Wednesday, April 9, 2014

PORTLAND, Ore. – Coming off of a 3-1 series victory over first-place Western Oregon, Central Washington’s baseball team hits the road this week, taking on Great Northwest Athletic Conference opponent Northwest Nazarene.

The Wildcats (18-13, 11-9 GNAC) are currently in third place in the GNAC standings, sitting just six percentage points behind the Crusaders (14-17, 10-8). The teams will meet for a four-game series in Nampa, kicking off with a doubleheader at 4 p.m. Mountain time on Friday.

Western Oregon (20-14, 13-7) maintained its grip on first place despite the setback in Ellensburg last week, and will face Montana State Billings in a four-game series this weekend as well.

The Yellowjackets (9-19, 6-8) are in fourth place in the standings and have yet to play a home conference game this season. The four games against WOU this weekend will be the first of 18-straight conference home contests to close the Yellowjackets’ 2014 regular season.

Saint Martin’s (9-24, 6-14) currently occupies the fifth spot in the GNAC standings, and will return to the diamond against MSUB on April 18 after a week off.

LEADERS

CWU junior Kasey Bielec maintained his lofty .398 batting average, as he approached the .400 mark with a 6-for-14 showing last week. Bielec also launched his fifth home run of the season, and pushed his GNAC-leading RBI total to 28 as he added six last week.

Wildcat starter Brandon Williams tossed his third complete game of the season last week, striking out eight Wolves in a crucial 2-1 victory on Friday. Williams lowered his ERA to 1.99 on the season, and his 58 strikeouts are the most in the GNAC. 

NNU junior Anthony Flatt earned Red Lion Player of the Week honors, after batting 7-for-16 with a double and four RBI last week in the Crusaders’ 3-1 series win.

Crusader right-hander Andrew Groves threw 6 2/3 scoreless innings on Friday, striking out six en route to a 6-0 NNU win over the Saints.

SMU’s lone victory of the week came thanks to Zach Carter’s second complete game of the season on Friday. Carter, the Red Lion Pitcher of the Week, struck out six batters and walked none while allowing just one run and six hits over his nine frames in the 2-1 victory.

Saint junior Chandler Tracy hit career home run No. 26 and his GNAC-leading sixth of the 2014 season in Game 2 on Saturday, moving him into a tie for second in the GNAC record books. Tracy is now three home runs away from tying the all-time record of 29 career home runs, set by Jamie Nilsen of Central Washington (2005-08). 

Nathan Etheridge had a big week for WOU, batting 5-for-15 with three doubles and a home run. The 6’ 5” sophomore struck out just once in 16 plate appearances, and logged a slugging percentage of .733 on the week.

A pair of nonconference games for MSUB against Dickinson State helped bolster Brody Miller’s GNAC-leading batting average, as he went 6-for-8 with four doubles, three RBI and six runs scored in the doubleheader on Tuesday. The junior is now batting .441 on the season, and is also leading the conference in walks (22) and on-base percentage (.543).

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