Wednesday, May 1, 2019

HITTING THE BOOKS: The GNAC 2019 Baseball All-Academic Team was released earlier this week and a total of 53 players were named to the squad. Leading all selections with a 4.00 grade point average is Saint Martin’s senior Ryan Dorney.

In all, there are nine selections to this year’s team with a GPA higher than 3.80. A total of 19 players were repeat selections to the team, with six earning their third All-Academic honors.

REPRESENTATION IN REGIONAL RANKINGS: In the 11th NCBWA West Region Rankings of the season, Montana State Billings and Western Oregon are both tied at No. 6. The two teams are currently slotted first and second in the GNAC standings.

UC San Diego tops the region, earning each of the possible eight first-place votes. The Tritons are 31-10 so far this season.

IT’S AUTOMATIC: For the first time in conference history, the GNAC will receive an automatic bid into the NCAA Division II Baseball Tournament in 2019. The winner of the GNAC Championships, held May 8-10 in Portland, will receive that automatic berth. Each of the top four teams in the league standings at the culmination of the regular season will qualify for the GNAC Championships.

The defending GNAC Championships title-holders, Western Oregon, have won the tournament four times in the event’s history. Northwest Nazarene and Central Washington each enter 2019 with one tournament title.

THIS WEEK'S GNAC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Player
Daniel Cipriano, Montana State Billings
1B • 6-3 • Jr. • Aguora Hills, Calif.

Cipriano finished with a .692 batting average in a four-game sweep of Central Washington. Leading his team all weekend, he went 9 for 13 with nine runs, eight RBI, a double and three home runs. Cipriano amassed a 1.462 slugging percentage and a .800 on-base percentage as he reached on 10 of 16 plate appearances.

Also Nominated: Micah McNicoll (Saint Martin’s).

Pitcher
Austin Crowson, Western Oregon
LHP • 6-5 • Jr. • Monroe, Ore.

Crowson pitched the fifth no-hitter in GNAC history and the first since 2015, going the distance in the Wolves’ 2-0 seven-inning win at Concordia on Thursday. He allowed four walks and struck out nine. Crowson did not allow a base runner until the two outs in the third inning and retired 11 straight to end the game.

Also Nominated: Dylan Diaz (Concordia), Sterling Lay (Montana State Billings), Clark Streby (Saint Martin’s).

AROUND THE GNAC
CENTRAL WASHINGTON
• Central Washington returned to action for four games last week against first-place Montana State Billings. The team was unable to emerge with a victory against the conference leaders.

• The club was led at the plate by outfielder Jaden Hassell, who finished with a .333 average along with a team-high six RBI and four runs. Sophomore Mitch Lesmeister had a solid weekend as well, tallying three RBI and three runs along with a .333 batting average.  

• Lesmeister’s .351 batting average leads the Wildcats heading into the final week of the regular season. Outfielder Justin Hampson is following closely behind with a .298 batting average.

• The Wildcats will hit the road this weekend in a trip to Nampa. They will meet Northwest Nazarene for four contests, with game one scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. on Thursday.

CONCORDIA
• The Cavaliers stayed home last week and were able to take one game off of second-place Western Oregon. The team split a doubleheader on Friday after falling in the first two games of the set.  

• Concordia was led by third baseman Liam Knowles, who tallied two RBI and two runs against the Wolves. The junior tops the team with a .280 batting average while catcher Dominic Enbody ranks second at a .276 clip.

• As a whole, the club is batting .228 on the season. On the mound, CU ranks fourth in the GNAC with a .573 earned run average.

• The Cavaliers will be in action for four contests this weekend. They will return to the field on Thursday afternoon, opening up a four-game set at Montana State Billings. 

MONTANA STATE BILLINGS
• Montana State Billings met Central Washington in Ellensburg last weekend, coming away with a sweep that was pivotal as the team sets its sights on back-to-back GNAC regular-season titles. The contests marked the club’s first road games since the month of March.

• The team was led offensively by first baseman Daniel Cipriano, who hit at a .692 average while tallying eight RBI and nine runs over the series. Cipriano has now successfully reached base in a program record 39 consecutive games. The excellent performance earned him the title of NCBWA West Region and GNAC Player of the Week, marking his team’s fifth straight such award from the conference.   

• The team’s offense exploded for 29 runs in Saturday’s 29-4, series-clinching victory over the Wildcats. The showing set a school record for both runs and hits (31) in a game in addition to tying the conference’s record mark for hits in a single game (Central Washington, 3/27/10 vs. MSU Billings).

• Montana State Billings leads the conference with 68 home runs through three months of play. Cipriano tops the league with 16 homers, while senior Matt Dillon (13) and sophomore Wyatt Setian (10) round out the top three.

• The Yellowjackets will return to the field this week, rounding out the regular season as Concordia comes calling with scheduled doubleheaders on Thursday and Friday.

NORTHWEST NAZARENE
• The Nighthawks were back in action for four games last week, splitting a competitive series with Saint Martin’s in Nampa. The club shutout the Saints for a 7-0 victory in the lid-lifter, then came up in the clutch in Saturday’s finale for a 5-4 win.

• Northwest Nazarene was led by infielder Kyle Redford. Redford tallied two RBI and pair of runs while hitting at a .357 batting average on the week. That brings Redford’s average to .336 on the season. The mark leads the team, with senior Bennett Tabaracci right behind at a .307 clip.

• Northwest Nazarene ranks third in the league with a 5.51 earned run average. Senior Jesse Hilyard’s 4.35 ERA has him slotted at No. 5 in the GNAC individually.

• The Nighthawks are back in action this weekend, staying home to face Central Washington in a four-game set. The series will get underway on Thursday at 3 p.m. in Nampa.

SAINT MARTIN’S
• Saint Martin’s was back in action for four games at Northwest Nazarene last week. The Saints were able to split the series with impressive performances in games two and three, taking Friday’s nightcap in 11-1 fashion before earning a 5-1 victory on Saturday.

• Junior Tanner Inouye led the team against the Nighthawks. The right-hander struck out five while allowing just two hits and one run in his team’s 11-1 victory. Inouye now has four wins on the year and ranks second in the GNAC with 75 strikeouts.

• As a team, Saint Martin’s ranks second in the league with a 4.58 earned run average. The club’s 367 strikeouts rank first in the conference.

• Offensively, freshman Aaron Renaud tops the team at the plate with a .319 batting average and 26 RBI.

• The Saints will return to action this week against Western Oregon for their final conference series. The four-game set will begin on Friday at 1 p.m. in Lacey.

WESTERN OREGON
• Western Oregon hit the road and won a crucial series with Concordia last week. The set was highlighted by southpaw Austin Crowson’s no-hitter, leading his team to a 2-0 victory in the second game of the weekend.

• Freshman Jacob Maiben led the club offensively against CU, tallying six RBI and two runs while hitting at a .467 average. Left fielder Griffey Hale also impressed, totaling four RBI, four runs and a .429 clip in Portland.

• Western Oregon is hitting .322 as a team, a mark that currently leads the conference. Its .413 on-base percentage also tops the GNAC.

• The team and conference leader in both strikeouts and ERA is right-hander Alex Roth. The Peoria, Ariz product currently tops the league with a 2.81 ERA and 77 strikeouts.  

• The club will return to the field on Friday to open up a four-game series at Saint Martin’s. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. in Lacey.