NCAA shuns Gonzaga baseball team

Gonzaga University, which hasn’t been to the NCAA baseball playoffs since 1982, will wait at least another year before ending that stubborn drought.

The Bulldogs, despite a solid 33-25 season that included a second-place finish in the West Coast Conference standings and several wins over nationally ranked opponents, were not among the 34 at-large teams named to the NCAA’s 64-team postseason playoff field Monday morning.

They learned of their fate in the Sea-Tac airport on their way home from San Diego, where they dropped the best-of-3 WCC Championship Series to the regular-season champion Toreros, who are ranked No. 5 nationally and earned the league’s automatic NCAA playoff berth.

“They were disappointed,” GU coach Mark Machtolf said of his players, who opened their Championship Series against host USD with a win Friday before dropping the next two games. “They wanted the season to go, of course, but they handled it like men.

“We gave ourselves a chance to get in late in the year, and we always aspire to win championships and make the playoffs. So from that standpoint, we were disappointed, but we accomplished a lot this year.”

Machtolf said his players had been so focused on winning the WCC title they had not really studied their at-large chances in great detail.

“But I have to think we were right there,” he added. “I don’t think we were a longshot at all. I think we were very, very close, and people who watched the selection show (on ESPN) told me the commentators were surprised we didn’t make it.”

The Bulldogs will lose six seniors off this year’s team, including WCC Pitcher of the Year Clayton Mortensen and Aaron McGuinness, a four-year starter at shortstop.

And while their absences will be deeply felt next spring, Machtolf is confident their substantial contributions to the program will live on.

“You always hope, as a coach, that your teams achieve and your seniors leave a legacy that future teams aspire to in terms of learning how to win, being good teammates and being good leaders,” Machtolf explained. “This group of seniors certainly gave our young kids something to strive for.”