Gonzaga Bulldogs baseball

History

Gonzaga College was founded in September 1887, and the first recorded game of the baseball program was held shortly thereafter, in 1890. On September 14, 1910, Dave Skeels became the first Gonzaga player to appear in the major leagues when he pitched in a game for the Detroit Tigers. In 1912, the college was recognized by the state of Washington as a university and was renamed Gonzaga University. Although the team competed in the first half of the 20th century, comprehensive records of its play do not exist prior to the 1960 season, when the team competed as an independent school in District VII of the NCAA's University Division.

Big Sky

Gonzaga was a charter member of the Big Sky Conference, which launched in the summer of 1963 with six schools. Its first baseball season was in 1964, and the Bulldogs won the conference title in 1965. Prior to the 1967 season, the program opened Pecarovich Field, named for former Gonzaga football head coach Mike Pecarovich.

Larry Koentopp was named head coach prior to the 1970 season, and the Big Sky expanded to eight teams that summer. For baseball, the conference split into two-four team divisions for the 1971 season, and Gonzaga won all won four Northern division titles from 1971 through 1974. The Zags won the Big Sky championship series in three of those four seasons, which earned a berth in the NCAA tournament in 1971, 1973, and 1974. The 1972 team entered the Big Sky tournament on a 28-game winning streak, but was the first team eliminated. It was the only year the Big Sky used a four-team format; the other three seasons had a best-of-three series between the division winners.

Northern Pacific

Following the 1974 season, the Big Sky discontinued sponsorship of five of its ten sports, including baseball. Along with Idaho and Boise State, the program joined the new seven-team Northern Pacific Conference (NorPac) in June 1974. The Bulldogs finished in second place in 1975, but won four conference championships in the next six seasons to advance to the NCAA tournament in 1976, 1978, 1980, and 1981. After Idaho and Boise State dropped baseball following the 1980 season, the NorPac played a final season with five teams in 1981.

Pacific-10

Gonzaga and three other NorPac programs moved to the Pacific-10 Conference (Pac-10) for the 1982 season, where they competed in the Northern Division with Washington, Washington State, and Oregon State. (Oregon dropped baseball after the 1981 season; it returned in 2009.) Gonzaga remained an affiliate member of the Pac-10 for baseball through the 1995 season, but never finished higher than runner-up in the North. The Bulldogs appeared in the division tournament six times (1986–1991) and hosted it from 1986–1989.

West Coast Conference

Following the 1995 season, the program moved to the West Coast Conference (WCC), which the majority of the school's athletic programs had joined in the summer of 1979. Also following the 1995 season, Pecarovich Field was renamed August/A.R.T. Stadium.

Gonzaga initially struggled in WCC baseball, finishing 5th, 8th, and 6th in its first three seasons. However, after the WCC split into two four-team divisions prior to the 1999 season, Gonzaga finished 2nd in its division in 1999 and 2000 and won the Coast Division in 2001. In the best-of-three 2001 WCC Championship Series, Gonzaga lost to Pepperdine 2–1.

During the 2003 season, August/A.R.T. Stadium was razed to allow for the construction of the McCarthey Athletic Center. The team used Spokane's Avista Stadium until its current venue, Washington Trust Field and Patterson Baseball Complex, was completed prior to the 2007 season.

Following the 2003 season, Steve Hertz retired after 24 seasons as the program's head coach, and was replaced by Mark Machtolf. Under Machtolf, the team qualified for three WCC Championship Series (2007, 2009, 2011). After losing to San Diego in 2007, Gonzaga defeated Loyola Marymount in 2009 to qualify for the program's first NCAA Tournament since 1981. In the Fullerton Regional, the team defeated Georgia Southern in its first game, but it lost consecutive games to Cal State Fullerton and Utah and was eliminated. In the 2011 WCC Championship Series, Gonzaga lost to San Francisco.

Conference affiliations

Early venues

The earliest known venue of the program is Underhill Park, located off-campus across the Spokane River. Underhill still functions as a municipal park in Spokane. The team moved from Underhill to its first on-campus home, located in Gonzaga's upper campus, where it played until after the 1966 season.

August/A.R.T. Stadium

From prior to the 1967 season to partway through the 2003 season, the program played at August/A.R.T. Stadium, which had a capacity of 1,000 spectators. The stadium opened on April 7, 1967, as Pecarovich Field, named for former Gonzaga football player and coach Mike Pecarovich (1898–1965). Gonzaga swept a doubleheader against Eastern Washington to open the field. Prior to the 1996 season, the venue was renamed August/A.R.T. Stadium. Gonzaga used August/A.R.T. until partway through the 2003 season, when it was demolished to allow for the construction of the McCarthey Athletic Center on its location. In the stadium's last game on April 13, 2003, Gonzaga lost to San Francisco 8–3. The team played the remainder of its 2003 home games at Spokane Falls Community College.

Avista Stadium

For three seasons (2004–2006), Gonzaga played at Spokane's Avista Stadium, the home venue of the minor league Spokane Indians. Opened in 1958, it has a capacity of 7,162 spectators.

Washington Trust Field and Patterson Baseball Complex

At the start of the 2007 season, the program opened its current venue, Washington Trust Field and Patterson Baseball Complex. In the facility's first game, played on March 15, Gonzaga defeated Rider 9–4. The venue was dedicated a month later on April 20, named for both Washington Trust Bank, a donor to the field's construction, and Michael Patterson, a Gonzaga alumnus. It has a capacity of 1,500 spectators.

Head coaches

Steve Hertz, who coached the team in 1978 and from 1981–2003, is Gonzaga's winningest and longest tenured head coach. He served in the position for 24 seasons and had 637 career wins.

Current coaching staff

Yearly records

Below is a table of the program's yearly records.

Notable former players

Below is a list of notable former Bulldogs and the seasons in which they played for the program.

Retired numbers

The first retired number for the program was number 19 in 1982, worn by walk-on third baseman Mac Gebbers (1978–1982).

2012 MLB Draft

Two Bulldogs were selected in the 2012 Major League Baseball Draft: OF Royce Bolinger by the Texas Rangers (6th round) and P Tyler Olson by the Oakland Athletics (17th round). Bolinger signed a professional contract with the Rangers, while Olson chose not to sign with Oakland.