Division Title In Play For Gonzaga This Weekend

May. 1, 2000

SPOKANE, Wash. -

Gonzaga (25-18, 15-8 WCC)
vs.
Pepperdine (29-19, 17-6 WCC)

May 4 @ Eddy D. Field Stadium (Malibu, Calif.) - 3:00 PM
Series: (Pepperdine Leads 22-4)

Gonzaga
vs.
#14 Loyola Marymount (32-15, 18-6 WCC)

May 5 @ Page Stadium (Los Angeles, Calif.) - 2:30 PM
May 7 @ Page Stadium (Los Angeles, Calif.) - 11:00 AM (DH)
Series: (LMU Leads 12-7)

THE WEEK AHEAD: For the second consecutive season, Gonzaga has control of its own destiny in an attempt to win their first West Coast Conference division title. Last season, Gonzaga trailed Pepperdine by three games heading into a three game series in Malibu, the Zags were swept in three straight and any title hopes vanished. This season, Gonzaga once again heads to the Los Angeles area within striking distance of a division title. The Zags trail division leading Loyola Marymount by 2.5 games with seven conference games remaining for Gonzaga. Gonzaga will resume a rain-out game against Pepperdine on Thursday which will place them either 2 or 3 games behind LMU heading into a weekend set in L.A. In the resumed game, the Zags will be the home team and lead the contest 1-0 heading into the bottom of the second inning.

BULLDOGS FINISH OFF HOME STAND 5 AND 2: Gonzaga wrapped up its longest home stand of the season with a weekend series victory over Santa Clara giving the Bulldogs a 5-2 record on the seven game stand. Despite winning two-of-three from the Broncos, Gonzaga lost ground in the WCC race as Loyola Marymount swept three games from San Francisco for the second time this year. In Friday's series opener, Barry Matthews knocked out two of the Zags five home runs on the afternoon as Gonzaga rolled to a 13-4 victory. Steve Bennett won his fourth straight game en route to becoming the fifth Bulldog to amass over 100 strike outs in a season. On Saturday, Santa Clara received a clutch two-out hit in the top of the eighth inning to hold on for a 5-4 victory. Gonzaga stranded 12 runners in that game including two men at third base with less than two outs. The Zags rallied in the final game of the series as Kevin Hara hit his third grand slam of the season to propel Gonzaga to an 11-6 victory. Scott Stencil and David Hixson combined to limit Santa Clara to one run in the final six innings. Stencil was credited with the win while Hixson picked up his fourth save of the year.

PEPPERDINE WAVES: Gonzaga resumes its three game series with the Waves two-months after the final game of the series was rained out in Spokane. The two teams will resume the game in the bottom of the second inning with GU leading 1-0. The Bulldogs will serve as the home team in the crucial series. In the earlier meetings, Pepperdine rallied for runs in the eighth, ninth and tenth innings to defeat Gonzaga 4-3 for a series opening win. In the middle game, Gonzaga exploded for a season high seven runs in the second inning and went on for a 12-9 victory. Should Gonzaga go on to win the Coast Division title and Pepperdine win the West Division title, the winner of this game would host the WCC Championship series.

LINES ON LMU: Gonzaga faces its most crucial weekend series of the season as the Zags invade Page Stadium where the #14 ranked Lions are 17-6 including a 10-2 WCC home record. Depending on the Zags outcome against Pepperdine on Thursday, Gonzaga will stand either 2 or 3 games behind LMU for the Coast Division title. Gonzaga has had some success against Loyola Marymount in recent years winning four-of-the-last-six meetings between the two clubs. Earlier this season the Bulldogs won two-of-three from LMU to stay in the race. In the series opener, Sean Lichter tossed seven innings for the win while David Hixson collected his first save of the season. In the middle game of the series, Gonzaga scored in all but one inning as they scored a season-high 19 runs in the 19-4 victory. Steve Bennett pitched seven scoreless innings to win Player of the Week honors. In the series finale, LMU put together several timely hits to score six runs in the second inning and go on for a 8-4 victory. The Lions chased GU starter Barry Matthews after only four innings of work. One team's hot streak is going to have to come to an end this weekend. LMU has won 13-of-16 including five straight, the Zags have won 10-of-13.

WHO'S HOT -- WHO'S NOT (stats for three game series vs. Santa Clara)


    Player          AB  H   R   RBI 2B  HR  BB  AVG.     Eric Rodland 14  3   0   0   0   0   1   .214    Brent Church 14  4   3   2   2   1   0   .286    Jason Bay   11  5   7   6   0   2   3   .455    Barry Matthews 14  6   5   4   2   2   1   .429    Adam Stokey   13  2   2   3   0   1   0   .154    Jared Hertz   8   3   0   4   1   0   1   .375    Brian Munhall   11  3   4   1   1   0   1   .273    Kevin Hara 9   3   3   8   1   1   1   .333    Danny Evans   8   5   1   0   0   0   1   .625   
 Pitcher         IP  H   R   ER  BB  SO  ERA    Steve Bennett   6.0 5   3   3   2   6   4.50    Barry Matthews 7.2 13  5   5   1   4   5.87    Mike Jackson 2.1 6   4   2   0   2   7.71    David Hixson 3.0 3   0   0   0   1   0.00    Sean Lichter 1.1 1   0   0   0   1   0.00    Scott Stencil   5.2 6   2   1   1   9   1.59

ZAGS BASEBALL ON THE AIR: Gonzaga baseball will broadcast the final two games of the crucial Loyola Marymount series when the Zags travel to Los Angeles for a weekend WCC series. Veteran broadcaster Bob Robertson (Spokane Indians) will call the Gonzaga games on Spokane radio station KTRW AM 970. The Sunday double-header can also be heard through the Gonzaga website at www.gozags.com

Gonzaga Radio Broadcast Schedule
Game Day Opponent Air Time
Sun. - May 7 @ Loyola Marymount (DH) 11 a.m. (10 min. pre-game)

HERTZ WINS NO. 600: Steve Hertz is in the midst of his third decade of coaching at Gonzaga as he leads the Bulldogs for his 21st season as head coach. An All-Conference pitcher at Gonzaga in the early 1970's, Hertz guided the Bulldogs to an NCAA Regional Final in his first season as head coach in 1978. Following a two-year stint as head coach at UC-Irvine, Hertz returned to his alma mater in 1981 and has guided the Bulldogs through three different conferences. In his 20 years at Gonzaga, Hertz has compiled a 549-541-5 mark while his 22-year career record stands at 608-603-5. Hertz won career game 600 on April 8 as the Zags defeated Saint Mary's College, 6-4, in the second game of a double-header.

BENNETT REACHES CENTURY MARK: Senior ace Steve Bennett became just the fifth different Gonzaga pitcher to record at least 100 strike outs in a season with his six K performance against Santa Clara. Bennett also moved into a tie with former Zags stand out Darin Blood for third place on the career strike out list. Bennett has mowed down 252 opposing batters during his career.

100+ Strike Out Seasons
1.  Darin Blood  145 (1995)2.  Billy Walker     127 (1990)3.  Mike Davey   122 (1973)4.   Steve Bennett    101 (2000)4.  Mike Davey   101 (1974)6.  Skip Raschke     100 (1970)

BIG INNINGS EQUAL W's: When Gonzaga puts on its run scoring shoes, the Bulldogs have usually come home victorious during the 2000 season. For the year, Gonzaga has scored four or more runs in an inning on 17 occasions including two games in which that feat was done more than once. Those big innings have correlated into big wins for the Zags as Gonzaga is 14-0 in games in which they score at least four runs in an inning. Gonzaga has scored a season-high seven runs in an inning on two occasions, first against Pepperdine on March 4 and most recently against Whitworth on April 19.

APRIL POWER: Gonzaga baseball showed signs in the month of April of returning to the power hitting team that smashed several school records in 1999. For the month, Gonzaga hit .317 while going 11-5 including a 9-3 mark in the West Coast Conference. In the five losses for GU, four of them were by a single run including one extra inning one-run defeat. The Bulldogs hammered out 19 home runs which is over half of their year-to-date total of 36. Three players had superb run producing months at the plate as Barry Matthews, Kevin Hara and Adam Stokey each drove home 20 runs. Twelve of Hara's RBI's came during a six game stretch in which the senior shortstop hit three grand slams.

BAY BASHING AGAIN: Senior outfielder Jason Bay continues his assault on the Gonzaga record book as he moved into double figures in home runs for the second consecutive season with two bombs against Santa Clara. Bay now stands tied for ninth on the single season list while moving into a tie for third on the career list.

Career Home Runs
1.  Jeff Hainline    54 (1984-88)2.  Jerrod Wong  33 (1993-96)3.  Dan R. Murphy    31 (1982-85)3.   Jason Bay    31 (1999-pres.)3.  Adam Stokey    31 (1998-pres.)

IN THE THICK OF IT AGAIN: For the third time in recent history and second consecutive season, Gonzaga baseball is in the thick of a conference title race. The Zags travel to Los Angeles this weekend for a four-game series against both West Coast Conference divisional leaders, Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount. Gonzaga trails LMU by 2.5 games in the Coast Division race with seven games remaining for the Bulldogs. Last season, a similar scenario faced the Zags as they traveled to Malibu trailing Pepperdine by three games. Gonzaga left the California coast six games back and out of the race. Prior to that the closest title race Gonzaga had been in was in 1989 when the Zags lost the Pac-10 North regular season title to Washington State by a single game. That year, Gonzaga needed a double-header sweep of the Cougars on the final day of the season to clinch the championship but could only win one.

PITCHING STAFF CLOSES ON TEAM RECORD: Behind the record setting arm of Steve Bennett and solid pitching of starter Barry Matthews the Gonzaga pitching staff is closing in on the school record for strike outs in a season. Currently the staff stands 23 strike outs shy of the school record of 380 set during the 1974 season. With ten games remaining the Bulldogs pitchers should easily set a new school record with the possibility of breaking the 400 plateau. Leading the staff is Steve Bennett with 101, followed by Barry Matthews with 63. Scott Stencil has struck out 43 batters from the bullpen with Sean Lichter, David Hixson, Matt Siwek and Mike Jackson all around the 30 strike out range.

West Coast Conference Standings(Thru May 1 Games)
All Games
Coast Division     W     L   TLoyola Marymount 32 15  0Gonzaga          25 18  0San Francisco    24 25  0Santa Clara  17 34  0
West Division    W   L   TPepperdine  29  19  0San Diego   31  22  1Portland    19  23  0Saint Mary's    18  28  0
WCC Games Only
Coast Division    W  L   GBLoyola Marymount 18 6   ---Gonzaga          15 8   2.5San Francisco     9 15  9.0Santa Clara   7 17  11.0
West Division    W   L   GBPepperdine  17  6   ---San Diego   12  11  5.0Portland    8   15  9.0Saint Mary's    8   16  9.5

PRO-ZAGS UPDATE: 2000 status of former Zags in professional baseball (as of May1).

Former Zag    2000 Club (Affiliate)                   Stats Thru May 1Mike Redmond    Florida Marlins                         .289 / 0 HR / 4 RBIScott Morgan    Edmonton (AAA) - Anaheim            .364 / 0 HR / 4 RBIBo Hart         Potomac (A) - St. Louis                 .261 / 0 HR / 2 RBIJohn Tsoukalas  Shreveport (AA) - San Francisco         .333 / 1 HR / 5 RBIDarin Blood Staten Island (A) - New York Yankees    Extended Spring Training

GONZAGA RANKINGS IN WCC STATISTICS:
4th Team Hitting
2nd Team Pitching
6th Team Fielding

Jason Bay - 1st Batting Average (.387)
Jason Bay - 6th Slugging Percentage (.649)
Jason Bay - 2nd On Base Percentage (.483)
Jason Bay - 5th Runs Scored (50)
Jason Bay - 10th Hits (65)
Jason Bay - 4th Home Runs (11)
Jason Bay - 7th Total Bases (109)
Jason Bay - 6th Walks (30)
Jason Bay - 5th Stolen Bases (14)

Adam Stokey - 10th Walks (25)

Jared Hertz - 2nd Hit by Pitches (13)

Kevin Hara - 9th Hit by Pitches (10)

Barry Matthews - 10th Runs Scored (46)
Barry Matthews - 7th Runs Batted In (47)
Barry Matthews - 8th Doubles (14)
Barry Matthews - 8th Earned Run Average (4.50)
Barry Matthews - 8th Innings Pitched (82.0)
Barry Matthews - 10th Strike Outs (63)
Barry Matthews - 1st Wins (8)

David Hixson - 4th Saves (4)

Steve Bennett - 3rd Earned Run Average (3.47)
Steve Bennett - 4th Innings Pitched (90.2)
Steve Bennett - 2nd Strike Outs (101)
Steve Bennett - 1st Wins (8)

Upcoming Events

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Completed Event: Baseball versus 3-Seed San Francisco on May 22, 2026 , Loss , 5, to, 6

Completed Event: Baseball versus 5-seed Saint Mary's on May 21, 2026 , Loss , 4, to, 13

Completed Event: Baseball versus Seattle on May 16, 2026 , Win , 16, to, 13

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Completed Event: Baseball versus Seattle on May 14, 2026 , Win , 12, to, 2

Completed Event: Baseball at San Francisco on May 10, 2026 , Win , 12, to, 5

Completed Event: Baseball at San Francisco on May 9, 2026 , Win , 13, to, 0

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Division Title In Play For Gonzaga This Weekend

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