Zags, Toreros set to square off
Clayton Mortensen beat every team in the West Coast Conference this spring, except one.
And today, Gonzaga University’s senior ace will get another shot at the one that got away when the Bulldogs (32-23) take on regular-season league champion and fifth-ranked San Diego (41-15) in the first game of the WCC Championship Series that will determine the conference’s automatic representative in the NCAA baseball playoffs.
The 3 p.m. opener of the three-game championship series will be played at USD’s Cunningham Stadium with Mortensen (8-2, 4.00 ERA), who was named the WCC Pitcher of the Year, matched up against the Toreros’ Brian Matusz (10-2, 2.43).
Mortensen, who was 6-0 against WCC opponents during the regular season, started the second game of a three-game home series against USD earlier this spring, but was not involved in the decision.
The 6-foot-4 right-hander scattered seven hits and struck out five before leaving after seven innings with the score tied at one. San Diego then jumped GU reliever Chris Highmark for three runs in the ninth to squeeze out its only win in the series.
That encounter took place in late March, right before the Toreros reeled off 17 consecutive conference wins to nail down the WCC title with an 18-3 record that was three games better than the 15-6 mark posted by the second-place Bulldogs.
But Mortensen still remembers what worked against USD’s booming bats that day, and he plans no changes in his approach this afternoon.
“Having good movement on your pitches and mixing speeds are big keys against them,” he said of the Toreros, who hit .335 as a team against WCC opposition. “They’re a real aggressive team that likes to swing the bats, so getting ahead in counts is a big priority.
“If you get behind against these guys, they’re going to hurt you bad.”
GU came back the day after Mortensen’s no-decision to beat the Toreros 6-1 and hand them their only series loss of the conference season. And while the 2-1 series win certainly gave the Bulldogs an important early-season confidence boost, Zags coach Mark Machtolf doesn’t expect it to have any lingering impact on this weekend’s series.
“That was just so long ago,” Machtolf said. “Even from a factor of thinking we can win, it probably doesn’t matter, because we always think we can win.
“With us, it’s more about what have you done lately.”
That should bode well for Mortensen, who logged a 7-1 complete-game victory over nationally ranked Pepperdine in his last outing back on May 13 when he struck out 15 and allowed only five hits.
The Bulldogs lost their regular-season finale, a non-conference game against Washington and haven’t played since – a fact that concerns Machtolf.
“We’ve had 10 days off now,” he said, “and you’re always worry about how you’re going to come out and play after a break like that. But San Diego is in the same situation.”
Machtolf plans to start junior Brandon Harmon (6-7, 4.00) in Saturday’s game, with senior Josh Monroe (6-3, 4.74) expected to pitch Sunday’s series finale, if needed.
San Diego will counter with Josh Romanski (8-1, 3.20) Saturday and Matt Couch (8-2, 3.73) Sunday.