Thursday, March 31, 2016

THIS WEEK'S GNAC SOFTBALL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
PLAYER
Emily Benson, Western Washington
1B • 5-11 •  Sophomore • West Richland, Wash.

Benson put together an impressive week at the plate in seven games, finishing 14 for 23 with five home runs, 16 RBI and 11 runs scored. She became the Vikings’ single-season home run record holder with 12 this year.

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

PITCHER
Loryn Williams, Saint Martin’s
P/IF • 5-5 • Freshman  • Fairview, Ore.

Williams finished the week with a 2-1 record and a save in four appearances. She completed all three starts she made and shut out Concordia 1-0 on Friday. Williams allowed just 13 hits and six runs in 21 innings pitched, striking out five batters.

Also Nominated: Lexi Jennings (Western Oregon), Megan Miller (Saint Martin’s), Abigail Otto (Northwest Nazarene), Heather Tracy (Montana State Billings), Kailyn Campbell (Central Washington).

INSIDE THE GNAC
THE WEST CONVERGES ON TURLOCK: The center of the Division II softball world for the next three days will be in the Central Valley of California as Stanislaus State hosts their annual Tournament of Champions at the Turlock Regional Sports Complex.

All eight GNAC softball teams will take part in the tournament, which also features every softball program from the California Collegiate Athletic Association and the PacWest. In all, 26 teams will participate in this year’s Tournament of Champions. Each GNAC team will play two games per day of the tournament with the exception of Northwest Nazarene, which will play three games on Friday and two on Saturday.

In the league’s 14 years, the GNAC owns a 193-286-1 record at the Tournament of Champions. The GNAC has a .500 or better record in the tournament in each of the last two seasons, going 24-19 in 2014 and 22-22 in 2015. Western Washington is the winningest GNAC program at the Tournament of Champions, entering the 2016 event with a 45-44 record.

BREAKING OUT THE BATS: It was almost as if Montana State Billings and Western Washington were waiting for the right weekend to bring out all of its offense at the same time. In ther teams’ four-game series last weekend in Billings, Mont., the two teams combined to score 100 runs on 117 hits.

Western Washington picked up wins in three of the four games. The Vikings took both games on Friday, scoring 11 runs in the fifth inning of game one for the 15-1, five-inning win. The Vikings also took the second game slugfest, scoring five runs each in the sixth and seventh innings for the 18-13 win.

Montana State Billings opened up Saturday’s twinbill with their only win of the series, scoring runs in every inning on their way to a 20-14 win. The Yellowjackets finished with 23 hits to set a GNAC record for hits in a conference game, surpassing the 22 hit by Western Oregon against Simon Fraser on Apr. 12, 2015. Western Washington closed out the series with a 10-9 win in the nightcap with Lynsey Amundson scoring the winning run with her solo home run in the sixth inning.

Western Washington finished the series hitting .464 while Montana State Billings hit .423 in the series. The Yellowjackets had three players hit .500 or better, led by Bella Rovens hitting .692 (9 for 13) with eight runs. Western Washington had two hitters batting .500 or better in the series.

BANNER WEEK FOR BENSON: Western Washington Emily Benson’s performances in seven games last week not only earned the sophomore selections as the GNAC Softball Player of the Week, but also the NFCA Division II Player of the Week.

Benson hit .609 (14 for 23) last week with 11 runs scored, five home runs and 16 RBI in seven games against Western Oregon, Central Washington and Montana State Billings. In the four games against Montana State Billings, Benson went .667 (8 for 12) in the four-game set against the Yellowjackets. Benson had her first multi-home run game in her college career in the opener against MSUB on Mar. 26 and, in the process, became the Vikings’ all-time single-season home run leader with 11 home runs.

THE ART OF THE WALK-OFF: Western Oregon took three of four of their weekend games in Hillsboro, Ore., and took all of them in walk-off fashion.

It all began in Friday’s opener against Central Washington. Trailing the Wildcats 2-1 in the bottom of the seventh inning, Emma Alfonso unloaded on a two-run homer to right field to give the Wolves the 3-2 win. It was Alfonso’s second home run of the game.

All six runs in Saturday’s opener against Saint Martin’s came by way of the longball. The Wolves trailed the Saints 2-0 before Destiny Kuehl hammered a two-run homer to left field in the sixth to tie the game. Lexi Jennings closed the game out in the bottom of the seventh with a two-out, two-run homer to left field for the 4-2 win.

The nightcap went into extra innings with the score tied 2-2. Saint Martin’s pulled ahead 3-2 in the top of the eighth on an error. Western Oregon came back to load the bases in the bottom of the eighth before Jennings single to center field, driving home two runs for the 4-3 win.

NO PLACE LIKE HOME?: While seven of the GNAC’s softball teams have had the chance to finally play at home, Western Oregon is still looking for a chance to play in front of the home fans. All of WOU’s home games to date have either been postponed or moved due to unplayable field conditions. The Wolves will try again to play at home on Apr. 9 when they are scheduled to host Western Washington for a doubleheader.

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.).