College Baseball’s Undervalued Program Dwells in Spokane

Gonzaga's head baseball coach Mark Machtolf stands in the dugout against Texas Tech in game two of the baseball series, Saturday, Feb. 18, 2023, at Rip Griffin Park at Dan Law Field.

One of the hottest teams in the country resides in beautiful Spokane, Washington. The Gonzaga Bulldogs own college baseball’s longest active winning streak at 11 in a row, as well as the most road wins in the sport at 17.

During this miraculous stretch, the Zags are averaging 9.8 runs per game and have a margin of victory of five runs. The offensive firepower mostly comes off the bat of one of the scorching bats in the NCAA from third baseman redshirt junior Mikey Bell.

Since April 6, the reigning West Coast Conference Player of the Year has hit nine doubles and 10 runs batted in on a .555 batting average. As a team, they have hit 48 home runs for a program record.

Not to mention the gold glove of shortstop Ricky Sanchez, who seemingly doesn’t let anything get past him. The graduate student has been named to the watchlist for the Brooks Wallace Award, given to the nation’s best shortstop.

As for pitching, right-hander Landon Hood is one of the top freshmen in the West Coast Conference. He has won four of the 10 West Coast Conference Freshman of the Week awards behind his 2-1 overall record, including two saves, with a 3.15 earned run average through 34.1 innings pitched for the Zags. Hood has struck out 45 total batters.

Gonzaga baseball’s winningest coach, Mark Machtolf at 647 and counting, has pulled this team’s strings to perfection thus far. His leadership has put the Zags at the top of the West Coast Conference standings at 12-3, 24-14 overall. They have a two-game lead over the San Francisco Dons and will have a three-game series in the Bay Area starting on May 8.

Gonzaga is looking for their first West Coast Conference regular-season championship and NCAA Tournament appearance since 2022. Their RPI is at No. 31 with 14 games left to be played before the West Coast Conference Tournament in Scottsdale, Arizona, from May 20-23.

Arden Cravalho is a Gonzaga University graduate from the Bay Area… Follow him on X @a_cravalho