Gonzaga’s Maddox Haley continues remarkable hot streak | College baseball roundup
A new star has emerged for Gonzaga, and he’s putting up incredible batting numbers for a Bulldogs team that’s finding its stride.
Washington State dropped two of three games at home in a Mountain West Conference series.
In Division III action, Whitworth’s lineup is setting the tone, and the Pirates are on a long winning streak.
Gonzaga
Junior outfielder/designated hitter Maddox Haley has been on a remarkable hot streak, headlining an impressive stretch for a Zags team that has won eight of its last 10 games.
Haley is 20-for-28 (.714) over the last six games – including a relatively quiet game on Sunday, when he went 2-for-5 in a 7-4 loss to Pacific in Stockton, California. Haley has hit all six of his homers for the season during that stretch, along with three doubles, 12 RBIs and 12 runs scored. He is on a 13-game hitting streak.
The juco transfer from San Diego really started to turn heads when he went 5-for-5 with six RBIs and two homers in Gonzaga’s 19-8 mercy-rule win over Washington State on Wednesday in Spokane. Haley hit a two-run shot for the run-rule walk-off in the seventh – the homer was initially ruled foul, but the call was overturned, so Haley went back to the plate, mimicked a swing without his bat, then trotted around the bases in an odd way to end a game.
Haley continued the fun with another flawless game at the plate Saturday, going 4-for-4 with two homers in GU’s 12-5 win over Pacific. His hitting performance was recognized by D1baseball.com as the best in the nation among all of Saturday’s games.
Haley has been a revelation in his first GU season after being held out of the lineup for most of the team’s first three series. His role expanded during the Zags’ March 7-8 series at Creighton. Haley has started 14 of 25 games, and he paces the team with a .509 batting average on the year and is tied for the lead with six homers.
Several Zags hitters seem to be finding a groove after an up-and-down start to the season. All-conference second baseman Hudson Shupe is batting .333 over the last 12 games after a rough start. Catcher Jacob Wrubleski caught on in early March and is hitting .395 with three homers in 13 games. Outfielder Ryder Young is 14-for-39 (.359) with four homers and 16 of his team-high 26 RBIs over the last nine games.
GU could use an uptick in production from a handful of its other key batters, including reigning WCC Player of the Year Mikey Bell (.278, five homers, eight doubles), who hit .360 last year.
Overall, the Zags’ offense has made strides in recent weeks, especially since the team traveled to Indiana State earlier this month. GU swept the series, winning the finale 23-16 – the Bulldogs tied the single-game program record for runs scored and hit their most home runs (seven) in a game since 2010. Gonzaga is averaging 9.43 runs on 12.3 hits per game in seven games since then.
Pitching has been a bit of a roller coaster for the Zags, who have a team ERA of 5.83. Lefty Zach Bowman (2-3, 2.49 ERA), a Chewelah product, has been the most consistent starter. Rising true freshman Landon Hood (2-1, 3.72 ERA) didn’t allow a run over his first four games, but gave up 12 over his last three outings. Sophomore left Karsten Sweum (2-1, 5.94 ERA) has improved, posting back-to-back quality starts.
The Zags are trying out a number of starting options to find the right rotation. Eight pitchers have made starts. GU’s two All-WCC returners, Erik Hoffberg (2-3, 6.44 ERA) and Finbar O’Brien (1-1, 6.94 ERA), have been unsteady. O’Brien is mostly working out of the bullpen now. Hoffberg has given up six runs in his last 3⅔ innings.
Gonzaga (12-13, 4-2 WCC) won its first two conference series of the season, at San Diego last week and at Pacific this weekend. The Zags won five straight games before stranding 12 base runners in Sunday’s finale at Pacific (10-17, 2-4).
The Zags host Nevada for a 1 p.m. nonconference matchup Monday before a three-game WCC series against Pepperdine, which begins Thursday at Patterson Baseball Complex in Spokane.
Washington State
The Cougars (11-15, 5-4 Mountain West) bounced back from their mercy-rule loss at Gonzaga with a well-rounded effort in a 12-6 win over Nevada on Friday at Bailey-Brayton Field in Pullman, but WSU dropped the last two games of the Mountain West series. Nevada used an insurance homer in the top of the ninth to hold on for a 5-4 win Saturday, then the Wolf Pack piled up 17 hits to power past the Cougs 12-5 on Sunday.
Inconsistency on the mound has been an issue for WSU, which has a team ERA of 6.85and gives up just over 10 hits per game – both marks ranking in the bottom third nationally. The bullpen has shown cracks this year, and struggled Sunday as three relievers combined to allow seven runs in two innings.
Starter Luke Meyers surrendered five runs on eight hits in four innings Sunday, bringing his record to 1-4 and his ERA to 6.82. Sophomore lefty Nick Lewis (3-1, 4.81 ERA) has emerged as the ace, giving the Cougs quality starts in his past three games. Griffin Smith (1-3, 6.62 ERA) has posted two straight quality starts, and the senior righty has been fairly effective all year outside of a 10-hit, eight-run outing in a loss to San Diego State on March 15.
The Cougs are a bit more solid offensively, with several efficient bats throughout the lineup. Senior shortstop Gavin Roy has been WSU’s best hitter as of late. He is 25-for-47 (.532) with seven doubles during his 13-game hitting streak, and now leads the team with a .415 batting average and a .504 on-base percentage.
USC transfer outfielder Matt Priest (.323, three homers, 19 RBIs), freshman outfielder Mason Pirello (.320) and senior outfielder Max Hartman (.307, five doubles, five triples, 17 RBIs) have been steady. The lineup will get a boost when center fielder Trevor Smith (.342, six doubles, three triples, 11 RBIs) returns. The standout true freshman from the San Diego area has missed the past seven games due to a hamstring injury, according to Cougfan.com.
WSU visits nonconference foe Seattle U at 4 p.m. Tuesday before opening a three-game Mountain West series at San Jose State on Thursday.
Whitworth
The Pirates extended their winning streak to nine games, flexing their offensive power during a three-game sweep of Northwest Conference foe Pacific (Oregon) this weekend at Paul Merkel Field in Spokane.
Whitworth beat the Boxers by scores of 15-6 and 23-11 earlier this weekend, then capped the series with a 20-10 rout on Sunday. The Pirates (15-11, 10-1 NWC) averaged 17 hits and just under eight walks per game for the series, totaling 15 extra-base hits during their third straight NWC sweep.
The Pirate lineup has been explosive all year, boasting six batters (with at least 50 at-bats) who are hitting .300 or better. Reigning NWC MVP Kyle Memarian leads the team with a .381 average and 37 runs scored – that figure ranks in the top five in D-III. Memarian is 15-for-29 over his last seven games.
Senior infielder Carson Coffield, a Mt. Spokane High product, is batting .357 with five homers and a team-high 31 RBIs – a top-20 total in D-III.
Senior utility man Caleb Gray, a West Valley High grad, went 8-for-12 with eight RBIs this weekend, boosting his average to .340 with 24 RBIs. He has a team-high six home runs.
Another WV alum, senior infielder Spencer Shipman, returned to the lineup last week after missing five games, and went 7-for-15 with nine RBIs over the weekend. He’s now hitting .365 with five homers.
The Pirate lineup is compensating well for a work-in-progress pitching staff that has an ERA of 6.43 for the season. Whitworth is allowing just under 10 hits per game, but its offense is outpacing opponents. So it didn’t matter that Whitworth’s primary starters ran into some trouble this weekend.
Sophomore Nathaniel Kurano (4-2, 6.47 ERA) allowed eight runs on 11 hits in five innings on Sunday. Junior Dylan Huntsman (2-1, 5.12 ERA) gave up five runs on nine hits in three innings on Saturday. Sophomore Dillon Hartman (4-1, 5.16 ERA) had the best start this weekend, conceding three runs on six hits with five strikeouts over five innings in Game 1 of Saturday’s doubleheader.
Whitworth next travels to Salem, Oregon, for a three-game NWC series against Willamette, starting Friday.