Wednesday, March 25, 2015

PORTLAND, Ore. –    Twenty-four of the 30 NCAA Division II West Region softball teams will be in Turlock, Calif. this weekend to compete in the Tournament at Champions softball tournament.

The tournament is presented by the City of Turlock.

The event is always a good indicator of which teams might qualify for the NCAA West Regional in May. 

The first of three regional polls which will eventually determine the five at-large teams which will join the GNAC, CCAA and Pac West champions in the tournament will be held in mid-April.

The tournament will feature  nine of 10 teams from the California College Athletic Association, eight of 13 from the Pac West Conference and all seven from the GNAC.

Prior to the tournament which begins Friday, Central Washington, Western Oregon and Western Washington will all play games in California against CCAA teams.

The Wildcats will play a doubleheader today (Wednesday) at Cal State Monterey Bay and Western Oregon is in the Bay Area for a twinbill with San Francisco State.

On Thursday, Western Washington and Sonoma State will play a single game at Turlock.

The tournament will begin Friday.  Each team will play five “pool” contests Friday and Saturday prior to bracket play on Sunday.

Last year GNAC teams finished the tournament with a combined record of 24-19, finishing with a winning record for the first-time. 

Western Washington reached the Gold Bracket semifinals in posting a 5-1 record.  Saint Martin’s won the Bronze title and had a 5-2 record and Central Washington reached the Silver bracket semifinals and posted a 4-2 record.  In the last three tournaments, SMU, which currently is in first place in the GNAC, has a 15-5 TOC record.

Munger, Slate, Isaacson Ranked In Top 10

Saint Martin’s Sam Munger is tied for third in  saves with 3 and ranks 12th in shutouts with four in this week’s NCAA Division II national statistical report.

She is the only player ranked in the Top 10 in this week’s report.

In team categories, Western Washington ranks 15th in double plays, averaging 0.50 per game (12 in 24 games).

Saint Martin’s ranks 16th in on-base percentage (.421) and is 20th in batting (.345).  Central Washington is 20th in doubles with 1.91 per game.

GNAC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Player – Megan Miller, Saint Martin’s (3B, 5-3, Jr., Everett, WA - Cascade) led the Saint offense which produced 36 runs in two games against Central Washington’s pitching staff,  CWU came into the weekend ranked No. 1 in the GNAC in ERA.  Miller, who drove in six runs and hit for the cycle in the second game, had six hits in eight at bats, including two doubles, a triple and a home run.  Her slugging average for the doubleheader with a phenomenal 1.625 as she drove in eight runs. 

Pitcher – Jessyka MacDonald, MSU Billings (5-8, Sr., Billings, MT – West) allowed just four runs in 21 2/3 innings, surrendering 15 hits and striking out 15 in winning three of four decisions including a two-hit 8-0 shutout of Simon Fraser Sunday. MacDonald pitched all 10 innings of MSUB’s two five-inning wins Sunday, allowing just five hits and one run. She needed just 113 pitches combined in throwing two complete games.

Team Notes

Central Washington:  Michaela Hazlett had seven hits in 13 at bats as the Wildcats split four conference games last weekend to move into second place in the conference standings.  Katie Focher had six hits in 12 at bats, including three doubles and a home run, and Kaitlyn Campbell had seven hits in 15 at bats and drove in eight runs. 

Montana State Billings:  The Yellowjackets batted .435 in winning three of four games against Simon Fraser in their season home debuts.  Bella Rovens (8-of-13), Cameron Cassinello (7-of-12), Heather Tracy (6-of-12) and Emily Osborn (6-of-12) all hit for .500 or better to back the pitching of Jessyka MacDonald (See GNAC Pitcher of the Week notes), who threw 21 2/3 of the 24 innings.  Taylor Hoke, who had seven RBI, Osborn and Cassinello each hit two home runs.

Northwest Nazarene: Whitney Carlton led the Crusaders with five hits in 12 at bats in their series against Western Washington.  The Crusaders won the second game of the series 7-6 scoring three runs in the bottom of the seventh including the game-winner on a single by Morgan Thome.

Saint Martin’s:  The Saints scored 36 runs in just 14 innings in their sweep of Central Washington, batting .439 as a team and slugging  .646. SMU's on-base percentage approached .500 (.495) led by Megan Miller who reached eight times in 10 plate appearances.  Miller batted .750 and had a cycle against Central Washington (See GNAC Player of the Week notes).    Sam Munger and Mary Dettling both batted .500 (5-of-10).

Simon Fraser:  Rachel Proctor led the Clan with five hits, including three home runs, in eight at bats in their four-game series at Billings.  Proctor accounted for more than half (8-of-13) of SFU’s RBIs.  Taylor Gillis and Danielle Raison each had four hits in the series.

Western Oregon: Amanda Evola has hit safely in 23 of 24 games this season, putting together hitting streaks of 11 and her current one of 12 games. She kept her current streak alive with two hits in last Sunday’s doubleheader against Central Washington.  Kelsie Gardner had four of the Wolves’ 13 hit in the twinbill, including their only home run.

Western Washington:  Emily Benson and Makinlee Sellevold each had six hits in 10 at bats, a homer and six RBI in a four-game series at Northwest Nazarene,  Sellevold also had two doubles and a team-best 1.100 slugging average.  She also posted a 2-1 record and a 2.27 ERA in the circle, allowing just nine hits in 12 ½ innings, while fanning 11.

GNAC WEEKLY (PDF)