Tuesday, March 19, 2019

EIGHT IN A ROW EARNS TEAM OF WEEK HONOR: Looking to build on some momentum from its road sweep of Northwest Nazarene to lift the lid on conference play, the Central Washington softball team kept things rolling with another perfect road trip last week.

Heading north for their border swing, the Wildcats started the weekend with two victories in Bellingham against Western Washington on Saturday. They then ventured into Burnaby one day later, sweeping two games against Simon Fraser to run their record to 15-4 (8-0 GNAC) while earning the selection as GNAC Team of the Week.

“I couldn’t be more proud of our entire team and coaching staff,” said head coach Mike Larabee. “It was just a complete team effort. Everybody on the club contributed in some way.”

The week got underway with a pair of victories over the Vikings, winning 8-6 in game one before posting a 9-5 victory in the nightcap. Right fielder Katie Kastning shined in the second game, going 2 for 5 with three RBIs and three runs.

It was a balanced effort that got the job done against SFU on Sunday. After exploding for 14 runs in a 14-10 win to start the day, the CWU pitching staff helped the club to an 8-4 victory in game two.

Freshman Isabel Womack got the win after striking out five in 6.1 innings of work in that nightcap. Right-hander Taylor Williams then took over out of the bullpen, recording the final two outs to earn the save.

MORE WEATHER CHANGES: While the sun is shining early in the week, GNAC teams are still battling the effects of the heavy snow that covered the West in February.

Saint Martin’s will play its two home doubleheaders this weekend at the Gordon Faber Complex in Hillsboro, Oregon, as the Saints’ home field in Lacey is still unplayable. The Saints will host Concordia on Saturday and Western Oregon on Monday.

Montana State Billings is still unable to play home games due to snow, forcing the postponement of this weekend’s four-game series with Western Oregon. The Yellowjackets will make-up two of the games on Apr. 8 in Portland. A make-up date for the other two games has yet to be announced.

THIS WEEK'S GNAC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
PLAYER
Emily Benson, Western Washington
1B • 5-10 • Senior • West Richland, Wash.

Benson led the Vikings to a split of a pair of home doubleheaders by batting .583 in four games, going 7 for 12 with six runs, eight RBI and three home runs. Benson went 2 for 3 in Saturday’s second-game loss to Central Washington, which included a game-tying three-run homer in the third. She then went 3 for 3 in Sunday’s opening-game win over Saint Martin’s, including another two-run homer, and closed the weekend by going 1 for 1 with three walks in the nightcap. Her one hit was another two-run homer in the first inning.

Also Nominated: Savannah Egbert (Central Washington), Linda Gherir (Concordia), Anna Williams (Northwest Nazarene), Sabrina Hicks (Saint Martin’s).

PITCHER
Makinlee Sellevold, Western Washington
P/IF • 5-4 •  Senior • Everett, Wash.

Sellevold amassed a 2.21 earned run average in two starts for Western Washington, allowing six runs, four earned, on 15 hits with 10 strikeouts in 12.2 innings. Sellevold threw 7.2 innings in the Vikings’ eventual 8-6, 10-inning loss to Central Washington on Saturday, allowing five runs, three earned, on 11 hits with three walks and five strikeouts. She rebounded to earn the win in Sunday’s 9-1, five-inning win over Saint Martin’s as she allowed one run on four hits with five strikeouts.

Also Nominated: Isabel Womack (Central Washington), Brandi Schoessler (Saint Martin’s), Reilly Tidwell (Western Oregon).

AROUND THE GNAC
CENTRAL WASHINGTON
• Central Washington ran its GNAC record to 8-0 with a pair of doubleheader sweeps on the road. The Wildcats defeated Western Washington on Saturday 8-6 (10 innings) and 9-5. Central then scored 14-10 and 8-4 wins over Simon Fraser on Sunday.

• For their efforts in running their win streak to eight games, the Wildcats were selected as the GNAC Team of the Week.

• Junior Savannah Egbert paced the CWU offense with a .474 batting average in the four games, going 9 for 19 with five runs, two RBI and two stolen bases. Egbert had two hits in Saturday’s opener at WWU and then went 3 for 5 in the nightcap. She opened the twinbill with SFU by going 2 for 5 with two RBIs and two runs. Egbert leads the Wildcats and is sixth in the GNAC with a .424 batting average.

• Senior Bethany Balucan hit .545 in three games over the weekend, going 6 for 11 with five runs, two RBI and two doubles. Balucan scored a pair of runs in Saturday’s opener at WWU and then went 3 for 4 in the nightcap with two runs and a RBI single. She finished the weekend by going 2 for 3 with a run in Sunday’s opener at SFU. Balucan has a .287 batting average in 18 games.

• Freshman Isabel Womack had the Wildcats’ best pitching performance of the weekend, picking up the win in Sunday’s final game with SFU. In 6.1 innings, she allowed four runs on 11 hits with two walks and five strikeouts for her first collegiate win. Womack earned the save in Saturday’s second game at WWU, allowing one hit in two-thirds of an inning.

• Central Washington is second in the GNAC with a .333 batting average (23rd in Division II) and enters the week with a 4.27 earned run average. The Wildcats lead the GNAC and rank 26th in Division II with a .408 slugging percentage and is tied for 15th with one home run per game.

• The Wildcats will open its home schedule this weekend, hosting Western Oregon on Saturday and Concordia on Sunday.

CONCORDIA
• Concordia dropped three of four games in a series at Northwest Nazarene. The Cavaliers dropped both ends of Friday’s doubleheader, 7-1 and 11-8, and lost Saturday’s opening game 6-5 before winning the second game 8-2.

• Sophomore Linda Gherir led the Cavaliers with a .462 batting average in the four games, going 6 for 13 with three runs, two RBI and three doubles. Gherir went 3 for 4 in Friday’s nightcap, plating two runs on a single in the third. She closed the week by going 2 for 4 in the victory on Saturday. Gherir enters the week with a .304 batting average in 23 games.

• Senior Mckenzie Smith batted .417 in the four games, going 5 for 12 with two runs, six RBI and a home run. Smith had single hits in each of Friday’s games and went 2 for 4 with a two-run homer in Saturday’s opening game. Smith also went 1-1 in the circle. She earned the win in Saturday’s nightcap, allowing two runs on six hits with four walks and three strikeouts to improve to 5-5 on the season. Smith leads the Cavaliers with a .375 batting average and owns a .462 earned run average in 56 innings.

• Concordia enters the week with a .279 batting average and is third in the GNAC with a 4.26 earned run average. The Cavaliers are 14th in Division II with 0.52 double plays per game while junior Sally Boyles is 14th in Division II with 0.66 walks allowed per seven innings.

• Concordia will play a doubleheader against Saint Martin’s on Saturday at the Gordon Faber Complex in Hillsboro and then will play a twinbill at Central Washington on Sunday.

MONTANA STATE BILLINGS
• Thanks to snow still blanketing the field in Billings, Montana State Billings’ scheduled four-game series with Western Oregon has been postponed. The opening doubleheader has been rescheduled for Apr. 8 in Portland while the second doubleheader has yet to be rescheduled.

• The Yellowjackets’ next scheduled games will be next weekend at the Stanislaus Tournament of Champions.

• Freshman Rylan Austin leads the Yellowjackets offensively with a .308 batting average in 21 games, including 20 hits, two doubles and six RBI. Austin ranks 28th in Division II with 0.33 sacrifice hits per game. Junior Jolene House is batting .450 in eight games, which includes nine hits, six runs and two RBI.

• Freshman Alyssa Etheridge leads MSUB in the circle. She is ninth in the GNAC with a 3.90 earned run average. She has allowed 33 runs, 21 earned, on 29 hits with 27 strikeouts in 37.2 innings. She threw a no-hitter against Saint Martin’s on Mar. 8.

• Montana State Billings enters the week with a .263 batting average and 4.36 earned run average.

NORTHWEST NAZARENE
• After dropping all four games to Central Washington the week before, Northwest Nazarene rebounded to take three of four games from Concordia last weekend. The Nighthawks collected 7-1 and 11-8 wins on Friday and a 6-5 win in Saturday’s opener before taking an 8-2 loss in the second game.

• Senior Anna Williams led the Nighthawks offensively with a .500 average in the four games, going 7 for 14 with six runs, four RBI, two doubles and four stolen bases. Her only hit in Friday’s opener was an RBI double in the second. She then went 2 for 3 in the nightcap with a two-RBI single. Williams opened Saturday by going 2 for 4 and closed by going 2 for 3 with a double. Williams leads the Nighthawks and is third in the GNAC with a .446 batting average. She is 11th in Division II with 1.21 runs per game, tied for 13th in with eight home runs and 25th with 37 hits.

• Junior Brittany Genuardi also batted .500 in the Concordia series, going 5 for 10 with five runs, six RBI, a double, a triple and two home runs. She opened the series by going 2 for 3 with an RBI triple and a solo home run in Friday’s opener and closed the day by going 3 for 4 with a two-RBI single and a solo home run. Genuardi is batting .318 for the Nighthawks in 23 games and is fourth in the GNAC with six home runs.

• Sophomore Jordan Adams earned two of the Nighthawks’ three wins in the circle. In 14 innings pitched against Concordia, Adams allowed six runs, four earned, on 12 hits, walked one and struck out 19. She allowed one run on four hits and struck out 10. Adams was the winner in Saturday’s opener, allowing five runs, three earned, on eight hits with nine strikeouts. Adams is second in the GNAC with a 2.12 earned run average and is second with 76 strikeouts.

• The Nighthawks enter the week with a .320 batting average and 4.75 earned run average. Northwest Nazarene is sixth in Division II with two doubles per game, 25th with 0.92 home runs per game and 29th with a .504 slugging percentage.

• Northwest Nazarene will play its first GNAC games away from Nampa this season when it travels to Burnaby, B.C., for a four-game series with Simon Fraser on Friday and Saturday.

SAINT MARTIN’S
• Saint Martin’s procured a split of its road doubleheaders last weekend. The Saints swept Simon Fraser on Saturday, 10-1 and 7-6 (9 innings) and dropped two games to Western Washington on Sunday, 9-1 (5 innings) and 12-5. The Saints opened the week with a non-conference split with Northwest (Wash.) on Wednesday, losing the opener 10-5 and winning the nightcap 8-1.

• Senior Sabrina Hicks led the Saints in the six games with a .421 batting average, going 8 for 19 with six runs, nine RBI, a double, a triple and a home run. Five of those hits came against Northwest before going 2 for 2 with three runs scored in the opener at Simon Fraser. She had a two-run triple in Saturday’s nightcap and had a three-run homer in Sunday’s second game at WWU. Hicks leads SMU with a .354 batting average in 22 games with 19 runs and five home runs.

• Sophomore Emery Norwood batted .385 in the six games, going 5 for 12 with eight runs scored. After scoring three runs against Northwest, Norwood had base hits in each of the four conference games and had an RBI single in Sunday’s opener at Western Washington. Norwood is batting .400 for the Saints in 10 games this season.

• Junior Brandi Schoessler went 2-1 for the Saints in the circle, compiling a 4.33 earned run average in four appearances. Schoessler earned the second-game win over Northwest in relief, allowing two hits and striking out five in 4.2 innings. She earned the three-inning save in the opener at Simon Fraser and then earned the win in the nightcap as she allowed three runs on nine hits in 7.1 innings of work. Schoessler is tied for first in the GNAC with nine wins and is seventh with a 3.17 earned run average.

• Saint Martin’s enters the week with a .275 batting average and 5.76 earned run average.

• Thanks to unplayable field conditions in Lacey, the Saints will host a pair of doubleheaders at the Gordon Faber Complex in Hillsboro, Oregon. Saint Martin’s will host Concordia on Saturday and Western Oregon on Monday.

SIMON FRASER
• Simon Fraser saw its losing streak reach nine games with four home losses. The Clan dropped 10-1 and 7-6 (9 innings) games to Saint Martin’s on Saturday and 14-10 and 8-4 decisions to Central Washington on Sunday.

• Sophomore Alex Ogg had a great weekend at the plate with a .500 average, going 7 for 14 with three runs, three RBI and a double. Ogg went 3 for 3 in Saturday’s opener with SMU and added a two-run double in the nightcap. She went 2 for 4 in Sunday’s opener with CWU and went 2 for 4 with a pair of RBI singles in the nightcap. Ogg leads the GNAC and is 30th in Division II with a .478 batting average.

• Junior Amanda Janes also batted .500 in the four games for the Clan, going 5 for 10 with two runs, four RBI and a home run. She went 3 for 3 in the second game with Saint Martin’s, including a solo home run and an RBI double, and went 2 for 4 in Sunday’s second game. Janes is eighth in the GNAC with a .386 batting average.

• Simon Fraser enters the week third in the GNAC with a .321 batting average along with a 5.76 earned run average. The Clan is fifth in Division II with 0.57 double plays turned per game.

• Simon Fraser wraps a 10-game home stand with six games this weekend. The Clan will host Northwest Nazarene for four games on Friday and Saturday and will host Western Washington for a doubleheader on Monday.

WESTERN OREGON
• Western Oregon was limited to just a pair of non-conference games on Wednesday, sweeping Northwest Christian in a pair of five-inning victories, 12-4 and 8-0.

• A weekend four-game series at Montana State Billings was postponed due to snow still on the field in Billings. The two teams will make-up two of the games on Apr. 8 in Portland. A make-up date for the other two games has yet to be announced.

• Senior Ryanne Whitaker led the Wolves by going 4 for 6 in the two games with three runs and two RBI. She went 2 for 3 in the opener with two runs scored and then went 2 for 3 in the nightcap with a two-run single in the second. Whitaker enters the week with a .352 batting average in 16 games.

• Senior Haley Fabian improved to 5-1 on the season with the win in the opener, allowing four runs, two earned, on eight hits with a walk and two strikeouts. Freshman Reilly Tidwell picked up her second win of the season in the nightcap, allowing two hits and three walks while striking out four. Fabian leads the GNAC with a 1.88 earned run average in six games. Tidwell has a 0.91 earned run average in 15.1 innings of work and five appearances.

• Western Oregon leads the GNAC with a .342 batting average (16th in Division II) and a 2.46 earned run average. The Wolves are tied for 15th in Division II with one home run per game.

• Western Oregon is the first GNAC team this season to earn votes in the NFCA Division II Coaches top-25, picking up three in last week’s ranking.

• The Wolves will play a pair of road doubleheaders this weekend, competing at Central Washington on Saturday before facing Saint Martin’s in Hillsboro, Oregon on Monday.

WESTERN WASHINGTON
• Western Washington split a pair of home doubleheaders last weekend. The Vikings dropped a pair of games to Central Washington on Saturday, 8-6 (10 innings) and 9-5 before sweeping a pair of games from Saint Martin’s on Sunday, 9-1 (5 innings) and 12-5.

• Senior Emily Benson was named the GNAC Softball Player of the Week after she batted .583 in four games, going 7 for 12 with six runs, eight RBI and three home runs. Benson went 2 for 3 in Saturday’s second-game loss to Central Washington, which included a game-tying three-run homer in the third. She then went 3 for 3 in Sunday’s opening-game win over Saint Martin’s, including another two-run homer, and closed the weekend by going 1 for 1 with three walks in the nightcap. Her one hit was another two-run homer in the first inning. Benson is fourth in the GNAC with a .443 batting average. She leads the GNAC and is 20th in Division II with a .886 slugging percentage and is 23rd in Division II with 29 RBI.

• Senior Makinlee Sellevold earned GNAC Pitcher of the Week honors after she amassed a 2.21 earned run average in two starts for Western Washington, allowing six runs, four earned, on 15 hits with 10 strikeouts in 12.2 innings. Sellevold threw 7.2 innings in the Vikings’ eventual 8-6, 10-inning loss to Central Washington on Saturday, allowing five runs, three earned, on 11 hits with three walks and five strikeouts. She rebounded to earn the win in Sunday’s 9-1, five-inning win over Saint Martin’s as she allowed one run on four hits with five strikeouts. Sellevold enters the week third in the GNAC with a 2.12 earned run average and is 20th in Division II with three shutouts.

• Western Washington enters the week with a .311 batting average and is second in the GNAC with a 3.13 earned run average. The Vikings are 26th in Division II with 0.91 home runs per game and 30th in scoring with 6.35 runs per game.

• The Vikings will not play until Monday, taking on Simon Fraser in a doubleheader in Burnaby, B.C.