Maddox Haley Earns National Honors as Gonzaga Baseball Gets Back to .500
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Gonzaga Bulldogs designated hitter Maddox Haley (20) celebrates after his home run against the Washington State Cougars with Ricky Sánchez (38) at the Patterson Baseball Complex. Credit: Gonzaga Athletics [/caption]
Playing five games in six days, Gonzaga baseball (13-13, 4-2 WCC) won four contests over that span to get back to the .500 mark. After run-ruling Eastern Washington 19-8 in its home opener, the Zags took two out of three from Pacific on the road, then beat Nevada 7-2 back at the Patterson Baseball Complex on Monday.
You would be underselling one of the Bulldogs’ bats to say he’s just feeling it at the plate. And on the pitching side, GU has now stacked three strong starting pitching outings in a row.
So who are the standout contributors for Gonzaga’s stretch of complementary baseball?
Haley Can’t Stop Hitting
Across all levels of baseball, you might not be able to find a hotter hitter than Zags outfielder Maddox Haley at the moment. Riding a 14-game hitting streak, Haley had an unreal week at the dish where, during a four-game span, he tallied a hit in 14 of 19 at-bats. The 6-2 righty was 5-for-5 against the Cougars with two doubles and two homers, with the final blast being a pseudo walk-off shot. Initially called foul as it sailed over the left field pole, the ruling was reversed after review, and Haley did his best Michael Morse impression of mimicking his swing before trotting the bases and being mobbed by his teammates.
Haley logged a 3-for-5 day in the 7-6 victory against the Tigers that opened the series, then proceeded to go 4-for-4 in Game 2, clubbing two more solo shots in the process. Over the past week, Haley has accumulated 34 total bases, the most in all of college baseball. Recognized across the country for his unprecedented performance, Haley has been awarded the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association’s (NCBWA) Player and Co-Hitter of the Week and was named to Baseball America’s National Team of the Week. And of course, he was selected as the WCC Player of the Week as well.
Now hitting .492 with a 1.404 OPS over the first 15 games of his junior campaign, Haley has placed himself in rarified air over the last several weeks. He is now tied with Ryder Young for the team lead in homers (six) and is second in hits (29), just two behind Noah Meffert. The Bulldogs’ lineup continues to be fluid over the course of the year, but Haley’s name may be written in pen into the cleanup spot for the foreseeable future.
Other Zags Finding Groove at the Plate
Haley isn’t the only Gonzaga hitter who looks comfortable when they dig in.
Third baseman Mikey Bell’s OPS is now up to .908 as he continues to display power to all fields. He now has five home runs and eight doubles on the year, as he’s been GU’s most consistent bat this season.
In addition to Young’s six big flies, he has driven in 26 runs and tallied 53 total bases, all of which lead the Bulldogs. Starting shortstop Ricky Sánchez has continued to produce since his big series at Indiana State a few weeks back, hitting .317 with a .936 OPS. Sánchez even got the nod as the leadoff man in the win over the Wolf Pack, who started a left-hander.
Taking the reins as the team’s regular backstop is Jacob Wrubleski, who is slashing .370/.455/.652 in his 14 starts. And although second baseman Hudson Shupe’s season numbers still don’t look noteworthy, the Preseason All-WCC Team selectee has now recorded a hit in each of his last four games and is seven for his last 15 with two doubles.
The Zags rank second in the conference in runs scored (172), hits (262), and slugging percentage (.444). Expected to be a juggernaut offensively, it seems Gonzaga’s bats are heating up with the weather.
Solid Showings From Starting Staff
Searching for more consistency from their starters, the Bulldogs certainly appreciate the performances they’ve received from their arms in the last three games, especially considering they came from players with defined roles of varying degrees.
Southpaw Karsten Sweum started the streak on Saturday against Pacific, delivering a quality start with six innings pitched and only one run allowed as he surrendered just four hits and a couple of walks. Sweum struck out five men in his 89 pitches, earning the victory as Gonzaga won 12-5. The usual Sunday starter, Sweum was still strong despite being pushed up a day.
Even though GU lost the final game of the set 7-4, right-hander Justin Feld posted the best outing of his senior campaign. In his first weekend start of the year, Feld held the Tigers to three earned runs over five innings of work. He only struck out one batter and allowed a couple of solo homers, but limited damage despite the high frequency of balls put in play. After coming out of the bullpen for most of the season and earning a couple of midweek starts, Feld replaced Erik Hoffberg this turn of the rotation, who was the first man out of the bullpen after him.
During just his second appearance of the year, junior righty Gabe Brabec stepped up with a quality start in the win versus Nevada. Going six innings with just one run allowed, Brabec scattered five hits and two walks, settling in after giving up the lone run in his opening frame. Brabec struck out four and kept the Wolf Pack in the ballpark despite them flying out 10 times against him, also benefiting from some strong defense behind him.
On Deck
The Zags will host their first home series of the season this weekend, welcoming Pepperdine (8-19, 4-2 WCC) to the Patterson Baseball Complex for a three-game series beginning Thursday. They’ll have a quick turnaround after that, traveling to Seattle for a two-game set against Washington (12-15, 6-6 Big Ten) starting on Monday.
