Thursday, February 18, 2016
THIS WEEK'S GNAC SOFTBALL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
PLAYER
Taylor Ferleman, Central Washington
SS/OF • 5-5 • Junior • Bellevue, Wash.
Ferleman led the Wildcats by hitting .480 (12 of 25) with six runs, two triples, a home run and seven RBI as the Wildcats in six wins on a Bay Area road trip. She went 3 for 4 with a run and a triple in Saturday’s 4-0 game one win over Dominican (Calif.) and then went 3 for 5 with 2 RBI in the 9-2 nightcap victory. In 25 at-bats, Ferleman struck out just once and went 4-5 in stolen base opportunities.
Also Nominated: Kiahna Brown (Northwest Nazarene), Cameron Cassinelli (Montana State Billings), Taylor Copher (Concordia), Alexie Levin (Western Washington), Jackie Schmaeling (Saint Martin’s).
PITCHER
Kiana Wood, Central Washington
LHP • 5-6 • Junior • Aloha, Ore.
Wood went 4-0 in four starts an amassed a 0.66 earned run average as she appeared in five of the Wildcats’ six games. In 21.1 innings, she allowed two runs on 21 hits and struck out six. Wood opened the week by allowing three hits with five strikeouts in a 4-0 complete game shutout of Academy of Art on Friday. She then allowed six hits and struck out six in a 4-0 complete game shutout over Dominican (Calif.) on Saturday.
Loryn Williams, Saint Martin’s
P/IF • 5-5 • Freshman • Fairview, Ore.
In four appearances, one start and 19.2 innings pitched, Williams allowed one earned run on 15 hits with two walks and 18 strikeouts as the Saints went 5-1 on their Hawaii road trip. She earned a win on relief at BYU-Hawaii on Thursday, allowing one run on four hits in the 14-2 victory. Williams allowed one hit in three innings to earn the save in a 5-2 win over Chaminade on Saturday before winning her lone start against Hawaii Pacific on Sunday, allowing one unearned run on nine hits with four strikeouts.
Also Nominated: Brooke Bonsen (Northwest Nazarene), Megan Dettling (Montana State Billings), Stephanie Morgan (Western Oregon).
AROUND THE GNAC
RED HOT N’ PURRIN’: The hot start to the 2016 season for Central Washington continues as the Wildcats won all six of their games in the Bay Area to run their record to 10-1.
The Wildcats opened the weekend with a doubleheader sweep of the Academy of Art on Friday, 4-0 and 5-2. Central never trailed in either game and were led by 2 for 3 performances by Celine Fowler in the opener and Andrea Hamada in the nightcap.
Central Washington cranked out 25 hits against Dominican (Calif.) on Saturday, for 4-0 and 9-2 victories. Taylor Ferleman finished with six hits in the doubleheader, going 3 for 4 with a triple in the opener and 3 for 5 in the second game with three RBI.
The sweep was completed on Sunday with 6-2 and 11-2 wins over Notre Dame de Namur, but the Wildcats had to work for the victories. Brielle Copodonna won the opener with a seventh inning grand slam that broke a 2-2 tie. The Wildcats had a a 7-0 lead through three innings. In the process, Sammy Morris tied a GNAC record with five hits, going 5 for 5 with three runs and two RBI. She is the sixth GNAC player to register five hits in a game.
The performance in the Bay Area earned Central Washington players both the league’s Player and Hitter of the Week honors. Ferleman was honored as the Player of the Week after she hit .480 (12 for 25) in the six games with six runs, two triples, a home run and seven RBI. She enters the week hitting .378 with 17 hits and 10 runs.
Kiana Wood shared the Pitcher of the Week award, giving her the honor for two consecutive weeks. Wood went 4-0 with two shutouts in four starts and five appearances, amassing a 0.66 earned run average. In 21.1 innings, she allowed two runs on 21 hits and struck out six. Wood enters the week with a 6-0 record, a 1.45 earned run average and a .216 opponent’s batting average.
SAINTS ALIVE: A trip to Hawaii to face Division II competition was a good one for Saint Martin’s, who returned to the mainland after a 5-1 trip.
The Saints opened the trip with 12-4 and 14-2 victories over BYU-Hawaii on Thursday. Saint Martin’s and 33 hits in the two games, 21 of those in the opener. Lindsay Miller led the way with six hits in the two games, which included a three-run homer in the second game.
The only loss of the road trip came on Saturday as the Saints split their series with Chaminade. Saint Martin’s gave up eight runs in the first two innings before pitcher Loryn Williams came in the limit Chaminade to one hit with nine strikeouts over the final five innings. Williams earned the save in the second game victory while Jackie Schmaeling went 2 for 4 with a two-run homer.
The road trip closed with a sweep of Hawaii Pacific on Sunday, 5-1 and 6-5. Williams came up big in her only start of the trip, allowing one unearned run on nine hits in the opener. Schmaeling led the offense in the nightcap as she went 2 for 3 with two RBI, two runs and two doubles.
Williams shared Pitcher of the Week honors for her performance, allowing one earned run on 15 hits with 18 strikeouts in five appearances and 19.2 innings. Alyssa Slate led the Saints offensively as she hit .476 (10 for 21) in the six games. Sabrina Hicks hit .471 and Lauren Diuco hit .444.
In their 10 games, Slate leads the offensive with a .467 batting average and 14 hits. Williams and Lauren Maley each had three wins in the circle with Maley leading the team with a 1.19 earned run average.
TRUE NORTH IN THE DEEP SOUTH: It is 4,509 miles from Burnaby, B.C., to Mobile, Ala., which is the amount of miles that Simon Fraser traveled to start their softball season. In the end, the trip from true north to deep south was worth it as the Clan returned home with a 6-6 record.
Simon Fraser closed the two-week road trip by going 3-2 in the Falcon Frenzy Tournament, hosted by the Univ of Montevallo. The Clan won both of their games on Friday, 7-4 over Stillman and 13-6 over McKendree. Marina DeAgelis led the way offensively against McKendree, going 3 for 4 with two RBI, while Alia Stachoski allowed four runs, on earned, on eight hits against Stillman.
The Clan lost both games on Saturday, falling to Montevallo 7-3 and Auburn Montgomery 9-6, before closing with a 4-3 win on Sunday over Tusculum. Victoria Saunders led SFU by going 2 for 3, including the game-winning two-RBI single in the seventh.
DOUBLE TROUBLE FOR LEVIN: In leading Western Washington to a pair of wins at the Dixie State Tournament, senior Alexie Levin notched her name into the WWU record book. In her 2 for 3 performance in the Vikings’ 8-3 loss to Hawaii Hilo, Levin hit her 40th double to eclipse the previous record of 39 set by Michelle Wrigley (2008-11). The performance also moved Levin into No. 11 on the GNAC all-time list for two-baggers.
WHAT’S THE BUZZ: Montana State Billings was the busiest GNAC softball team last week, heading right from the Desert Stinger to St. George, Utah, for eight games. The Yellowjackets went 4-4 in southern Utah, which was punctuated by a 4-1 victory over No. 2 ranked Dixie State on Wednesday. Megan Dettling was the hero of the game in the circle, holding the Red Storm to one unearned run on three hits with eight walks and five strikeouts in the complete game victory. They were the only GNAC team to score a win on Dixie State last week.
The Yellowjackets finished the week with a 3-0 shutout of Hawaii Hilo on Friday and a 16-4, five-inning win over Western New Mexico on Saturday.
WESTERN WASHINGTON PICKED TO WIN IN PRESEASON POLL: A year after just missing a conference tournament title and a trip to the NCAA Tournament, coaches have picked Western Washington to reach the pinnacle in the 2016 Great Northwest Athletic Conference’s Preseason Softball Coaches Poll.
The Vikings received five of eight first place votes, earning 61 points in the poll. Western Washington is clear and away the favorite over defending GNAC regular season champion Saint Martin’s, picked to finish second with 47 points. Western Oregon was picked third, close behind Saint Martin’s with 43 points.
Montana State Billings, who surprised the conference with a spirited run to the GNAC Tournament championship and their first trip to the NCAA Division II Tournament since 2012, was picked to finish fourth with 37 points. Central Washington finished one point behind, picked fifth with 36 points. The Wildcats were followed by GNAC newcomer Concordia (33 pts.), Simon Fraser (17 pts.) and Northwest Nazarene (14 pts.).