Tuesday, March 7, 2023

THIS WEEK'S GNAC BASEBALL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Player
Bodee Wright, Montana State Billings
IF• 5-9 • So. • Morgan, Utah

Wright was named the GNAC Baseball Player of the Week after hitting .500 while playing in four of MSUB’s five games. He went 9 for 18 with multi-hit efforts in three of those games. He finished the week with four runs, a double and four RBIs.

Also Nominated: Charlie Larson (Central Washington), Mason Leavitt (Northwest Nazarene), Derek Maiben (Western Oregon).

Pitcher
Justice Yamashita, Saint Martin’s
RHP• 5-10 • Jr. • Honolulu, Hawaii

Yamashita was named the GNAC Baseball Pitcher of the Week after throwing a complete game shutout against Central Washington on Sunday. He allowed just three hits and two walks while striking out eight batters through seven innings of work to earn his first win of the season. Yamashita was also named the NCBWA West Region Pitcher of the Week.

Also Nominated: Daniel Charron (Central Washington), Andy Evans (Montana State Billings), Brock Moffitt (Northwest Nazarene), Bryce Bond (Western Oregon).

AROUND THE GNAC

CENTRAL WASHINGTON
• Central Washington split a four-game series with Saint Martin’s for the second week in a row, this time on the road as part of its conference schedule. The Wildcats won the first half of Sunday’s doubleheader 7-2 before falling 1-0 in the nightcap. They followed that up by winning Monday’s opener 7-5 and dropping the second game 6-5.

• Sophomore Travis Helm led CWU for the week, batting .417 through the four games in three starts as the designated hitter and one at catcher. He went 5 for 12 for the week, notching five RBIs, drawing two walks and scoring one run. Helm’s standout performance came in Sunday’s win where he went 2 for 4 with two RBIs and scored a run. Helm leads the GNAC with 19 RBIs on the season.

• Senior Charlie Larson was another reliable bat for Central Washington in the series and finished the week 6 for 15 with four runs scored,two stolen bases and an RBI in four starts at second base. Larson also opened the week on a high, going 3 for 4 with a walk and a stolen base in Sunday’s win. He leads the GNAC with 18 runs scored in 18 games.

• Sophomore Daniel Charron earned the Sunday win for the Wildcats on the mound, his second of the season. Charron threw 7.1 innings and allowed two runs on five hits and three walks while striking out seven batters. Charron is tied to for the conference lead with five starts and ranks fifth in the GNAC with 23 innings pitched.

• Central Washington will return home this week to host Western Oregon for doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday.

MONTANA STATE BILLINGS
• Montana State Billings opened its week with a 19-10 win in its final game of a four-game series against CSU-Pueblo on Monday before playing a four-game set against Colorado Mesa. The Yellowjackets went 1-3 in that series, falling 19-8 on Thursday, 16-6 in the first half of Friday’s doubleheader and 5-4 in the nightcap before taking a 9-6 win in the series finale on Saturday.

• Sophomore Bodee Wright was named the GNAC Baseball Player of the Week after hitting .500 while playing in four of the five games. Wright went 9 for 18 with multi-hit efforts in three of those game. He finished the week with four runs, a double and four RBIs. Wright’s best performance of the week came in Friday’s 16-6 loss where he went 3 for 5 with two RBIs and one run scored.

• Sophomore Andy Evans picked up his first win of the season on the mound for MSUB against Colorado Mesa. Evans threw five innings and allowed just one his and four walks while striking out three batters.

• Sophomore infielder Mitch Winter finished the week by leading the team with nine RBIs while hitting .267 and slugging .800 across the five games. Winter did his damage with two doubles and two home runs while also scoring three runs. His week was highlighted by a 2 for 3 effort in Monday’s win where had five RBIs and two runs scored off of a home run and a double.

NORTHWEST NAZARENE
• Northwest Nazarene went 2-3 on the week, facing Western Oregon in doubleheaders on Friday and Saturday on the road before hosting Division I Utah Valley on Monday. The Nighthawks split their conference-opening series with the Wolves, dropping Friday’s games 7-4 and 1-0 before winning Saturday’s games 4-3 (10 inn.) and 4-2. The Nighthawks narrowly lost 4-3 to Utah Valley after being tied 3-3 heading into the ninth inning.

• It was another strong week in the batter’s box for senior Shane Jamison who finished the five games with a .333 batting average. Jamison tallied six hits including a solo home run in Sunday’s loss while amassing five RBIs, four runs, three walks and a double. He factored heavily in the series finale win over WOU, collecting three of the Nighthawks’ four RBIs and scoring one run himself while batting 2 for 3 with double.

• On the mound, senior Ty Pohlmann picked up his first win of the season throwing 2.1 innings in Saturday’s series finale. Pohlmann didn’t allow a hit after entering in relief and gave up just two walks while striking out five of the nine batters he faced.

• The Nighthawks rank second in the GNAC with a 4.88 ERA. They also lead the conference and rank third in Division II with 1.10 double plays turned per game. Their 23 total double plays rank second in the division.

• Northwest Nazarene will travel to face Montana State Billings this week, taking on the Yellowjackets in a pair of doubleheaders on Friday and Saturday.

SAINT MARTIN’S
• Saint Martin’s hosted Central Washington for a pair of doubleheaders last week, splitting the series with a 7-2 loss to open Sunday before winning the nightcap 1-0. On Monday, the Saints fell 7-5 in the first game of the day and bounced back to win the series finale 6-5.

• Junior Justice Yamashita was named the GNAC Baseball Pitcher of the Week and the NCBWA Division II West Region Pitcher of the Week after throwing a complete game shutout against Central Washington on Sunday. He allowed just three hits and two walks while striking out eight batters through seven innings of work to earn his first win of the season. Yamashita ranks second in the GNAC with an opponent batting average of .184 and third with an average of 10.62 strikeouts per game.

• Freshman Brady Bean has already established himself as an offensive threat in the early stages of the season and led the Saints with a .429 batting average and a .643 slugging percentage through the four games. Bean went 6 for 14 for the week with two RBIs and four runs scored on a double, a triple, two walks and four stolen bases. Bean leads the GNAC with a .545 on base percentage and is second in the conference with a .432 batting average.

• Saint Martin’s is set to host George Fox this weekend for a three-game non-conference series that begins Saturday and ends Sunday with a doubleheader.

WESTERN OREGON
• Western Oregon split its first series of the conference slate with Northwest Nazarene in Monmouth last week, winning the first two games 7-4 and 1-0 on Friday before falling 4-3 and 4-2 on Saturday.

• Senior Derek Maiben was the most reliable bat for the Wolves last week, leading the team with a .643 batting average and .643 slugging percentage through the four games. Maiben finished the week 9 for 14 with four runs scored to go with two walks and two stolen bases. Maiben crossed home plate twice in WOU’s 7-4 win on Friday while batting 3 for 5. His nine stolen bases are tied for first in the GNAC while his 22 hits are tied for third.

• Sophomore pitcher Bryce Bond picked up his first win of the season on the mound of the Wolves in Friday’s 1-0 victory. Bond threw 6.0 shutout innings as the starter and allowed just two hits and three walks while striking out eight. Bond ranks second in the GNAC with a 1.17 ERA through his 15.1 innings pitched.

• Western Oregon is set to continue its conference schedule with a pair of doubleheaders against Central Washington on Saturday and Sunday.