2011 GNAC Baseball Players-of-the-Week
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| Glover |
Lind |
Week of Jan. 31-Feb. 6: Player - Grant Glover, Western Oregon (2B, 5-8, 180, Sr., McMinnville, OR) batted .429 and figured in five of the Wolves' 11 runs in their four-game series at San Diego, scoring four and driving in one. He had six hits in 14 at bats, hitting safely in the three nine-inning games, but going 0 for 2 in the seven-inning contest as his GNAC record 32-game streak came to an end. Glover had two doubles and a sacrifice in Sunday's 7-5 victory over the No. 1 ranked Tritons. Pitcher – Kirk Lind, Western Oregon (6-0, 210, Jr., Vancouver, WA - Prairie) earned a save pitching 2 2/3 scoreless innings Sunday against UCSD. In two appearances, he pitched 3 2/3 innings and did not allow a run, while giving up three hits and a walk.
Week of Feb. 7-13: Player – Colby Robison, MSU Billings (SS, 6-1, 190, So., Rexburg, ID – College of Southern Idaho) batted .600 (9 of 15) and drove in 10 runs leading the Yellowjackets to a split of a four-game series at Colorado State Pueblo. Robison, who handled six chances at shortstop without an error, had a double, triple and home run to finish with a 1.000 slugging average. He had seven RBI in Sunday's 21-15 victory. Pitcher – J.T. Brodrick, Northwest Nazarene (6-6, 200, Sr., Riverton, WY) and Palmer Brown, Central Washington (6-3, 225, Sr., Sacramento, CA – Rio Americano & Wenatchee Valley). . .Both Brodrick and Brown were used almost exclusively in relief a year ago, but each had impressive starts. Brodrick allowed just two hits and an unearned run in 6 2/3 innings in a 5-1 win against Minot State Friday. He fanned nine while walking just one. Brown, who came out of the bullpen for all 16 of his 2010 appearances, allowed just one run and eight hits in eight innings covering three appearances, two in relief. He walked three and fanned one. He went six innings, allowing six hits and one run in Sunday's 12-2 win at Cal State East Bay as the Wildcats earned a 3-3 split on their six-game road trip to California.
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| Dillard |
Mitchell |
Week of Feb. 14-20: Player - Daniel Dillard, Western Oregon (OF, 6-3, 220, Sr., Olalla, WA) had nine hits in 18 at bats and drove in five runs leading the Wolves to three wins, including a 5-2 victory over Lewis-Clark and victories over conference rivals Central Washington and Saint Martin's Dillard, who had a double and home run, also stole six bases. Pitcher – Casey Mitchell, Saint Martin's (6-0, 210, Sr., Olympia, WA - Capital) pitched a five-hit shutout and struck out 12 as the Saints blanked Linfield 5-0. Mitchell did not walk anyone in his masterpiece.
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| VanBeek |
Brodrick |
Week of Feb. 21-27: Player - Ryan VanBeek, Northwest Nazarene (3B, 6-0, 215, Sr., Yakima, WA – Riverside Christian) was a standout offensively and defensively as the Crusaders won five of six games against Hawaii Pacific. VanBeek led NNU in the series with a .393 average. He had 11 hits in 28 at bats, scored seven runs and had five RBI. Two of his hits were doubles. At the hot corner, he made just one error, handling a total of 21 chances. Pitcher – J.T. Brodrick, Northwest Nazarene (6-6, 200, Sr., Riverton, WY) already has three wins on the young season and leads the Crusaders with a 2.28 earned run average. He picked up two wins in Hawaii, pitching 14 innings and allowing just 12 hits and four runs. He walked three and struck out six.
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| Boyd |
DeBoer |
Week of Feb. 28-Mar. 6: Player - Griffin Boyd, Western Oregon (3B, 6-1, 190, Jr., Medford, OR – South Medford) drove in a team-best four runs as the Wolves opened defense of their conference title with a four-game sweep of Central Washington. Boyd had five hits in 16 at bats in the series, including singles to plate the tying run in the eighth and the winning run in the 14 th in Saturday's 4-3 victory. Boyd also handled 18 chances (12 putouts, 6 assists) at third base without an error. Pitcher – Tommy DeBoer, Saint Martin's (5-7, 155, Jr., Olympia, WA – Capital) tossed a four-hit shutout pitching the Saints to a 3-0 win over Northwest Nazarene Friday as SMU won three of four games in the series. DeBoer walked two and fanned three.
Week of Mar. 7-13: Player - Josh Hatfield, Northwest Nazarene (DH, 5-10, 170, Fr., Meridian ID – Mountain View) and Andrew Elke, Saint Martin's (OF, 5-9, 170, Sr., St. Charles, IL). . .Hatfield had six RBI including two in Friday's 5-3 win and three in Saturday's 8-6 victory to lead the Crusaders to a 3-1 series win over Central Washington. Among Hatfield's three hits were a pair of doubles. Elke was the table-setter for the Saints in their four-game sweep of Montana State Billings reaching base 10 times in 14 plate appearances. Elke had four hits in eight official at bats. He also walked six times, scored four runs and stole six bases. Pitcher – Michael Ward, Western Oregon (6-4, 225, Sr., Eugene, OR – South Eugene) allowed just five hits and an unearned run in hurling the Wolves to a 4-1 win over nationally eighth-ranked Chico State.
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| Ridgeway |
Wilson |
Week of Mar. 14-21: Player - Jeff Ridgeway, Montana State Billings (OF, 6-0, 195, Sr., Billings, MT – College of Southern Idaho) had six hits in 14 at bats as the Yellowjackets split four games at Northwest Nazarene. Among his hits were two home runs. He also scored five runs and drove in five and had slugging and on-base percentages of .857 and .500, respectively. Pitcher – Jason Wilson, Western Oregon (6-1, 190, Jr., Bend, OR – Summit & Chemeketa) allowed just two hits in seven innings in pitching the Wolves to a 6-0 win over Saint Martin's. Wilson walked three and fanned seven.
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| Bettinson |
McIver |
Week of Mar. 22-27: Player – Derek Bettinson, Northwest Nazarene (1B, 6-0, 195, Jr., Boise, ID – Centennial & Blue Mountain) accounted for 10 runs, scoring six and driving in four as the Crusaders scored 56 runs in a four-game sweep of the Academy of Art. Bettinson had nine hits, including four doubles, in 14 at bats. He also walked five times. Pitcher – Michael McIver, Saint Martin's (6-10, Sr., Olympia, WA – Capital) hurled his team to a 5-1 win in the opener of their four-game series with Central Washington. McIver, who leads the GNAC in earned run average (2.55), allowed just five hits and one run in six innings. He didn't walk a batter and fanned four.
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| Headrick |
Kennedy |
Week of Mar. 28-Apr. 3: Player - Aaron Headrick, Western Oregon (2B, 5-11, 165, Sr., Cupertino, CA – Skagit Valley) batted .353 (6 of 17) and had four RBI as the Wolves won three of four games at Northwest Nazarene. Among his hits were three doubles. Pitcher – Kody Kennedy, MSU Billings (5-10, 175, Sr., Butte, MT – Miles CC) tossed a two-hit shutout against Central Washington striking out nine in the nine-inning game and lowering his conference game ERA to a GNAC best 1.10. In three conference games, he has allowed just seven hits in 16 1/3 innings.
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| Windall |
Wood |
Week of Apr. 4-10: Player - Ty Windall, Northwest Nazarene (OF, 5-11, 165, Sr., Davis, CA – Cosumnes River JC) had seven hits in 16 at bats and stole seven bases leading Northwest Nazarene to three wins in four contests against Central Washington. Windall, who scored five runs in the series, leads the GNAC with 31 steals and has stolen 35 in a row without being caught dating back to the 2010 season. Pitcher – Grady Wood, Western Oregon (6-2, 195, Jr., Eugene, OR – Junction City & Chemeketa) blanked 16-time NAIA national champion Lewis-Clark State 1-0 on two hits. Wood didn't walk a batter and struck out five. He retired the first 17 batters he faced and faced just a total of 28, one over the minimum.
Week of Apr. 11-17: Player - Aaron Headrick, Western Oregon (2B-DH, 5-11, 165, Sr., Cupertino, CA – Skagit Valley CC) had eight hits in 14 at bats and either scored or drove in almost half of his team's runs (12 of 26) as they swept a four-game series with Saint Martin's to move into a first-place tie with the Saints. Headrick, who had four of WOU's eight doubles, scored seven runs and drove in five, both series highs. He had a RBI single to snap a 2-2 ninth-inning tie in Sunday's 5-2 win. Then on Monday, he had five hits in six at bats to key a doubleheader sweep. Pitcher – Cam Nobles, Western Oregon (6-1, 185, Sr., Mills Creek, WA – Jackson) and Sean McDonald, Northwest Nazarene (5-9, 160, Jr., Boise, ID). . .Nobles allowed just one earned run in eight innings in Sunday's extra-inning game. Noble gave up seven hits, while walking two and striking out four. McDonald pitched a six-hit, seven-inning shutout in defeating Montana State Billings 6-0 on Friday. McDonald, who walked one and struck out three, lowered his ERA to 1.85. That would be the second lowest in the conference, however, he currently is one inning short of qualifying to be ranked.
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| Dillard |
Ward |
Week of Apr. 18-24: Player - Daniel Dillard, Western Oregon (OF, 6-3, 220, Sr., Olalla, WA – South Kitsap & Pierce) extended his hitting streak to a GNAC season-best 13 games to lead the Wolves to a four-game road sweep of Montana State Billings. Dillard had nine hits in 15 at bats, scored six runs and drove in 12 as WOU outscored MSUB 41-8. Among his hits were four doubles and two home runs as he slugged for a 1.267 percentage Pitcher – Michael Ward, Western Oregon (6-4, 225, Sr., Eugene, OR – South Eugene) had his first no-run outing of the season blanking the Yellowjackets on five hits over seven innings in Saturday's 12-1 nine-inning victory. Ward walked two and fanned eight in lowering his season ERA to 2.51 which ranks second in the GNAC only to teammate Kirk Lind's 1.32 mark.
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| McDonald |
Brown |
Week of Apr. 25-May 1: Player – Sean McDonald, Northwest Nazarene (OF-P, 5-9, 160, Jr., Boise, ID) batted and pitched the Crusaders to a 3-1 series win against Saint Martin's. McDonald had seven hits in 18 at bats and had a series-high five RBIs. He also tossed a two-hitter in Friday's 3-1 win. On the season, McDonald is hitting .324 and has a 4-1 record and a 1.76 earned run average, which ranks second in the conference. Pitcher – Palmer Brown, Central Washington (6-3, 225, Sr., Sacramento, CA – Wenatchee Valley) allowed just five hits in defeating Western Oregon 4-2, snapping the Wolves' 11-game win streak and their 15-game win streak against the Wildcats. Brown didn't walk a batter and fanned three in the nine-inning contest that took just 1 hour, 43 minutes to play.
Week of May 2-9: Jeff Ridgeway, Montana State Billings (OF, 6-0, 195, Sr., Billings, MT – C. of Southern Idaho) and Kelly Gau, Central Washington (2B-SS, 5-10, 175, Sr., Woodinville, WA – CC of Spokane) had nearly identical numbers as their teams split a four-game series last weekend in Billings. Both players had eight hits in 16 at bats and drove in three runs. Gau scored more runs (7-5), but Ridgeway had more extra-base hits (a double and two triples compared to Gau's two doubles) and a higher slugging average (.813 to .625). Gau, however, had a better on-base percentage (.550 to .529). In conference games, Ridgeway leads the GNAC in batting average (.371), while Gau is the leader in hits (40), ranks second in runs scored (28) and is third in average (.360). Pitcher – Grady Wood, Western Oregon (6-2, 195, Jr., Eugene, OR – Junction City & Chemeketa) pitched a one-hit 4-0 shutout against Northwest Nazarene to join WOU's Josh Samter (2002) and NNU's Steven Schutte (2004) as the only pitchers in GNAC history to toss a complete-game nine-inning one-hitter. WOU's Blake Keitzman and Rye Phillips combined for a nine-inning, one-hitter in 2009. In conference games, Wood leads the GNAC in victories (6) and ERA (1.42).
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Week of May 9-15: Player - None. Pitcher – Michael Ward, Western Oregon (6-4, 225, Sr., Eugene, OR – South Eugene) tossed a one-hitter, walking one and striking out nine in the Wolves' 2-1 win over Montana State Billings. Ward combined with MSUB's Kody Kennedy, who pitched a two-hitter, for the lowest total hit game in GNAC history. The one-hitter was the third for the Western Oregon pitching staff during a six-game stretch to close out the regular-season. In the first nine seasons of the GNAC, conference pitchers had combined to toss just nine one-hitters.
All-Time Baseball Players-of-the-Week (2002-2011)
