Wednesday, March 23, 2016

THIS WEEK'S GNAC SOFTBALL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
PLAYER
Myrissa Prince, Montana State Billings
2B • 5-8 •  Sophomore • Sparks, Nev.

Prince led the Yellowjackets in their four-game series with Saint Martin’s by hitting. 500 (7 for 14) with five runs, right RBI, a double, a triple, two home runs and a 1.143 slugging percentage. She capped her series by going 2 for 3 with a grand slam in the fourth inning and a game-ending homer in the sixth in Sunday’s finale.

Also Nominated: Taylor Bussey (Concordia), Lisa Sylvester (Northwest Nazarene), Austin Wilkerson (Central Washington).

PITCHER
Kayla Smith, Central Washington
P/OF • 5-11 • Freshman  • Buckley, Wash.

Smith pitched Central Washington to their two wins in their split with Northwest Nazarene, allowing one run on seven hits and two walks in 13 innings of work, in her first collegiate starts. She threw a complete-game three-hitter in the Wildcats’ 8-0, six-inning win on Friday and then allowed one run on four hits in Saturday’s 3-1 win.

Also Nominated: Maddie Boucher (Concordia), Brooke Bonsen (Northwest Nazarene).

AROUND THE GNAC
SAINTS SURGING: After not having the chance to play for two weeks thanks to the weather, Saint Martin’s was chomping at the bit to get back on the diamond. And when they did, the made the most of it as they have gone 6-2 over eight games played in a span of six days.

The Saints opened and closed the eight-game run with a pair of rain make-up doubleheaders. Saint Martin’s opened with a split with Western Washington on Thursday. They saw the opener slip away in extra innings, 2-1, before using a pair of runs in the third inning of game two to sew up the 3-1 victory. Lauren Diuco and Mary Dettling each has two hits to lead the Saints while Loryn Williams allowed one run on just three hits in the circle.

Next up was the regularly scheduled road trip to Billings where Saint Martin’s proceeded to take three of four games from Montana State Billings. Finding themselves down 8-3 after five innings in Saturday’s opener, the Saints exploded to six runs in the sixth and one in the seventh for the 10-8 win. Jackie Schmaeling went 2 for 4 with three RBI to lead the Saints. In the nightcap, the Saints posted four-run innings in the first and sixth, which included a grand slam by Corrie Wilson in the sixth, for the 10-2 win. Wilson went 2 for 4 with five RBI while Dettling finished 3 for 4.

Saint Martin’s secured the series win in Sunday’s opener, holding off a late Yellowjackets’ rally in the sixth and seven for the 7-6 victory. Four Saints’ players had two hits apiece. Montana State Billings prevented the sweep with a 14-6 rout in the final game. Diuco’s two hits and two RBI led Saint Martin’s.

The eight-game string concluded on Tuesday with the Saints procuring a doubleheader sweep of Western Oregon. The Saints broke the opener out early, using Wilson’s three-run to stake a five-run inning en route to the 7-2 win. Wilson went 2 for 3 with five RBI while Williams again allowed one earned run on four hits in the complete-game win.

The second game opened with the Saints putting up another big inning, taking advantage of two errors to score six runs in the second before holding off a late really for the 6-4 win.

Dettling led the Saints in their six games last week, hitting .450 (9 for 20) with seven runs and five RBI. Saint Martin’s enters the week ranked second in the GNAC in batting (.335) and leading the conference in pitching (2.70 ERA) and fielding percentage (.958). In the NCAA Division II national statistics, the Saints entered the week ranked 16th in batting average, 10th in scoring (7.35 runs per game) and 17th in doubles per game (1.83).

A PRINCE OF AN EFFORT: It is rare that the top player of the week comes from a team that lost three of four games, but it is hard to argue that the performance of Montana State Billings’ Myrissa Prince wasn’t worthy of the GNAC’s Softball Player of the Week award.

Prince finished the series against Saint Martin’s by hitting .500 (7 of 14) with five runs and eight RBI. Of those seven hits, four were for extra bases including what proved to be the game-winning grand slam in the fourth and the game-ending homer in the sixth of the Yellowjackets’ 14-6 Sunday win over Saint Martin’s.

Prince was of the three Montana State Billings players to hit over .500 in the series. Heather Tracy hit .643 in the four games (9 for 14) while Cameron Cassinelli hit .545 (6 for 11).

BACK TO EVEN: Like Saint Martin’s, Central Washington got more than their usual amount of games in. Thanks to rain make-ups, the Wildcats played six games in five games and in the process brought their GNAC record back to an even 6-6.

The Wildcats opened the run by procuring a pair of doubleheader splits with Northwest Nazarene. After falling in a close 5-4 opener on Friday, Central Washington came back to score an 8-0, six-inning victory in the nightcap. Austin Wilkerson led the way at the plate, going 2 for 4 with four RBI and the game-ending two-run homer in the sixth. Kayla Smith had her best outing of the season in the circle, allowing just three hits in the win.

The Crusaders made two runs in the first stand up for a 2-1 win in Saturday’s opener, but the Wildcats rallied in another close one to win 3-1 in the second game. Central Washington broke a 1-1 tie with single runs in the sixth and seventh innings that backed up another one run, four hit outing by Smith. Kailyn Campbell led the offensive effort by going 2 for 3.

The run ended with a sweep of cross-state rival Western Washington on Tuesday. The Wildcats won the opener 7-3 thanks in part to a 3 for 4 day by Campbell and a bases-clearing double by Andrea Hamada that punctuated a five-run second inning. Both teams broke out the bats in the nightcap as the Wildcats and Vikings combined for 31 hits. Western Washington staked themselves to a 7-0 lead after the first inning, but the Wildcats clawed back thanks to a four-run second and a six-run fifth before winning the 13-12 battle in the bottom of the seventh. Campbell led CWU by going 3 for 5 with three runs as six Wildcats finished with two more more hits.

Smith was named the GNAC Pitcher of the Week for her two wins against Northwest Nazarene, allowing one run on seven hits and two walks in 13 innings of work. She leads the GNAC with a 1.75 earned run average in 28 innings of work. Campbell is the Wildcats’ top hitter, currently ranked sixth in the GNAC with a .424 average.

SCHEDULE SHUFFLE: More changes to GNAC teams’ schedules are taking place, but the latest are of the non-conference variety. Northwest Nazarene had their doubleheader scheduled for Wednesday against Walla Walla cancelled after the NAIA member of the Cascade Collegiate Conference ended their season early due to injuries. Western Oregon has cancelled its Mar. 30 doubleheader at Cal State Monterey Bay to better prepare for next week’s Stanislaus Tournament of Champions.

NO PLACE LIKE HOME?: At long last, Montana State Billings played its first home games of the season over the weekend when they hosted Saint Martin’s for a four-game series. Western Oregon, however, is still unable to play on their home field in Monmouth due to field conditions. Their doubleheaders with Central Washington on Friday and Saint Martin’s on Saturday will be played at the Gordon Faber Recreation Complex in Hillsboro, Ore.

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.).