Friday, March 3, 2023
THIS WEEK'S GNAC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Player
Shane Jamison, Northwest Nazarene
UT• 5-9 • Sr. • Lummi Island, Wash.
Jamison was named the GNAC Baseball Player of the Week after recording a hit in each game of NNU’s four-game series against Colorado Mesa last week. He finished the week batting .375 with four runs, five RBIs, a double and three walks.
Also Nominated: Sam Lauderdale (Central Washington), Payton Flynn (Montana State Billings), Damon Ingram (Saint Martin’s).
Pitcher
Brock Moffitt, Northwest Nazarene
LHP • 6-0 • Sr. • Valley Center, Calif.
Moffitt was named the GNAC Pitcher of the Week after picking up the win in the Nighthawks’ 11-6 victory over No. 6 Colorado Mesa on Friday. In six innings, Moffitt allowed two runs on four hits with two walks and four strikeouts. He threw 88 pitches, 53 for strikes, and improved to 2-0 on the season
Also Nominated: Alex Brady (Central Washington), Jackson Betancourt (Montana State Billings), Justice Yamashita (Saint Martin’s).
AROUND THE GNAC
CENTRAL WASHINGTON
• Central Washington split its non-conference Sunday doubleheader against Saint Martin’s at home last week, falling 13-10 in the first game of the day before bouncing back with a 6-4 win to close out the day.
• Junior Sam Lauderdale led the offense for the Wildcats last week batting .429 with four RBIs. a home run, a double and a walk. Lauderdale’s home run came in the first game on Sunday, a two-run shot in the seventh inning. His best performance of the day, however, came in the second game where he went 2 for 3 with one run scored and two RBIs on a double.
• Junior southpaw Alex Brady earned his first save of the year after throwing three innings of shutout relief while allowing two hits, one walk and striking out four batters. Sophomore Daniel Charron picked up his first win of the season after throwing the first four innings of the game.
• Sophomore Ben Leid also put together a strong week for CWU, batting .571 with four runs scored, and two RBIs and four doubles. His best game of the day came in the first half of the doubleheader where he went 3 for 4 with three runs scored and an RBI with three doubles.
• Central Washington will kick off its conference schedule this week, facing Saint Martin’s for the second week in a row with doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday.
MONTANA STATE BILLINGS
• Montana State Billings split its week 2-2 in Pueblo, Colo., falling 22-5 to West Texas A&M and 3-1 to CSU Pueblo on Saturday before coming back to win its series against the Thunderwolves with a 12 -10 decision on Sunday and a 19-10 victory on Monday.
• Sophomore pitcher Jackson Betancourt was tagged with the Saturday loss against CSU Pueblo, but threw well through most of the game, going eight innings and striking out a career-high 12 batters. He allowed two earned runs on eight hits and no walks.
• Junior infielder Payton Flynn was one of the most consistent bats for the Yellowjackets last week, notching at least one hit in every game. He finished the week batting .333 with five RBIs and three runs scored on two home runs and a double. His best performance of the week came in Sunday’s win where he went 2 for 5 with two runs scored and an RBI including a solo shot in the second inning.
• Along with Flynn, sophomores Kaden Kirshenbaum and Mitch Winter also went yard in Sunday’s win. Kishenbaum finished the week batting .389 with five RBIs while Winter finished with a .500 batting average and eight RBIs to go with two home runs.
• Montana State Billings will face No. 8 Colorado Mesa on the road this week in a four-game series that begins on Thursday.
NORTHWEST NAZARENE
• Northwest Nazarene went 3-1 in its four-game series against nationally-ranked Colorado Mesa. The Nighthawks opened the series with an 11-6 win on Thursday before splitting Friday’s doubleheader with a 8-1 loss and a 6-3 win. The Nighthawks won the finale 8-5 on Saturday.
• Senior Shane Jamison was named the GNAC Player of the Week after recording a hit in each game of NNU’s four-game series against Colorado Mesa last week. He finished the week batting .375 with four runs, five RBIs, a double and three walks.
• Senior Brock Moffitt was named the GNAC Pitcher of the Week after picking up the win in the Nighthawks’ 11-6 victory over No. 6 Colorado Mesa on Friday. In six innings, Moffitt allowed two runs on four hits with two walks and four strikeouts. He threw 88 pitches, 53 for strikes, and improved to 2-0 on the season.
• Senior infielder Nolan Walker opened the week with a bang, going 2 for 4 with two RBIs and two runs scored with a double in Thursday’s win for his best performance of the week. Walker finished the week batting .273 with three RBIs with a .273 average for the series.
• Northwest Nazarene will open the conference schedule this week when it faces Western Oregon in Monmouth for doubleheaders on Friday and Saturday.
SAINT MARTIN’S
• Saint Martin’s split its non-conference Sunday doubleheader at Central Washington last week, opening the series with a 13-10 win in game one before falling 6-4 in game two.
• Sophomore Colin Driscoll picked up his first win of the season on the mound for the Saints in game one. He threw 3.2 innings, allowing five runs on eight hits with a pair of strikeouts. Junior Cole Hatton notched his first save of the season with 1.1 innings of work.
• Junior Reid Little went 3 for 7 in the doubleheader as one of the most reliable bats for the Saints. Little did all of his damage in the game one win where he batted .750 with four RBIs and two runs scored with a double and one stolen base.
• Saint Martin’s will host Central Washington this week to open its GNAC schedule starting with doubleheaders on Sunday and Monday.
WESTERN OREGON
• Western Oregon did not play last week and will return to action for its first series of the GNAC season when it hosts Northwest Nazarene on Friday and Saturday.
• Last time out, Western Oregon took its first series win of the season with a 3-1 week against Eastern Oregon in Monmouth. The Wolves put in 21 innings of work in Feb. 18’s doubleheader alone, taking a 5-4 win in 13 innings to open the series and narrowly dropping the nightcap 2-1 in eight innings. On Feb. 19, WOU cranked up the offense, winning the first game of the day 12-4 and the series finale 9-0.
• Senior Derek Maiben led the charge for the Wolves, batting .421 on the week with eight hits, a double, four RBIs, four runs scored and five stolen bases. The highlight of Maiben’s week came in Feb. 19’s 12-4 win where he went 3 for 5 with three runs scored, two stolen bases and an RBI.
• Senior Arturo Alvarez led Western Oregon on the mound, throwing seven innings while allowing just two hits and one walk with nine strikeouts as the starter in the Feb. 18. win.