Round two Gonzaga-style takes place tonight at Bailey-Brayton Field. The WSU Cougars will play the Gonzaga Bulldogs for the second time in as many weeks in a rematch of the bout last Tuesday which the Cougars won 5-1. 

WSU enters the series reeling from a three-game sweep at the hands of the Oregon Ducks. The team has not won since its win against Gonzaga last week. 

Meanwhile, the Bulldogs come in hot, having just swept the Portland Pilots in three games. They outscored the Pilots 19-6 in the series.

Both the Cougars and Bulldogs score an average of about four runs per game, so it will once again come down to which team pitches better in this single game. 

Junior Yale Rosen leads the Cougar offense with a .359 batting average and four home runs.

Redshirt sophomores Nick Tanielu and Ben Roberts have added significant production as well. Both are hitting above .320 and consistently get on base. 

On the other side, senior Payden Cawley Lamb, junior Mitchell Gunsolus and sophomore Jimmy Sinatro pace Gonzaga’s offensive attack. All three hitters are regular customers on the base paths with on-base percentages above .400. Lamb comes in with a .372 batting average, 51 hits and eight doubles, all of which are team highs. 

It will be the task of the Cougar pitching staff to shut down these hitters and the entire Gonzaga offense. In the last matchup, sophomore Caleb Wood, freshman Sam Brown and Lamb registered two hits apiece against a committee of WSU pitchers. 

This game will likely be no different as the Cougars prepare for a three-game series against the Washington Huskies next weekend. In order to keep all three regular starters intact for that series, Kellen Camus or Scott Simon would be available to start this game. Camus pitched a scoreless inning in Saturday’s game against the Ducks, and he is a perfect 3-0 in 16 appearances this season. 

Simon is 1-2 in 11 appearances with an ERA above 5.00; however, he earned his first win of the season in the first game against the Bulldogs. 

Gonzaga’s pitching staff has a bloated team ERA of 4.36 and is allowing opposing hitters to bat .279. 

The first pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.