As the hunt for a West Coast Conference championship continues, the Gonzaga baseball team is looking to play its best baseball yet. The team currently sits in third place in the WCC at 7-5, one game behind Loyola Marymount and San Diego, tied at 8-4.
The Bulldogs broke the top 25 last week after defeating nationally ranked WCC rivals Pepperdine (26) and San Diego (21). Last week's Baseball America National Poll ranked the team No. 22 in the nation. The team was last ranked in February 2006 as No. 29 in the Collegiate Baseball poll.
The team has since fallen out of the top 25, but players appreciated the national attention, even for a brief time.
"It's pretty cool," said junior outfielder Mark Castellitto. "It's nice to get recognition from your peers and people who follow the sport."
"It was a good honor and the team was really excited," said junior catcher Tyson Van Winkle. "It gave us a little boost in confidence."
But the team isn't letting the ranking affect their play. The Bulldogs remain focused on winning the WCC championship and making it to the NCAA postseason tournament.
"It's just a number," said senior first baseman Ryan Wiegand. "Our mindset is still the same."
"We try to go out and play the same game we always do," Castellitto said. "Teams aren't just going to fold because we are 22nd in the nation."
The Zags found that out the hard way, as they dropped two of three games to Portland over the weekend and lost to Arizona on Monday. In both games against Portland, the team had the early lead but gave it up late in the game.
"We made some mistakes and had some bad breaks," Van Winkle said.
"We need to put teams away," Wiegand said. "Portland and Arizona had no business beating us."
Players did not attribute the losses to additional pressure due to their national ranking.
"Once you become the hunted instead of the hunter, you're always going to get extra effort (from other teams)," Castellitto said. "But we didn't feel we were under more pressure. We put the same amount of pressure on ourselves every game."
The team is also not letting the lapse affect their outlook on the rest of the reason. Players remain very optimistic about achieving their goal of winning a conference title.
"The teams that actually have a legitimate shot at winning …when they're tested, rather than folding, they get tougher and they get better," Castellitto said. "This is where the champions show that they belong."
"I don't feel a sense of panic," Van Winkle said.
Van Winkle certainly has not panicked at the plate recently. He was named the West Coast Conference/Rawlings Player of the Week for the second time this season after putting up some impressive numbers. Over four games, Van Winkle went 13-for-18 (.722) with nine RBI, seven runs, six doubles, one home run, a 1.222 slugging percentage and a .714 on-base percentage.
"He was unreal this past weekend," Wiegand said.
"He's taken us on his back and really given us a chance to win," Castellitto said.
Van Winkle currently leads the Bulldogs in hitting (.387), hits (60), doubles (20), RBI (41), slugging (.560) and on-base percentage (.448).
Five Gonzaga players have earned conference accolades this season. In addition to Van Winkle, the WCC has also recognized Castellitto and pitchers Steven Ames, Matt Fields and Cody Martin for their performances.
Up next for the Bulldogs is a three-game series at Santa Clara April starting today. Their season concludes with a home series against Loyola Marymount May 15-17. With the race for the WCC title still so tight, the season could easily come down to that last weekend, which is somewhat rare for the conference.
"Usually Pepperdine and San Diego run away with it, but this year everyone is still in it," Wiegand said. "The next three weeks will be interesting."
Wiegand said the team needs to win the next three series, and hopefully sweep at least one series. Finishing out the season on a high note will take both hard work and focus.
"When it gets late in the season, people get tired," Castellitto said. "The toughest team is going to end up pulling away. You're going to get tired, but it's about how you respond."
The WCC championship will be decided by a three-game series between the top two regular-season finishers. The winner earns an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The loser, as well as other teams, must hope for an at-large bid. Gonzaga has appeared in the WCC championship twice, losing to San Diego in 2007 and Pepperdine in 2001.
This season, the Bulldogs are looking to come out on top and take a trip to baseball's "big dance." To do that, they must peak at the right time.
"We haven't really hit on all cylinders yet," Castellitto said. "If we can get every facet of our team to start really playing well, I think that we'll actually see our best baseball is yet to come."
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