Complete WCC Release
 
SAN BRUNO, Calif. – The reigning West Coast Conference tournament champion Gonzaga baseball team was picked as the preseason favorite by the league's head coaches in the poll released Wednesday by the West Coast Conference.
 
Gonzaga earned five of the nine available first-place votes – coaches can't vote for their own team – and earned 74 total points. Pepperdine was second with 66 points, and Saint Mary's was third with 65 points and four first-place votes. BYU earned the remaining first-place vote and was picked sixth.
 
GU was also honored on the Preseason All-WCC teams as well with infielder Ernie Yake being named one of 10 on the list of position players, and right-hander Casey Legumina named on the list of five of the league's top pitchers.
 
Yake, a sophomore who earned Freshman All-American honors last season, had a breakout rookie season for the Bulldogs, leading the squad with a .322 batting average and a .378 on-base percentage. He finished the year with 76 hits, 25 RBIs and 32 runs, and shared the lead for the Bulldogs in doubles with 15 on the season. The Bellingham, Washington, native had a spectacular defensive showing in his first season, finishing with just four errors on 136 chances with 30 putouts and 102 assists for a .971 fielding percentage. Last season, he was also named to the All-WCC Second Team and WCC All-Freshman team.
 
Legumina, a junior who served as GU's closer in 2018, returned to the Zags after being drafted in the 35th round by the Cleveland Indians. Last season, he ranked in the top 20 in the nation in saves with a school-record 13 on his way to earning All-West Coast Conference First Team honors. The Chandler, Arizona, native appeared in 26 games overall in 2018, finishing with a 3-3 record in 48.2 innings pitched. He had 52 strikeouts with only seven walks and recorded a 2.77 earned-run average on the year, while being named to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year watch list.
 
Gonzaga opens its 2019 regular season with four games at the Sanderson Ford Collegiate Baseball Classic in Surprise, Arizona, on Feb. 15-18. They take on Minnesota in the first game on Friday at 4 p.m. PT.