How Gonzaga baseball went from program’s worst start in nonconference to top of WCC

It has been a season of building calluses for the Gonzaga baseball team.

A rough opening month of the 2025 season saw the Zags dropping four series in a row until they swept Washington in mid-March.

That 2-12 start forced the Zags to be tough in a hurry, as the senior-laden team was well-equipped to push through the ugly start.

Senior Tommy Eisenstat is one of many leaders on the team who said they had to believe in the guy next to them as much as they had to believe in themselves.

“Even if things weren’t going our way at the beginning, that trust in the process really put us where we are now,” Eisenstat said. “I feel like we stick together as a team really well, and we’re resilient, and we’ve been really good at bouncing back when we’ve had tough stretches.”

Head coach Mark Machtolf has seen every start imaginable in his 35 years on the GU staff and 22nd as the manager.

But this start is the worst under Machtolf and the worst since at least 2000.

“They’ve been through a lot of ups and downs (over their time at GU), so a veteran team like that can usually handle it a little better than younger kids,” Machtolf said. “They were able to stay the course and know that it’s a long season, and then they kind of turned it around.”

Four of the last six series have been Bulldog wins, pushing the Zags atop the West Coast Conference standings at 10-2 in conference, followed by San Diego at 9-3 and Loyola Marymount at 9-6.

“We turned that around and are now we are in a good position in conference play,” Eisenstat said. “I’d say just being really good at bouncing back when things aren’t going our way and always staying in ball games and fight until the end.”

It’s now in GU’s hands to hold that top spot. That starts Friday when the Bulldogs host San Diego, which is 15-24 overall, before next weekend hosting LMU, which is 22-19.

Machtolf said GU has had a solid start to conference play, but with four conference series remaining, there is plenty of baseball left for other teams to jump the Zags.

“It’s great being in the driver’s seat,” Eisenstat said.

“We’ve put ourselves in a good position, and honestly, our thing through most of the year so far has just been playing one game at a time, and in knowing that each individual game is the most important game this season.”

It starts with San Diego. Machtolf said the Toreros’ record is misleading as its nonconference schedule was one of the more difficult in the country.

The Toreros had an even worse start to 2025, going 2-14 .

“They got a lot of pieces back from a really good team last year, so we’ve got to focus on them on Friday,” Machtolf said. “They have a good Friday night starter in Logan Reddemann, so we have to find a way to beat him.”

Reddemann, a sophomore, is 3-1 with a 1.86 earned-run average in eight starts.

The Bulldogs will stay with their regular weekend rotation of Finbar O’Brien, Miles Gosztola and Justin Feld.

San Diego has scored the fifth-most runs in the nine-team conference while GU is seventh.

LMU is first in runs scored and has the best batting average.

The Bulldogs have the strongest pitching staff, sporting a 5.34 ERA. GU also has the best defense, committing only 30 errors in 37 games, good for a .977 fielding percentage.

“We’ve had great pitching performances, we’ve had great hitting games and we’ve been pretty good on defense the whole season,” Eisenstat said. “We just focus on being as good as we can on all facets of the game, and when one is lacking, we pick it up with another. Our main goal is just to win.”

After dropping four of five over the conference bye week to USC and No. 3 Oregon State, Machtolf expects his team to clean up the little mistakes.

There were some defensive miscommunication on defense, too many crucial strikeouts and walks from the staff.

“It was good to play a good West Coast team and we always play Oregon State, so it was good competition,” Machtolf said. “I think if you handle it properly, those games help you win the following weekend, and I think challenging yourself and competing at a high level does that for you.

“If we do those three things, I think we’re going to be in better shape.”