Zags lose series finale, wait for news
SAN DIEGO – Gonzaga’s dreams of a West Coast Conference championship were dashed early in Sunday’s 13-1 loss to San Diego.
Gonzaga’s‘ first three hitters of the game reached base against USD starting pitcher Matt Couch, but the Bulldogs (33-25) came away with only one run at Cunningham Stadium.
The Toreros responded with three runs in the bottom of the first off Josh Monroe for a 3-1 lead. USD added another run off Monroe (6-4) in the second inning and chased him in a five-run third that all but ended the Bulldogs’ chance for automatic entry into the NCAA tournament.
“The deal today was they swung the bats well again,” Gonzaga coach Mark Machtolf said after the Toreros banged out 15 hits and collected 13 runs for the second straight game. “They deserve all the credit in the world.”
The WCC’s automatic bid went to the Toreros (43-16), who are making their fourth postseason appearance in six years.
How much credit Gonzaga receives for a solid season will be determined this morning at 9:30 when the 64-team field is announced on ESPN.
The Bulldogs, who haven’t been to the postseason since 1982, will be hoping to receive one of 34 at-large bids that will be handed out by the NCAA selection committee.
“We’ve been so focused on winning a championship that I haven’t had time to look at who we’re up against, what the RPI is and all that,” Machtolf said. “We’ll look at that tonight and tomorrow and hope like heck that it happens.
“I think this team is deserving. We’ve got a lot of good wins. Not many teams we’re playing this weekend, but we were one of them. Hopefully, that will pay off for us.”
Gonzaga’s RPI has hovered around 70, making the Bulldogs a bubble team for an at-large bid.
A couple of factors could work in the Bulldogs’ favor, according to Baseball America senior editor John Manuel.
The WCC received three postseason berths last season, so it would not be unprecedented for the conference to get three again this year, and Gonzaga has quality wins over USD, Pepperdine and Oregon State.
Perhaps most important is that some of the power conferences, like the SEC and the Pac-10, are not in line to receive as many berths as usual this year.
That leaves more spots available for the bubble teams.
“We played well all year, we beat some good teams and I think we deserve it,” said Bulldogs third baseman Darin Holcomb.
Gonzaga was scheduled to fly home this morning shortly before the selection show begins.
“We’ll just hope for the best, get the news when we get home and go with that,” said Machtolf.