SPOKANE, Wash. – The Gonzaga Bulldogs have come a long way from their rocky start to 2026.
“We don’t think about losing,” Zags outfielder Maddox Haley said. “We’re only going to win. It’s not an if, it’s a when.”
This mindset helped lift Gonzaga out of its early hole and race to the top of the West Coast Conference, forged through tough road contests as far as Hawai’i and as tough as Alabama and Oklahoma.
“You learn to win on the road, and that’s important in this league and just overall that you got to be here and play on the road,” head coach Mark Machtolf said. “You got to win games on the road. A lot of times, most likely, you’re going to, if you’re fortunate enough, you’re going to be in a regional on the road.”
Gonzaga is now one series win away from Seattle U to put an exclamation point on the regular season, and the Redhawks have a playoff spot of their own they’ll be fighting for.
“They got to come in and perform, but they’re coming in against a team that’s hot, and we’re not looking to take them lightly,” Haley said. “We’ve never taken any team lightly, and that’s our job: to go handle business.”
Next for the Zags is the WCC tournament, where they already clinched the No. 1 overall seed.
“Winning the WCC regular season was awesome, and it’s a great accomplishment,” pitcher Justin Feld said. “But we all know, like, we want to win the tournament. We want to obviously win this weekend series. And we want more for sure.”
A WCC tournament win would be extra special, as it’s the Zags’ final shot as they exit for the Pac-12.
“I think that means everything,” Feld said. “We want to go out strong in the WCC. I mean, this is my last year. So, I’m not going to experience the Pac-12, but I know that if I give everything that I can in my last year, it’ll mean everything if we win.”
First pitch between the Zags and Redhawks is Thursday at 6:00 p.m.
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