User:Kithira/Sandbox/Gonzaga Bulldogs baseball

The Gonzaga Bulldogs baseball team is the varsity intercollegiate baseball program of Gonzaga University, located in Spokane, Washington, United States. The program has been a member of the NCAA Division I West Coast Conference since prior to the 1996 season. Since prior to the 2007 season, the team's home venue has been Washington Trust Field and Patterson Baseball Complex, located on Gonzaga's campus. Mark Machtolf has been the program's head coach since prior to the 2004 season. As of the end of the 2012 season, the program has appeared in eight NCAA Tournaments. It has won one conference championship series, soix regular season conference championships, and five regular season division titles. As of the start of the 2012 Major League Baseball season, 16 former Bulldogs have appeared in Major League 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. Prior to the 1964 season, the program joined the Big Sky Conference. Prior to the 1967 season, the program opened Pecarovich Field, named for former Gonzaga football head coach Mike Pecarovich.

Shortly after Larry Koentopp was named head coach prior to the 1970 season, the team won four consecutive Big Sky Northern Division Titles from 1971-1974. The team won the Big Sky Championship Series in three of those four season, thus appearing in the NCAA Tournament in 1971, 1973, and 1974.

Following the 1974 season, the program joined the Northern Pacific Conference and won four conference championships in the next seven seasons. As a result, Gonzaga appeared in the NCAA Tournament in 1976, 1978, 1980, and 1981.

Under Steve Hertz, who had coached the program in 1978 and returned prior to the 1981 season, the program moved to the Pacific-10 Conference (Pac-10) prior to the 1982 season, where it competed in the Northern Division. The team remained in the Pac-10 until after the 1995 season, and it never finished higher than 2nd in the Northern Division. The Bulldogs appeared in the Northern Division Tournament six times (1986-1991) and hosted the tournament from 1986-1989.

West Coast Conference era
Following the 1995 season, the program moved to the West Coast Conference (WCC), which the majority of the school's athletic programs had joined for the 1979-1980 school year. Also following the 1995 season, Pecarovich Field was renamed August/A.R.T. Stadium.

The program initially struggled in the WCC, finishing 5th, 8th, and 6th in 1996, 1997, and 1998, respectively. 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. He 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

 * District VII Independent (?-1963)
 * Big Sky Conference (1964-1974)
 * Northern Pacific Conference (1975-1981)
 * Pacific-10 Conference (1982-1995)
 * West Coast Conference (1996-present)

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. 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


From the start of the 2004 season through the end of the 2006 season, the team played at Spokane's Avista Stadium, the home venue of the minor league Spokane Indians. The venue, which opened in 1958, 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, 2007, Gonzaga defeated Rider 9-4. The venue was dedicated on April 20, 2007, and it is 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.

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Current coaching staff

 * Head coach – Mark Machtolf
 * Assistant coach – Danny Evans
 * Assistant coach – Steve Bennett
 * Assistant coach – Bobby Carlson

Notable former players


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


 * Jason Bay (1998-1999)
 * Rich Beck (1961-1962)
 * T. R. Bryden (1980-1981)
 * Leon Cadore (1906-1908)
 * Mike Davey (1972-1974)
 * Tom Gorman (1977-1980)
 * Bo Hart (1999-2000)
 * Mel Ingram (1925-1928)
 * Clayton Mortensen (2006-2007)
 * Casey Parsons (1973-1976)
 * Mike Redmond (1990-1993)
 * Kevin Richardson (2001-2002)
 * Lenn Sakata (1973-1974)
 * Dave Skeels (1910)
 * Jack Spring (1951)
 * Rick Sweet (1973-1975)