Week of Feb. 1-7: Player - Jon Keller, Northwest Nazarene (1B-P, 6-1, 200, Sr., Eugene, OR - Treasure Valley CC) had seven hits including three doubles and a home run in 15 at bats as the Crusaders divided the first four games of a six-game series with Hawaii Hilo. Keller scored five runs and drove in three. On the mound, he left with the lead but had a no-decision, giving up six hits and three runs (two earned) in 5 1/3 innings in NNU's 8-4 win on Thursday. Pitcher - None was selected.
 |
 |
| Pettit |
Johnson |
Week of Feb. 8-14: Player - Aaron Johnson, Saint Martin's (OF, 6-2, 205, Jr., Seabeck, WA - Central Kitsap & GRCC) had six hits including three home runs and a double and also drew four walks in a four-game series at Cal Poly Pomona. Johnson, who hit .462 in the series, had a pair of home runs in SMU's 4-3 win in Saturday. He led the Saints in the series with six RBI. Pitcher - Jacob Pettit, Western Oregon (P, 6-2, 190, Sr., Orting, WA - Green River) allowed just two hits in five innings in a 5-0 shutout of Sonoma State Sunday as the Wolves ended a seven-game losing streak with a pair of victories.
 |
 |
| Boe |
DeBoer |
Week of Feb. 15-21: Player - Kyle Boe, Western Oregon (3B, 6-0, 205, Sr., Burlington, WA - Burlington-Edison & SVCC) batted .400 (6 of 15) to lead the Wolves to a 3-1 record in a tournament at Lewiston. Boe, who also had a team-high nine assists from the hot corner, drove in five runs, including four in Sunday's 12-11 win against Saint Martin's. Pitcher - Thomas DeBoer, Saint Martin's (5-7, 150, So., Olympia, WA - Capital) pitched the Saints to a 10-3 win over Central Washington. DeBoer didn't walk a batter in eight innings. He allowed eight hits and a pair of runs, while fanning three.
 |
|
| Smith |
Johnson |
Week of Feb. 22-28: Player - Aaron Johnson, Saint Martin's (OF, 6-2, 205, Jr., Seabeck, WA - Central Kitsap & GRCC) had four hits and drove in eight runs in a 21-7 win over Seattle University. Among his hits were two doubles and a home run. His RBI total was one shy of the GNAC single-game record. Pitcher - Archie Smith, MSU Billings (6-4, 175, Sr., Palmyra, NE) had a pair of solid outings as the Yellowjackets opened their season with a eight-game road trip to Arizona and Utah. On Wednesday against Grand Canyon he allowed just one run and six hits in five innings leaving the game with a 2-1 lead, but eventually getting a no-decision. On Monday he one-hit Dixie, walking four and fanning five in a 2-1 victory. In 12 innings he gave up seven hits, while walking five and striking out eight.
 |
 |
| Kody Kennedy |
Cesar Lopez |
Week of Mar. 1-7: Player - Cesar Lopez, Western Oregon (SS, 5-11, 185, Sr., Walla Walla, WA - DeSales & WWCC) had seven hits, including a double and two home runs, to lead the eight-time defending conference champions to three wins in four games in their conference opening series at Northwest Nazarene. Lopez hit for a .389 average and posted .450 and .778 on-base and slugging percentages in the series. He scored six runs, drove in five and posted a perfect fielding percentage handling 14 chances without an error. Pitcher - Kody Kennedy, Montana State Billings (5-10, 175, Jr., Butte, MT - Miles CC) had a dominating performance in a 1-0 win over Saint Martin's, striking out 13 batters in six innings and allowing just two hits before the game was suspended Saturday because of darkness. Archie Smith finished up the 1-0 win for the lefthander Sunday morning adding a 14 th strikeout to the MSUB game total.
 |
 |
| Dukart |
Ward |
Week of Mar. 8-14: Player - Brian Dukart, Montana State Billings (2B, 5-9, 170, Sr., Billings, MT - Miles CC), had eight hits in 14 at bats in leading the Yellowjackets to two road victories at Monmouth. In Saturday's 4-3 win he had three hits in three at bats and a crucial sacrifice bunt to set up the winning run in the fifth inning. Dukert, who has hit safely in 11 consecutive games, added two more hits in Sunday's 15-11 slugfest, scoring twice and driving in a run. Defensively, he handled 17 chances at second base without an error. Pitcher - Michael Ward, Western Oregon (6-4, 225, Jr., Eugene, OR) limited MSUB to three hits and fanned 10 without walking a batter in a 10-0 win Saturday. Ward is 3-1 on the season and leads the GNAC in ERA with a 2.00 figure. His win total ties him for the conference lead with teammate Jacob Pettit.
|
 |
| Johnson |
Gwaltney |
Week of Mar. 15-21: Player - Aaron Johnson, Saint Martin's (OF, 6-2, 205, Jr., Seabeck, WA - Central Kitsap & Green River CC) had 12 hits in 21 at bats, scored 11 runs and drove in 12 in leading the Saints to four wins in six games, including a split with NAIA powerhouse Lewis-Clark State. Among Johnson's hits were a pair of doubles and a home run. In SMU's four-game series with Central Washington, Johnson went nine for 15, scored eight runs and drove in 11. Pitcher - Jesse Gwaltney, Northwest Nazarene (5-11, 205, Jr., Vancouver, WA - Seton Hall) took a no-hitter and 13-1 lead into the ninth before giving up a bunt hit and two-run home run in a 13-3 victory over Montana State Billings. Gwaltney walked two and fanned five in improving his record to 3-2.
 |
 |
| McDonald |
Keitzman |
Week of Mar. 22-28: Player - Sean McDonald, Northwest Nazarene (OF, 5-9, 165, So., Boise, ID) hit .706 (12 of 17) as the Crusaders split four games with Hawaii Pacific, which came into the series with a 20-5 record and ranked fourth in the region in the NCWBA poll. McDonald, who had three doubles, one triple and one home run, scored seven runs and drove in five. He had hits in his final nine official at bats, including a GNAC single-game record seven in Wednesday's 22-7 victory. Pitcher – Blake Keitzman, Western Oregon (6-0, 175, Sr., Roseburg, OR) pitched just the third no-hitter in GNAC history and the first one ever in a conference contest as the Wolves completed a sweep of a doubleheader with a 1-0 win over Saint Martin's Saturday at Monmouth. Keitzman didn't walk a batter and fanned six. He hit leadoff hitter Andrew Elke twice, but Elke was caught stealing in the third inning and Keitzman faced just 22 hitters, one over the minimum in the seven-inning contest.
Week of Mar. 29-Apr. 4: Player - Sean McDonald, Northwest Nazarene (OF, 5-9, 165, So., Boise, ID) and Jason Moseby, Western Oregon (OF-DH, 6-3, 205, Sr., Bellevue, WA – Newport & Bellevue CC). . .McDonald had eight hits in 16 at bats to lead the Crusaders to a three-game series sweep of Saint Martin's. The Crusader leadoff hitter had three doubles, led NNU in runs scored (7) and RBI (5) and also swiped three bases. He also earned a save on the mound allowing just one hit and no runs in the final three innings of Saturday's 10-3 win. He fanned four and didn't walk a batter. . .Moseby had nine hits in 18 at bats, including three doubles and two home runs as the Wolves swept a four-game series with Central Washington. Moseby drove in a team-high seven runs and had 18 total bases and a 1.000 slugging average. Pitcher – Kalen Hruza, Northwest Nazarene (6-0, 205, Jr., Caldwell, ID) pitched in all three games and wasn't charged with a run or a walk in 3 2/3 innings. Hruza, who had three strikeouts, replaced Charles Pollock in the sixth inning of Saturday's opener with the bases loaded and no outs. After giving up a run-scoring single to the first batter he faced, he got the next three batters out to preserve a 5-3 lead in a game NNU went on to win 10-3. In the second game, he earned the victory holding the Saints scoreless over the final 2 1/3 innings in a 4-1 win. On the season, Hruza has pitched in 21 games and has a 2-0 record and a 2.40 ERA.
Week of Apr. 5-11: Player - Grant Glover, Western Oregon (2B, 5-8, 180, Jr., McMinnville, OR) and Josh Grenier, Saint Martin's (3B-OF, 5-10, 180, So., Tumwater, WA). . .Glover had seven hits in 17 at bats including the game-winner in Saturday's 5-4 victory as the Wolves completed a four-game sweep of Northwest Nazarene. Glover, who has hit safely in 12 consecutive games, also led a defense that committed just two errors in the four contests. He handled 16 chances (9 putouts, 7 assists) without committing a miscue. . .Grenier had 11 hits in 14 at bats, scored seven runs and drove in five in Saint Martin's four-game sweep at Billings. Among his hits were nine singles, a double and a triple. He also stole two bases. Pitcher – Jacob Pettit, Western Oregon (6-2, 190, Sr., Orting, WA – Green River CC) allowed just one run and seven hits in nine innings in lowering his conference-leading ERA to 2.20. Pettit, who ranks third in GNAC history in career ERA (2.99), walked one and struck out two in Saturday's 3-1 victory.
Week of Apr. 12-18: Player - Devon Bouvier, Western Oregon (OF, 6-2, 195, Sr., Kennewick, WA – Yakima Valley) and Jon Keller, Northwest Nazarene (1B, 6-1, 200, Sr., Eugene, OR – Treasure Valley). . .Bouvier had 12 hits in 23 at bats, scored eight runs and drove in eight as the Wolves won six games to close in on their ninth consecutive GNAC baseball title. He had two or more hits in five consecutive games to extend his hitting streak to nine games before going 0 for 3 in Saturday's final contest at Billings. . .Keller had seven hits in 13 at bats, scored five runs and drove in eight in NNU's four-game sweep of Central Washington. All seven of his hits were for extra bases (5 doubles, two homers) and two of them were game-winners. His slugging average for the series with 1.385. Pitcher – Michael Ward, Western Oregon (6-4, 225, Jr., Eugene, OR – South Eugene) allowed two hits and one run in seven innings in a 22-2 win at Montana State Billings Friday. Ward walked two and tied his season high with 10 strikeouts. The WOU junior right-hander ranks second in the conference in ERA (2.24). In all nine of his starts, he has pitched six or more innings and he has allowed three or fewer runs in six of the nine.
Week of Apr. 19-25: Player - Jon Keller, Northwest Nazarene (1B, 6-1, 200, Sr., Eugene. OR – Treasure Valley) and Travis Jones, Saint Martin's (1B, 5-10, 220, So., Mililani). . .Keller had nine hits in 18 at bats, including four doubles and a triple and also drove in eight runs as the Crusaders swept a four-game series with Montana State Billings. Jones drove in 12 runs, including 11 against Central Washington as the Saints won three of four games with the Wildcats. Jones had eight hits in 21 at bats, including two doubles and a home run. Pitcher – Jesse Gwaltney, Northwest Nazarene (5-11, 205, Jr., Vancouver, WA – Seton Hall) improved to 5-3 pitching the Crusaders to a 6-1 win against MSUB, In eight innings, he allowed four hits and a single unearned run. He walked one and struck out nine.
Week of Apr. 26-May 2: Player - Kyle Boe, Western Oregon (3B, 6-0, 205, Sr., Burlington, WA – Burlington-Edison & SVCC) and Kevin Zukaitis, MSU Billings (1B, 6-3, 220, Jr., Omaha, NE). . .Boe had nine hits in 14 at bats as the Wolves swept a four-game series from Central Washington to extend their conference winning streak to 20 games. He scored eight runs and drove in three. Among his hits were a double, two triples and a home run. He also stole three bases. Zukaitis had five hits in eight at bats as the Yellowjackets ended a 16-game losing streak with a doubleheader sweep of Bemidji State. He scored three runs and drove in three and also had a key sacrifice bunt to set up the winning run in MSUB's 9-8 first-game victory. Pitcher – Charles Pollock, Northwest Nazarene (6-0, So., Boise, ID) came within four outs of pitching a perfect game in Friday's 3-1 win at Saint Martin's. Pollock, who is now 4-2 on the season, allowed just two hits in 6 2/3 innings. He walked two and fanned seven.
 |
|
| Walkenhauer |
Pettit |
Week of May 3-9: Player - Kevin Walkenhauer, Central Washington (P-OF, 6-1, 175, Sr., Yakima, WA – West Valley) could have been a candidate for Player or Pitcher-of-the-Week. In four games, he had six hits in 15 at bats, including three doubles while driving in a team-best five runs as the Wildcats won three of four games, earning their first conference series win of the season. On the mound, he pitched a five-hitter hurling the Wildcats to a 3-1 victory in Friday's second game. He walked one and struck out two in the victory. Pitcher – Jacob Pettit, Western Oregon (6-2, 190, Sr., Orting, WA) tossed his second consecutive nine-inning shutout, blanking Saint Martin's on three hits in a 4-0 win Saturday. He walked one and fanned 10 and extended his scoreless inning streak to 20, the third longest in conference history. In the two shutouts, he allowed nine hits, walked just one and fanned 19.
