Tuesday, March 20, 2018

PORTLAND, Ore. – With another exciting winter sports session behind us, the GNAC now shifts its full focus to the spring season. Leading off GNAC Insider with a pair of individuals from the diamond, Simon Fraser head softball coach Mike Renney and Western Oregon baseball senior Cody Dykstra make appearances while Northwest Nazarene head athletic trainer Ken Becker ends the night talking sports medicine. The show was on Tuesday at 7 p.m., Pacific, and was hosted by Rob Lowery.

The Clan’s head coach since 1995, Renney has made 14 trips to the NAIA National Championships and has claimed four NAIA national titles. The Clan has exceeded expectations so far this season as they sit in second place at 11-4, 8-4 GNAC. Winners in six of their last seven games, the Clan is fifth in the GNAC with a .292 batting average and is fourth with a 3.73 earned run average. They take a break from conference action to play in the Tournament of Champions this weekend in Turlock, Calif.

Western Oregon is the hottest baseball team in the conference right now. Opening the season 0-7, Western Oregon has won nine of its opening 12 GNAC games to sit one game ahead of second-place Central Washington in the standings. Dykstra has been a big part of the surge as he is sixth in the GNAC with a .356 batting average and is among conference leaders with a .453 on-base percentage. As a team, Western Oregon leads the GNAC with a 3.03 earned run average and .969 fielding percentage. The Wolves head up to Concordia this weekend for a four-game series.

In recognition of National Athletic Training month, Becker joins the program to touch upon his experiences during his 21 years at NNU. Over the course of his career, Becker has served as the primary athletic trainer for a handful of sports which include football, lacrosse, wrestling, rodeo, basketball, swimming and soccer. Becker, a Northwest Nazarene alumnus, earned a degree in sports medicine from the United States Sports Academy before attaining a master’s degree from the University of St. Augustine.