SATURDAY'S GNAC SCOREBOARD: Men's Basketball – MSU Billings at Alaska Anchorage; Seattle Pacific at Alaska Fairbanks, 2 p.m.; Central Washington at Northwest Nazarene; Western Washington at Saint Martin's; Simon Fraser at Western Oregon, 2 p.m. Women's Basketball– Alaska Anchorage at MSU Billings; Alaska Fairbanks at Seattle Pacific; Northwest Nazarene at Central Washington, 2 p.m.; Saint Martin's at Western Washington; Western Oregon at Simon Fraser, 2 p.m. Indoor Track & Field – UI Runner's Soul Open (CWU); Boise State Bronco Classic (NNU, MSUB). Softball – CSU Stanislaus Best of the West (San Francisco State vs. Western Washington, 12:15 p.m.; Chico State vs. Western Washington, 2:30 p.m.; Western Washington vs. CSU Monterey Bay, 7 p.m.); Northwest Nazarene at UC San Diego, noon; British Columbia at Saint Martin's, 1 p.m. Baseball – Saint Martin's at Cal Poly Pomona (2), 11 a.m.; Western Oregon at UC San Diego (2), noon.

Friday, Feb. 3

Baseball: Wolves Defeat UC San Diego In Opener

Grady Wood pitched WOU to its first season opening victory since 2007 (WOU File Photo)

Grady Wood and Ian MacDougall combined to hold UC San Diego to four hits and an unearned run leading Western Oregon to an 8-1 win in the season opener for both teams Friday.

Both teams were ranked in the Collegiate Baseball pre-season poll; the Tritons at No. 30 and the Wolves at No. 33.

Wood went the first seven innings, allowing just an unearned run in the fourth inning, while striking out six and walking just one to earn the win.

He then gave way to MacDougall to start the eighth inning. The lefty threw two scoreless innings, striking out four of the seven hitters he faced, to seal the win and get a save.

The Wolves' offense struggled early, getting just two hits and fanning 12 times in six innings off Jeff Rauh, but scored eight unanswered runs after the fifth inning.

Western Oregon tied the game with a run in the sixth, scored twice in the seventh to go ahead 3-1 and then tacked on five insurance runs in the ninth.

Griff Boyd's RBI single put WOU ahead in the seventh and Eric Copenhagen walked with the bases loaded to make it 3-1.

Six straight Wolves reached base in the ninth after the first hitter popped out. Bo Folkinga had the big hit of the inning, a three-run double to left center.

Western Oregon outhit the Tritons 9-4 as leadoff hitter AJ Royal led the way with three and Boyd had two.

In the only other game Friday involving a GNAC team, Cal Poly Pomona crushed Saint Martin's 20-0 banging out 16 hits. Chris Miller and Joseph Eusebio each had three hits and drove in four runs.

Infielder Mario Saneli had two of the Saints' four hits. DH Brent Nurre and catcher Chandler Tracy had one apiece.

Softball: Crusaders Swept by Top-Ranked UC San Diego

Chao had two hits in openers

Top-ranked UC San Diego swept Northwest Nazarene 8-5 and 5-2 in a NCAA West Region doubleheader Friday at La Jolla, Calif.

The Crusaders held leads in both games against the defending NCAA Division II national champions and were led by Brianna Kinghorn at the plate as the newcomer finished the day with two hits and three RBI.

NNU took a 5-3 lead in the opener, scoring five runs in the fourth - two on a double by Kinghorn - but  UCSD answered with four runs in the bottom of the inning and added an insurance run the the sixth.

The Crusaders opened game two by scoring single runs in the second and third innings to lead 2-0, but the Tritons again responded with two in the third to tie it up and rallied for three in the sixth to claim the victory.

Emily Renfro, Cara Duckworth, Arielle Chao and Kinghorn each finished with two hits for NNU on the day.

OTHER HEADLINES IN THE GNAC
WWU's Mertens Headed to Medical School
Everett Herald: WWU's Allen Making Most of Second Chance
Bellingham Herald: Woodworth Emergence Invaluable To Viks
Ashland Daily Tidings: WWU's Blanche Making Points
OregonLive.com: SPU Runners, Listen, Connect, Share Stories
Haglund Named GNAC Commissioner
Alaska Fairbanks NCAA Rifle Dynasty
SPU Has Long History in NCAA Soccer Tourney
Happy Landings For SPU's Wurth, Hamre
Porter To Run NY Marathon (From NY Daily News)

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