Wednesday, April 18, 2018

SERIES FINALE BETWEEN OREGON RIVALS SHIFTED: With Western Oregon moving its series to Concordia’s Porter Park due to an unfavorable weather forecast in the Monmouth area last weekend, the Wolves were only able to complete three of four games against the Cavaliers.

After taking a dramatic 6-5 win in the series opener on Friday, Western Oregon returned to Portland on Sunday night for game two. Midway through the fourth inning, the game was rained out and pushed back to early Monday afternoon, where the teams completed the remainder of the contest and finished the day with by wrapping up game three. The series finale was postponed and will be made-up at a later date to be determined.

POSTSEASON HOPES IN THE BALANCE: With everything shaking out the way it did last week, just 4.5 games separate second-place Western Oregon from fifth-place Northwest Nazarene. The Cavaliers’ resurgence has got them back into the playoff picture as they have won 9 of their last 11 games to move into fourth place. After splitting with Saint Martin’s last week, third-place Central Washington is tied with Western Oregon with 15 wins, but has one more loss than the Wolves. The Wildcats host a crucial four-game series against Northwest Nazarene this weekend while Concordia looks to cool off Montana State Billings, a team that is eager to play at Dehler Park for the first time this season.

YELLOWJACKETS CONTINUE RECORD-SETTING SEASON: Eclipsing a home run record it set last season, Montana State Billings combined for four home runs last Saturday to reach an unprecedented 46 this season in its doubleheader win against Northwest Nazarene on Saturday at Vail Baseball Field.

Not only was the school’s single-season home run record surpassed, the program’s individual single-season steals record was smashed with 12 regular season games to go. Junior Jalen Garcia broke the MSUB single-season record for stolen bases in the series opener, swiping his 18th of the season to top the mark of 17 held by Kyle Pryor (2007) and Zach Robinson (2017).

THIS WEEK'S GNAC BASEBALL PLAYER'S OF THE WEEK
Player
Kaleo Johnson, Montana State Billings
IF • 6-3 • Jr. • Alameda, Calif.
Johnson led the Yellowjackets to a series victory over Northwest Nazarene by hitting .438 in the four games, going 7 for 16 with two doubles, six RBIs and a 1.125 slugging percentage. He went 2 for 6 with a two-run homer in Friday’s series-opening 6-5 victory and then went 3 for 4 in Saturday’s opening game, which included a pair of doubles and a home run in MSUB’s 18-10 rout. Johnson closed the series with a solo home run in Saturday’s nightcap, a 3-2 MSUB victory.

Also Nominated: Tristin Parton (Central Washington), Mitch Bevacqua (Concordia), Austin Feist (Saint Martin’s), Spencer Bennion (Western Oregon).

Pitcher
Greg Casper, Northwest Nazarene
P • 6-0 • Jr. • Pocatello, Idaho

Casper earned the complete-game victory in the Nighthawks’ 4-2 win on Friday over Montana State Billings to improve to 3-2 on the season. He allowed two runs on four hits and four walks and struck out nine.

Also Nominated: Seth Pedersen (Central Washington), Isaac Mitchum (Concordia), Tristan Shockley (Montana State Billings), Tanner Inouye (Saint Martin’s).

AROUND THE GNAC
CENTRAL WASHINGTON
• Central Washington earned a split against Saint Martin’s last week. The Wildcats dropped the series opener on Saturday, 18-10, before taking the nightcap 4-2. Central Washington took Sunday’s opener 11-2, but dropped the series finale 8-7. Central Washington also fell in a pair of road games against Concordia last week Monday, 16-3 and 5-2.

• The Wildcats had a tough time keeping teams off the scoreboard as they allowed 43 earned runs over the six contests.

• Sophomore Jaden Hassell led the CWU offense by batting .400 over the six games. Hassell went 2 for 5 in the series opener against SMU and scored a pair of runs. The sophomore continued his solid weekend by going 1 for 2 in the series finale with a two-RBI double in the first inning. Hassell is now batting .300 for the season and has a .958 fielding percentage in 29 starts.

• Senior Christopher Dalto collected seven hits for a .350 batting average last week with three RBIs. His best game in CWU’s 18-10 loss as he went 3 for 4 with three RBIs and two runs scored. The senior improves his batting average to .280 and has started in all 37 of his appearances this year.

• Senior Mackenzie Gaul and sophomore JJ Asinas led Central Washington to the 11-2 win on Sunday. Gaul opened the game with 4.1 innings of scoreless ball while Asinas finished by allowing just two earned runs in 4.2 innings for his second win of the season. Senior Griffin Davis picked up his fourth win of the season after pitching 5.1 scoreless innings in the 4-2 victory on Saturday.

• The Wildcats remain second in the league with a .304 batting average and lead the GNAC with 77 doubles. Central Washington has also compiled a league-high 378 hits to go along with 17 home runs.

• Central Washington remains in Ellensburg this week as it hosts Northwest Nazarene for a four-game series.

CONCORDIA
• The slick weather conditions did little to cool off Concordia as the Cavs have won 9 of their last 11 games. The Cavaliers took two of three against Western Oregon this week with a pair of 5-4 wins in the second and third contest. Concordia also took a doubleheader win over Central Washington last Monday, 16-3 and 5-2.

• Concordia hit .298 over the five games and combined for 36 runs with 51 hits and seven doubles.

• Junior Mitch Bevacqua led the Cavaliers by batting .500 over the five games. Bevacqua opened the series on Friday by going 3 for 3 with two runs scored. He continued his productive week with a three-run triple on Sunday and a 3 for 5 effort with two RBIs in game three. He improves his batting average to .277 and has recorded 21 RBIs.

• Batting .353 over the five games, junior Isaiah Hatch tallied six hits and four RBIs. Hatch did most of his damage in the 16-3 win against Central Washington where he went 2 for 5 with three RBIs and a run scored. Hatch is hitting .247 this season with a .360 slugging percentage.

• Junior Isaac Mitchum made a pair of appearances last week. He earned the win in Concordia’s 16-3 win over CWU and followed it up by allowing just one run in six innings against Western Oregon on Monday. Mitchum is second in the GNAC with a .275 earned run average and has issued just 13 walks all season.

• Concordia is hitting .261 this year and is second in the GNAC with a 5.24 earned run average. They are also third with a .959 fielding percentage.

• The Cavaliers visit Montana State Billings this weekend for a four-game set at Dehler Park.

MONTANA STATE BILLINGS
• Montana State Billings continues to dominate as it took three of four against Northwest Nazarene over the weekend. The Yellowjackets needed extra innings to earn a 6-5 win in Friday’s series opener, but fell in the nightcap 4-2. They bounced back on Saturday, however, earning 18-10 and 3-2 wins to remain atop the GNAC standings.

• Montana State Billings batted .315 as a team over the weekend and hit a GNAC-high six home runs. The Yellowjackets also surpassed their single-season record for home runs by hitting their 46th of the season.

• Senior Ryan Myers paced the MSUB offense by batting .500 over the four games. Myers opened the series on Friday by going 2 for 5 with an RBI and two runs scored. In Saturday’s opener, Myers compiled three hits with two RBIs and four runs scored and finished the series with five RBIs and seven hits. He is third in the GNAC with a .366 batting average and has hit a league-best 10 home runs.

• Junior Kaleo Johnson was named the GNAC Baseball Player of the Week after hitting .438 in the four games, going 7 for 16 with two doubles, six RBIs and a 1.125 slugging percentage. He went 2 for 6 with a two-run homer in Friday’s series-opening 6-5 victory and then went 3 for 4 in Saturday’s opening game, which included a pair of doubles and a home run in MSUB’s 18-10 rout. Johnson closed the series with a solo home run in Saturday’s nightcap, a 3-2 MSUB victory.

• Senior Travis Edgar earned his second win of the season in relief after allowing no runs in 1.1 innings during MSUB’s 3-2 win. Senior Adam Cox also picked up his league-leading sixth save of the season in the series finale.

• Montana State Billings leads the GNAC with a .308 batting average and is among the Division II leaders with eight runs per game. In the latest NCBWA Division II West Region Rankings, the Yellowjackets are ranked No. 7.

• With the extended winter period negatively affecting the Yellowjackets for a majority of the season, MSUB hopes to host its first series of the year at Dehler Park when it welcomes Concordia for a four-game tilt this weekend.

NORTHWEST NAZARENE
• Northwest Nazarene dropped its weekend series to Montana State Billings and remains in fifth place. The Nighthawks fell in a heartbreaking 12-inning affair on Friday, 6-5, before taking the nightcap 4-2. On Saturday, the Yellowjackets swept the doubleheader 18-10 and 3-2.

• The Nighthawks hit .273 at the plate and recorded three home runs, but allowed an 8.07 ERA over the four games.

• Pacing NNU’s offense was freshman Justin Folz, who hit .471 in the four games. Price went 2 for 3 with an RBI and a run scored in Friday’s nightcap before tallying three RBIs in Saturday’s opener. Folz is among GNAC leaders with a .315 batting average and has drawn 16 walks this season.

• Amassing six hits for a .375 average, senior Casey Sheehan knocked in a pair of RBIs and scored two runs. Down 5-3 in the series opener, Sheehan recorded an RBI single in the ninth inning to help NNU force extra innings. He finished the contest with four hits. Sheehan is hitting .324 on the season and has tallied 28 RBIs and 47 hits.

• Junior Greg Casper was named the GNAC Baseball Pitcher of the Week after he earned the complete-game victory in the Nighthawks’ 4-2 win on Friday over Montana State Billings to improve to 3-2 on the season. He allowed two runs on four hits and four walks and struck out nine. Casper maintains a 4.79 ERA and is second in the league with 51 strikeouts.

• The Nighthawks are third in the GNAC batting .282 and are second in the GNAC with 31 home runs. Northwest Nazarene is also second in the GNAC with a .960 fielding percentage.

• Northwest Nazarene will partake in a pivotal GNAC matchup this weekend as it visits third-place Central Washington with just 4.5 games separating the teams.

SAINT MARTIN’S
• Saint Martin’s earned a split last weekend against Central Washington. The Saints opened the series on Saturday with an 18-10 win but fell in the nightcap 4-2. Saint Martin’s took an 11-2 loss in Sunday’s opener before ending with an 8-7 win in the series finale.

• The Saints had one of their best hitting weekends of the season as they hit .315 in the series. They took the series finale in dramatic fashion, scoring on a walk-off sacrifice fly.

• Junior Austin Feist paced the Saints’ offense by hitting .467 over the four games. Feist went 3 for 4 in the series opener for an RBI and two runs scored. In Saturday’s opener, Feist exploded for a 4 for 5 performance and accounted for the Saints only two RBIs.

• Junior Colton Peha provided secondary support by going 5 for 14 with a .357 batting average. Peha tallied two RBIs in the series opener and later went 3 for 4 in the nightcap to go along with an RBI and run scored. The junior is batting .260 this season and is one of five Saints with a perfect fielding percentage.

• In two appearances last week, freshman Matthew Dunaway led the team with a 1.80 ERA as he allowed just one run in five innings. He pitched the final inning during SMU’s 18-10 win and provided four innings of relief in the 11-2 loss, allowing just one run with four strikeouts.

• As a team, Saint Martin’s is hitting .244 this season and has drawn the second-most walks with 144.

• Saint Martin’s heads down the I-5 corridor with a visit to Western Oregon for a four-game series this weekend in Monmouth.

WESTERN OREGON
• Playing as the home team at Concordia’s Porter Park last weekend, Western Oregon took the series opener on Friday, 6-5, but fell in Sunday and Monday’s contests by 5-4 scores.

• With two outs in the ninth inning, senior Spencer Bennion blasted a two-run home run to give Western Oregon a series-opening 6-5 win.

• Senior Jay Leverett led Western Oregon at the plate by batting .333 over the three games. Leverett recorded three of his four hits in the series opener on Friday, going 3 for 5 with an RBI single in the eighth inning. He leads the Wolves with a .337 batting average this season and has scored 18 runs.

• Freshman Griffey Halle also batted .333 after going 3 for 9 with a pair of RBIs in the series. Halle tallied both of his RBIs in the continuation game on Monday with a solo home run in the fifth inning and an RBI single in the seventh. He improves to .263 from the plate and has a .958 fielding percentage in 29 starts.

• Senior Craig Grubbe continues to excel this season as he tossed 3.1 innings of relief in the Wolves’ continuation loss on Monday. Junior Grant Fisher played a big role in Western Oregon’s 6-5 win as he went 4.1 innings and allowed one unearned run on one hit to go along with eight strikeouts.

• The Wolves continue to boast the best pitching staff in the GNAC with a 3.93 earned run average and are 23rd in Division II with a .969 fielding percentage.

• The Wolves host Saint Martin’s this weekend in Monmouth. In its previous series against the Saints this season, Western Oregon swept the series at neutral-site venues.