (Farrington) and I talked about this and decided we would rather do a three-game weekend series than the Wednesday game because this way we have our regular rotation and don’t have to do the midweek travel,” said Gonzaga coach Steve Hertz.
It just so happened that WSU has a bye from Pacific-10 Conference play this weekend. And Gonzaga’s scheduled opponent, Pepperdine, wanted out of the weekend series with the Bulldogs so the Waves could participate in a tournament in Hawaii.
“So, it worked out, and we just plugged this in there,” said Hertz. Now, the two schools just need to plug some victories into their respective win columns.
Washington State, after winning five of six, dropped three straight to USC last weekend.
Pitching was the Cougars’ nemesis.
Washington State’s ERA in the series was 10.88 and the Cougars allowed 29 runs. To try and change things, Farrington will change the rotation.
As usual, left-hander Todd Meldahl will get the call in the opener. But after that, WSU is scheduled to pitch Zach Fisher (2-0, 3.13 ERA) Saturday and Matt O’Brien (5-1, 2.91 ERA) Sunday.
Gonzaga will counter with Barry Matthews (5-1, 4.40 ERA), Steve Bennett (4-2, 2.56 ERA) and Sean Lichter (2-2, 7.06 ERA).
The series comes at a crucial time for both clubs. Gonzaga (13-12, 6-5) needs to pick up momentum as it heads into the heart of the West Coast Conference schedule. “If we are going to be serious and have intentions of really challenging Loyola (Marymount), we can’t lose a series and need to sweep some series,” said Hertz. “Hopefully this weekend, we can help us raise our level of play.”
The Cougars (12-16, 2-4) also are about to hit a stretch of home games that could make or break their season. Following the weekend with the Zags, WSU will play nine straight home games, six of them are Pac-10 games.
Whitworth host to L-C State
Whitworth has struggled in the early season and things don’t appear to be getting any easier. This weekend, the Pirates (7-13, 2-4) will play host to NAIA No. 1 Lewis and Clark in a doubleheader starting at noon Saturday and at 1 p.m. Sunday.
The Pirates’ big problem this year has been hitting. As a team, they have a .214 batting average and there are only two everyday players, Aaron Keller and Miguel Saldin, who have averages above .235.
Who’s hot
Gonzaga’s Jason Bay carries around the highest batting average of Division I regulars in the area these days. The senior outfielder had a .420 average coming into the week. That’s fourth-best in the WCC. He is ninth with nine doubles.
Gonzaga senior pitcher Steve Bennett leads the WCC in ERA (2.56) and strikeouts (65).
Since Washington State’s Jason Grove returned from a broken bone in his hand, the junior has hit .455 with three RBIs in five games.
Who’s not
The WSU bullpen had a 3.44 ERA through the first 25 games of the season. But last weekend, it took a shot from the USC Trojans. In three games, the relievers went 0-1 with a 12.75 ERA. Nick Kenyon, Les McTavish, Matt O’Brien, Lanakila Niles and Zach Fisher allowed USC 17 runs and 22 hits.