Tuesday, March 26, 2013

PORTLAND, Ore. - Central Washington travels to Monmouth this weekend for a four-game series with Western Oregon as the conference baseball race reaches the halfway point.  The series begins Friday with a 1p.m. twinbill.

The Wolves (15-11, 10-2) are the 11-time GNAC defending champions and hold a narrow one-game lead over the Wildcats (15-11, 9-3).

Western Oregon leads the the conference in pitching allowing just 3.83 earned runs per nine innings pitched.  Spenser Watkins is 4-3 and has a conference-leading 2.87 ERA.   Kody Stone leads a solid bullpen.  In 10 appearances, he has seven saves and one victory and has a 1.64 ERA.

Daniel McNabb has been WOU's top hitter, batting .365.  He also leads the Wolves in runs scored (17) and RBIs (19).  Matt Nylen is the team's only other .300 hitter.  He is batting .329.  As a team, WOU ranks fourth in the conference with a .258 average.

Central Washington is second in ERA (4.03) and has a healthy lead in the team batting race hitting .305. 

CWU freshman left fielder Kramer Ferrell leads the conference in batting with a .393 average and is riding a GNAC season-best 13-game hitting streak.   Right fielder Ethan Sterkel is hitting .346.  Both Ferrell and Sterkel are products of Ellensburg High School.  Catcher Kyle Sani provides the power for the Wildcats.  He leads the team in doubles (10), home runs (6) and RBI (23).

Skye Adams leads the Wildcats' pitching staff.  He has a 4-1 record and a 3.04 earned run average.

Elsewhere this weekend, Saint Martin's visits Northwest Nazarene for a four-game series, while Montana State Billings, which split a four-game series last weekend at Ellensburg with Central Washington, is idle.