Monday, March 23, 2015

PORTLAND, Ore. –  Saint Martin's third baseman Megan Miller, who hit for the cycle Saturday, has been selected the GNAC Softball Player of the Week.

In the second game of a doubleheader against Central Washington, Miller had four hits and drove in six runs to power SMU to a 17-9 win completing a sweep of the twinbill.  The Saints also won the first game 19-7.

Miller hit a three-run home run in the third before driving in two runs in the fourth with a triple.  She then singled and scored in the sixth before completing the cycle with a RBI double in the seventh.

Miller is one 10 athletes to earn GNAC Player of the Week honors for the Week of March 16-22.

Following is a recap of their performances and a listing of honorable mention selections:

Softball: Player – Megan Miller, Saint Martin’s (3B, 5-3, Jr., Everett, WA - Cascade) led the Saint offense which produced 36 runs in two games against Central Washington’s pitching staff,  CWU came into the weekend ranked No. 1 in the GNAC in ERA.  Miller, who drove in six runs and hit for the cycle in the second game, had six hits in eight at bats, including two doubles, a triple and a home run.  Her slugging average for the doubleheader with a phenomenal 1.625 as she drove in eight runs. Pitcher – Jessyka MacDonald, MSU Billings (5-8, Sr., Billings, MT – West) allowed just four runs in 21 2/3 innings, surrendering 15 hits and striking out 15 in winning three of four decisions including a two-hit 8-0 shutout of Simon Fraser Sunday. MacDonald pitched all 10 innings of MSUB’s two five-inning wins Sunday, allowing just five hits and one run. She needed just 113 pitches.

Honorable Mention – Kaitlyn Campbell, Central Washington (1B, 6-0, So., Duvall, WA – Cedercrest); Taylor Hoke, MSU Billings (SS, 5-2, Sr., Chehalis, WA - Adna); Whitney Carlton, Northwest Nazarene (1B, 5-5, Sr., Kimberly, ID); Sam Munger, Saint Martin’s (P-SS, 5-6, Sr., Everett, WA - Cascade); Emily Benson, Western Washington (1B, 5-11, Fr., West Richland, WA – Kamiakin); Makinlee Sellevold, Western Washington (P, 5-4, Fr., Everett, WA – Cascade).

Baseball:  Player - Kyle Durbin, Montana State Billings (1B-3B, 6-1, Jr., Idaho Falls, ID) and Carl Svanevik, Saint Martin’s (OF, 6-3, Sr., Woodinville, WA) ... Both Durbin and Svanevik helped their teams to their first series sweeps of the year. Durbin capped off a few comebacks on Friday as he hit two game-winning doubles. The junior broke a 3-3 tie in Game 1 with a two-run double and did it again in Game 2, hitting another two-run double to put the Yellowjackets on top after trailing 3-2 in the seventh. He also hit his first home run of the series. In the four-game sweep of Northwest Nazarene, Durbin batted .333 and also had seven RBIs, two sacrifice hits and scored two runs.  He also handled 17 chances defensively without an error…Svanevik was the offensive catalyst for the Saints' sweep at Central Washington, going 8-of-16 while contributing to over a third of the Saints 23 runs scored. Svanevik had nine RBIs, while also hitting three home runs in two days to boost his slugging percentage to 1.125 for the weekend. The senior outfielder also scored four runs in the Saints' first series sweep of the Wildcats in Ellensburg since 2002. Pitcher – Cody Cooper, Montana State Billings (RHP, 6-4, So., Bozeman, MT) earned his first win of the season in a 8-0 win Saturday.  Over his seven innings, Cooper struck out a season-high 10 batters while only allowing four hits and one walk. All of his four hits were singles as well.

Honorable Mention – Darren Honeysett, Central Washington (OF, 6-0, Jr., Port Coquitlam, BC); Mitch Yada, Central Washington (LHP, 6-0, So., Moses Lake, WA); Jake Reppert, Northwest Nazarene (LHP, 6-5, Sr., Monroe, WA); Kyle Thomson, Northwest Nazarene (OF, 5-7, Sr., Enumclaw, WA); Zach Carter, Saint Martin’s (RHP, 6-0, Sr., Camas, WA).

Men’s Track and Field:  Track – Kent McKinney, Central Washington (Jr., Seattle, WA) won the 100 meters in a provisional national qualifying time of 10.61 – the fifth quickest in GNAC history – at the Eastern Oregon Team Challenge at Hermiston.  His time currently ranks seventh in NCAA Division II.  He also ran a 21.99 in the 200, which ranks second in the GNAC this spring, in sweeping the two sprint events.  Field – Ryan Macdonald, Western Washington (Sr., Bellingham, WA - Sehome) set a GNAC record in the discus at the Rose City Preview in Portland with a winning throw of 177-5 eclipsing the old mark of 175-5 set by Cameron Neel of Central Washington in 2006.

Honorable Mention – Kevin Stanley, Central Washington (Sr., Spokane, WA – Central Valley); Rimar Christie, Northwest Nazarene (Sr., St. Michael, Barbados); Payton Lewis, Northwest Nazarene (Fr., Nampa, ID); Brian Chalkey, Saint Martin’s (So., Eugene, OR); Cody Warner, Western Oregon (Fr., Springfield, OR – Thurston); Peter Zalk, Western Oregon (Fr., Camas, OR - Prairie).

Women’s Track and Field:  Track – Dani Eggleston, Central Washington (Jr., Longview, WA) bettered the NCAA Division II national qualifying standard in the steeplechase at the Eastern Oregon Team Challenge winning the event in a time of 11:00.27.  That time ranks second in Division II.  A week earlier she had a PNQ of 17:11.79 in the 5,000 meters at Pacific Lutheran and  currently ranks third nationally in that event.  Field – Anna Paradee, Western Washington (Fr., Tacoma, WA - Decatur) earned a provisional national qualifying mark of 12-0 ½ in winning the pole vault at the Rose City Preview.

Honorable Mention – Chelsey Knott, Northwest Nazarene (Fr., Parma, ID); Caitlin Curtis, Northwest Nazarene (Sr., Portland, OR); Kali Walker, Saint Martin’s (So., Lacey, WA); Bailey Beeson, Western Oregon (Jr., Soldotna, AK – Kenai Central); Kylie Reinholdt, Western Oregon (Fr., St. Helens, OR).

Women’s Golf – Jennifer Liedes, Saint Martin’s (Jr., Olympia, WA) recorded a first-round score of 79 to propel her to a tie for 16th at the Augustana Spring Fling in Palm Desert, Calif., Thursday and Friday. After her 79 on Day 1, Liedes was tied for sixth at the event which featured three nationally ranked teams. She finished the tournament carding a 162 (+18) while being the only GNAC golfer to finish in the Top 30.

Honorable Mention – Breanna Croxen, Simon Fraser (Fr., New Westminster, BC).