Husky Baseball: Gonzaga Preview

April 9th– 10th at Husky Ballpark

Husky Record: 17-11

Husky Home Record: 10-5

Gonzaga University

Location: Spokane, WA

Mascot: Bulldogs

Enrolment: 4,900

Conference: West Coast Conference

National Ranking:  NA in up to date rankings

Record: 20-9

Road Record: 4-7

PAC-12 Record: 1-0

2011 Record against Huskies: 0-0

Preview: Gonzaga has been slipping down the national rankings over the last 30 days. They are 10-9 in the last month including dropping two of three games to San Diego last week. Now, they find themselves out of the top 30 entirely. The Bulldog offense has posted an impressive .302 batting average this year, but they are lacking in power. They are tied with Washington with 15 homeruns, but 8 of the Zag’s long balls have come from senior outfielder Royce Bolinger who also has 25 RBIs and a .379 batting average. Besides Bolinger, only one Bulldog has more than one homerun. If the Husky arms can silence Gonzaga’s one big threat, it will greatly help keep Gonzaga off the scoreboard.

Gonzaga also has a solid pitching staff lead by their starting rotation which has combined for a 13-4 record. The staff is highlighted by Tyler Olson and Marco Gonzalez who are each 4-0 and have posted 2.03 and 1.25 ERAs respectively. While Zaga’s pitching and offense are both solid, their weakness lies in their defense. They have committed 40 errors in 29 games this year which have led to 25 unearned runs crossing the plate.

If the Huskies can contain Royce Bolinger and take advantage of the opportunities the lacking Bulldog defense will give them, the Diamond Dawgs will have a good chance to take both games in the series.