Gonzaga University Men's Baseball

THE MACHTOLF FILE Personal Information Name: Mark Machtolf Hometown: Spokane, Wash. High School: Gonzaga Preparatory School Education: Stanford University, Stanford, Calif. - 1987 (B.A. History) Whitworth College - 1990 (Masters of Education) Children: David, Steven, and Jack   COLLEGIATE HONORS College World Series Champion, 1987 All-CWS Selection, 1987 Four-year baseball letterman and two-year football letterman at Stanford, 1984-1987 Coaching Experience OVERALL 1988-1990 - Hitting Coach at Gonzaga University 1991 - Assistant Coach at Whitworth College 1992-95 - Head Coach at Gonzaga Preparatory School 1996-97 - Assistant Coach at Gonzaga University 1998-2003 - Associate Head Coach at Gonzaga University 2004-Present - Head Coach at Gonzaga University GONZAGA In 22 complete seasons at the helm for Gonzaga, Machtolf has made five NCAA postseason appearances, including four in the last eight seasons. Overall record: 623-528-2 WCC record: 320-201 Machtolf's eleven 30-win seasons are most in program history, most recently eclipsing 37 in 2022. He is second all-time in total wins (597) and career win percentage (.543). Claimed six WCC Regular Season Titles and two WCC Tournament/Series Titles  5x WCC Coach of the Year, most recently in 2022 Five WCC Player of the Year honors (Mikey Bell, Jeff Bohling, Marco Gonzales (x2), Kiel Thibault) Six WCC Pitcher of the Year honors (Alek Jacob, Tyler Olson, Marco Gonzales, Ryan Carpenter, Matt Fields, Clayton Mortenson) Three WCC Defensive Player of the Year honors (Connor Coballes, Brett Harris, Joey Harris) Two WCC Freshman of the Year honors (Cade McGee, Marco Gonzales) Under coach Machtolf, GU has had: - 143 Total All-WCC selections - 21 All-WCC First Team selections - 20 All-WCC Second Team selections - 50 All-WCC Honorable Mention selections - 24 WCC All-Freshman Team selections - 15 All-Americans - 5 WCC Player of the Year selections - 6 WCC Pitcher of the Year selections - 3 WCC Defensive Player of the Year selections - 2 WCC Freshman of the Year selections - John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year (Marco Gonzales) - ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove Recipient (Jake Vieth) There have been 55 players under Machtolf who have been selected in the Major League Baseball Draft. Additionally, 15 of Machtolf's former players have reached the big leagues (Troy Johnston, Brett Harris, Alek Jacob, Casey Legumina, Michael Rucker, Ryan Carpenter, Wyatt Mills, Eli Morgan, Brandon Bailey, Taylor Jones, Marco Gonzales, Tyler Olson, Cody Morton, Steve Ames, and Clayton Mortenson) In the 2022 season, Machtolf led the Bulldogs to their highest USA Today, D1Baseball, and Baseball America rankings, reaching No. 11 (USA Today) and No. 10 (D1Baseball, Baseball America). The Zags reached the NCAA Regional round for the fourth time in seven seasons in 2022, finishing atop the WCC regular season standings with 20 wins for the second straight year. At the Blacksburg Regional, GU notched a win over Wright State, marking NCAA Tournament wins in consecutive seasons for the first time in program history.   Mark Machtolf enters his 23rd season as the Gonzaga University baseball head coach and 36th on staff in 2026. Machtolf, a five-time WCC Coach of the Year (2009, 2013, 2017, 2021, 2022), sits as the second-winningest coach in program history with a career 623-528-2 record entering 2026. His .541 career winning percentage is also third-best all-time in Gonzaga history. Machtolf leads all active head coaches in the WCC in career wins.  During his tenure as head coach of the Bulldogs, Machtolf has produced 143 All-WCC selections, including 21 First Team All-Conference selections, 24 Freshman All-WCC selections, six WCC Pitchers of the Year, five WCC Players of the Year, three WCC Defensive Players of the Year and two WCC Freshmen of the Year. In addition, Machtolf has coached 15 All-American selections, eight Freshman All-Americans, four Academic All-Americans, 11 All-West Region selections, two United States Baseball National Team members, an ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove recipient and the 2013 College Baseball Hall of Fame’s John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year winner.   There have been 55 players under Machtolf who have been selected in the Major League Baseball draft, including three first-round selections. Of those 55 draftees, 18 were picked in the first 10 rounds of their respective drafts. 15 of Machtolf’s former players have reached the big leagues — Clayton Mortensen, Steve Ames, Cody Martin, Tyler Olson, Marco Gonzales, Taylor Jones, Brandon Bailey, Eli Morgan, Wyatt Mills, Ryan Carpenter, Michael Rucker, Casey Legumina, Alek Jacob, Brett Harris and Troy Johnston. Since 2016, Machtolf-coached Gonzaga teams have gone 275-231 overall and 156-81 in WCC regular-season play, winning 5 WCC championships, 9 WCC Yearly Awards, making 4 NCAA Regionals and producing 27 MLB Draft picks in that span. The Bulldogs have made the NCAA Tournament on five occasions under Machtolf, most recently in 2022. GU earned its highest-ever seeding in a Regional in 2021, when the Zags were the No. 2 seed in the Eugene Regional after winning the WCC regular season title.  The Zags defeated No. 3 LSU 3-0 before falling 7-3 to No. 1 Oregon and being eliminated by the Tigers in a rematch. That year, Machtolf was named WCC Coach of the Year, while Zags Alek Jacob and Brett Harris earned Pitcher of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, respectively. Both earned Collegiate Baseball All-American honors in addition. With a 20-7 record in conference play, the Zags won the WCC Pennant in lieu of a tournament to punch their tickets to the NCAA Tourney. After winning the WCC Regular Season title for the second consecutive year in 2022, the Bulldogs then matched that feat with a No. 2 seed in the Blacksburg Regional, winning a game in the NCAA Tournament in consecutive years for the first time in program history after defeating Wright State 11-9. That season, the Bulldogs reached a program-best national ranking of No. 10 in Baseball America's poll -- the highest GU has ever been ranked under Machtolf. First-year Zags Connor Coballes and Cade McGee took home DPOY and Freshman of the Year honors, respectively. The Zags also earned the automatic bid to the tournament in 2018 after defeating No. 1 seed Pepperdine 17-2 in the title game of the WCC Baseball Championship. Gonzaga advanced to the Minneapolis Regional and facing elimination following a loss to No. 2 UCLA, the Bulldogs kept their season alive with an 8-2 win over No. 4 Canisius. Gonzaga closed the season with a loss to the Bruins, finishing the 2018 campaign with a 33-24 overall record for its ninth 30-win season under Machtolf. The Zags earned their first-ever at-large bid to the tournament in 2016, finishing with a 36-21 record and a share of the WCC regular season title. Gonzaga opened the Fort Worth Regional with a 5-1 win over Arizona State. Just a week earlier, the Zags reached the title game of the WCC Tournament for the first time in the competition’s four-year history. The Bulldogs also reached the NCAA Tournament in 2009. That year, the Zags captured the program’s first WCC regular-season and championships series titles. They began NCAA Regionals with a 19-10 win over Georgia Southern University before falling in a pair of games to No. 2 national seeded and regional host Cal State Fullerton and the University of Utah. Gonzaga went on to earn a No. 22 national ranking in Baseball America’s final season poll. Both seasons’ 36 wins are the most by a Bulldog team since 1990. Besides the league titles in 2009, 2016 and 2021, Machtolf has led the Zags to two other WCC crowns, in 2013 and 2017. In 2013, Machtolf led the Bulldogs to another WCC regular season title after going 32-21-1. They went a then-program best 18-6 in conference play and captured the top seed in the conference tournament. In 2017, Gonzaga won a school-high 20 conference games en route to a 20-7 record and a share of first place. They won five of six games against fellow co-champions Loyola Marymount and BYU during the final two weeks of conference play to do so, sweeping BYU for the first time ever during the process. In addition to guiding the Zags to the postseason and to league titles, Machtolf was also instrumental in the construction of Gonzaga’s new state-of-the-art facility: Patterson Baseball Complex and Washington Trust Field. Machtolf assisted with shaping the new home of Bulldog baseball, which opened in 2007. In the summer of 2006, Machtolf was named one of the assistant coaches for the USA Baseball Team. Under Machtolf’s guidance, the National Team posted a 28-2-1 record, including going a perfect 8-0 at the Federation Internationale du Sport Universitaire (FISU) World Championships in Havana, Cuba. The .919 win percentage for the season was the best posted by a USA Baseball collegiate team and the tournament win was another first for a USA Baseball National Team in Cuba. Prior to being named head coach on Aug. 7, 2003, the Spokane native served 13 years as an assistant coach for the Zags. This is his 31st season on the Gonzaga staff. Machtolf entered the coaching ranks as the hitting coach at Gonzaga for the 1988 season and worked with the Zags until the completion of the 1990 campaign. Following one season as an assistant coach at Spokane’s Whitworth College (now University), Machtolf accepted the head coaching position at Gonzaga Prep and coached through the 1995 season. While at Prep, he volunteered with Gonzaga for two seasons before returning to the Zag dugout fulltime in 1996. He was promoted to associate head coach prior to the 1998 campaign and earned the head job six years later. A 1987 graduate of Stanford University, Machtolf was a member of the Cardinal 1987 College World Series championship team and was an All-CWS selection. A four-year baseball letterman and two-year football letterman, Machtolf received his B.A. in history in 1987. He received a Masters of Education degree in 1990 from Whitworth. Machtolf has three sons – David, Steven and Jack.

Brandon Harmon will begin his fourth season as Associate Head Coach and 14th season overall on the baseball staff in 2026. He was elevated from volunteer assistant in September 2015, and elevated from pitching coach to associate head coach in July 2022. Harmon has helped guide the Zags to five West Coast Conference titles in his seven years coaching GU's pitchers (2013, 2016, 2017, 2021 and 2022) and his pitching staff played a large role in the Zags’ first-ever at-large bid to an NCAA Regional in 2016 as well as their highest-ever seeding in a Regional in 2021 and 2022. In 2022, Harmon's staff shattered the previous record for strikeouts with 596 and finished Top-50 in ERA (4.32, 35th), hits allowed per nine innings (8.35, 28th) and top-10 in shutouts (6, 10th) and strikeouts per game (10.6, 9th) led by First Team All-American Gabriel Hughes, who finished ninth in the nation with 138 strikeouts. Hughes was one of four of Harmon's pitchers to be drafted in the 2022 MLB Draft, becoming the highest draft pick in GU history with his 10th overall selection by the Rockies. Following him were Trystan Vrieling (Round 3, Pick 100) to the Yankees, Will Kempner (Round 3, Pick 106) to the Giants and Brody Jessee (Round 10, Pick 303) to the Reds. In 2021, Harmon-coached pitchers took home a bevy of honors, led by WCC Pitcher of the Year and Second Team All-American Alek Jacob and Freshman All-American Gabriel Hughes. In the 2021 season, Zag pitchers combined for a WCC-leading nine shutouts.  Also in 2016, Harmon’s pitching staff broke the program record with 501 strikeouts, and they eclipsed the old mark once again a year later. He tutored three of the pitchers among the top five on Gonzaga’s single season strikeouts list (No. 2 Eli Morgan, No. 4 Brandon Bailey and No. 5 Daniel Bies), along with one of the top closers in school history in Wyatt Mills. Under Harmon’s tutelage, 14 pitchers have been selected in the MLB Draft: Bailey (6th Rd.; 2016), Hunter Wells (23rd; 2016), Mills (3rd, 2017), Morgan (8th; 2017), Bies (7th, 2018), Casey Legumina (8th, 2019), Alek Jacob (16th, 2021), Hughes (1st, 2022), Vrieling (3rd, 2022), Kempner (3rd, 2022), Jessee (10th, 2022), Owen Wild (7th, 2023), Liam Paddack (18th, 2024), and Payton Graham (7th, 2025) . Four others have signed with major league organizations (Justin Vernia, Sam Hellinger, Mac Lardner and Nick Trogrlic-Iverson) and Bailey, Mills, Morgan, Jacob and Legumina have all earned the call-up to the big leagues for their respective organizations. Harmon spent his volunteer years working with the squad’s catchers and outfielders, where he helped catcher Joey Harris earn 2015 West Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Year. During the 2014 and 2015 seasons, Harmon was also involved with the pitching staff, assisting with in-game pitching decisions. From 2013 to 2015, Harmon also coached the 19U-level Spokane Expos, leading the club to a record of 103-57. Twenty-three of his Expos players moved on to play collegiate baseball. From 2011-2012 Harmon served as the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at Whitworth University in Spokane, Wash. In 2012, the program won the Northwest Conference and Western Regional Championship earning a bid to the Division III World Series. The year previously, he saw the Pirates’ pitching staff break the Division III school ERA record with one athlete signing a professional contract. His staff re-broke that record in 2012. Harmon is a former player and graduate of Gonzaga. He completed his undergraduate work in 2007 with a degree in sports management and followed that up with a master's degree from Gonzaga in 2009 in Sport and Athletic Administration. During his days as a pitcher for the Bulldogs (2005-08), he etched himself into the program’s record book. Harmon is one of two atop the all-time career appearances category with 88 and owns the most innings in a season, pitching 123.1 frames in 2007. He was named All-WCC Honorable Mention in 2006 and 2007 and finished his career with a 13-17 overall record with 10 saves. Harmon and his wife Lindsey have three children; sons Charlie and Cooper and daughter Collins. They live in Spokane.

Knaggs returns for his third stint as an assistant coach at Gonzaga ahead of the 2026 season, having previously served as assistant coach during the 1981-1984 and 1990 seasons. The Zags had a 160-128 record across his five years serving as an assistant to longtime head coach Steve Hertz, the all-time wins leader at Gonzaga. Knaggs has developed as a proven leader in his own right across 14 seasons as a head coach, developing a reputation as of one of the most successful collegiate summer league coaches in the northwest. Knaggs joins the Zags after capturing another West Coast League championship with the Bellingham Bells last season, clinching the title in his single season piloting the collegiate summer league team. Knaggs had previously led one of the most effective dynasties in the WCL, leading the Wenatchee AppleSox from 2001 through 2014. The Applesox posted a winning record every year that Knaggs was the head coach, winning the WCL championship five times and making the final seven times in an nine year span from 2005 to 2013. While with the AppleSox, Knaggs helped develop 16 future MLB players, including former Gonzaga standout Marco Gonzales. Knaggs helped develop professional stars, producing an alumni list that includes two World Series Champions in Clayton Mortenson and Jason Hammel, 2020 Gold Glove winner Griffin Canning and 2025 All-Star Drew Rasmussen. Knaggs was named the WCL Head Coach of the year four times and won nearly two thirds of his games as a head coach in the league, amassing a 63.3 win percentage in the regular season with a combined 333-193 record across his head coaching career.

João Paulo (JP) Batista is the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for Gonzaga University’s women’s basketball program. Batista returned to Gonzaga in 2022 following a 16-year professional playing career in elite leagues across Europe and South America. His collegiate career began at Western Nebraska Community College, where he competed as a freshman before transferring to Barton County Community College. As a sophomore, Batista earned JUCO All-American honors, establishing himself as one of the nation’s top junior college players. Batista transferred to Gonzaga University and played from 2004–06, becoming one of the most efficient frontcourt players in program history. As a junior during the 2004–05 season, he averaged 12.4 points and 6.2 rebounds per game while shooting better than 60 percent from the field, earning West Coast Conference Newcomer of the Year honors. During the 2005–06 season, he started all 33 games and averaged 19.3 points and 9.4 rebounds per game while shooting nearly 59 percent from the field and 83 percent from the free-throw line. He earned First Team All-West Coast Conference honors and was named an Honorable Mention All-American. Batista helpedGonzaga capture the WCC regular-season championship and advance to the Sweet 16 of the 2006 NCAA Tournament. He was later named Gonzaga University’s Male Athlete of the Year. Following his collegiate career, Batista played professionally for clubs including Lietuvos Rytas (Lithuania), Barons Riga (Latvia), Le Mans Sarthe and Limoges CSP (France), and Flamengo, Mogi das Cruzes, and Minas Tênis Clube (Brazil). Over his career, he won multiple national and international championships, including the FIBA Intercontinental Cup, Brazilian League titles, the French Cup, the Leaders Cup, the FIBA EuroCup, the Latvian National Championship with Barons Riga, and the French National Championship with Limoges CSP. Batista also represented Brazil’s National Team, winning gold medals at the Pan American Games and the FIBA South American Championship, and competing in the 2010 FIBA World Cup in Istanbul, Turkey. Batista applies his extensive playing experience alongside evidence-based training principles to support athlete development, injury prevention, and long-term durability. He works closely with the women’s basketball coaching staff to align strength, conditioning, and recovery strategies with the demands of high-level collegiate competition. Batista earned a bachelor’s degree in Sports Management (2006) and a master’s degree in Sports and Athletic Administration (2025) from Gonzaga University. He holds certifications as a NASM Performance Enhancement Specialist, Precision Nutrition Level 1, and Gray Institute 3D MAPS (Foundations and Functional Techniques), and maintains current CPR and First Aid certification. Fluent in English, Portuguese, Spanish, and French, Batista is committed to mentoring student-athletes from diverse and international backgrounds. Personal: Batista and his wife, Simone, have been married for 18 years and are the parents of two daughters, Vitoria (16) and Vanessa (13).