Tuesday, March 29, 2022

Both conference series ended in four-game splits last week, demonstrating the depth and quality throughout the GNAC.

Montana State Billings made a major statement in their home-opening series by taking two of four from defending conference champs and current leader Northwest Nazarene. The Yellowjackets won two games in part by turning two, recording 12 double plays over the course of the four-game series. The ‘Jackets tied the single-game school record of four double plays in both games of Saturday’s doubleheader, a good way to not give NNU’s potent lineup RBI opportunities.

Instead, it was MSUB’s leadoff hitter, Carson Green, with the most potent bat on the field. Green won GNAC Player of the Week honors after hitting 8 for 17 with seven RBI and six runs scored. Among his hits, Green stroked three doubles and a home run.

On Friday, the ‘Jackets jumped on NNU early, building a 10-1 lead before the Nighthawks came up with a too-little-too-late rally in the ninth to make it a 10-5 final. In the second game, Northwest Nazarene’s Brock Moffitt took over. Moffitt, the GNAC Pitcher of the Week, retired the first 18 men he faced in order, including eight strikeouts, and entered the seventh inning three outs away from a perfect game, the GNAC’s first no-hitter since 2019 and NNU’s first since 2003.

It wasn’t to be, however, as a Green double and Hayden Foltz triple ended Moffitt’s night. Max Holtzclaw entered and completed the 3-2 win for his ninth save. The two teams split again on Saturday, with Green’s five RBI keying an 11-6 MSUB win in the opener before Northwest Nazarene won the finale 12-5.

In the week’s other series, Central Washington made it seem like it could be a long weekend for Saint Martin’s by scoring 17 runs in the first four innings of Saturday’s opening game. Saints reliever Colin Driscoll pitched four one-hit innings to calm the storm, however, and while the Wildcats cruised 17-4 in game one, Saint Martin’s took the second and third games of the series, 6-2 and 10-5, before Central won Sunday’s nightcap 8-5. After the series result, Central Washington and Saint Martin’s remain tied at 4-8 in the GNAC standings.

Next week’s schedule looks fairly tidy, with four games being contested on both Friday and Saturday. The two GNAC match-ups will see MSUB head to Ellensburg to take on Central Washington for four games that could turn into slugfests. Western Oregon will host Saint Martin’s for four games after taking care of Bushnell 13-4 in a non-conference game on Tuesday last week.

GNAC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Player
Carson Green, Montana State Billings
OF • 5-9 • Jr. • Kennewick, Wash.
Green batted .471 in a four-game split with Northwest Nazarene, going 8 for 17 with three doubles, a home run and seven RBI. Green went 2 for 5 in Friday’s opener with two runs scored and went 1 for 3 with a run scored in the nightcap. Green went 3 for 5 with a bases-clearing double in Saturday’s 11-6 opening-game win. He went 2 for 4 in the nightcap with an RBI single in the second and an RBI double in the sixth.

Also Nominated: Zach Berryman (Central Washington), Parker Price (Northwest Nazarene), Reid Little (Saint Martin’s), Spencer Weston (Western Oregon).

Pitcher
Brock Moffitt, Northwest Nazarene
LHP • 6-0 • Jr. • Valley Center, Calif.
Moffitt took a perfect game into the seventh inning of the Nighthawks’ 3-2 second-game win over Montana State Billings on Friday. He retired the first 18 batters of the game in order on eight strikeouts, seven groundouts and three flyouts. He allowed two runs on two hits in the seventh.

Also Nominated: Ryan Arredondo (Central Washington), Dylan Barkley (Montana State Billings), Justice Yamashita (Saint Martin’s), Dominic Miller (Western Oregon).

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AROUND THE GNAC

CENTRAL WASHINGTON
• Central Washington split a four-game home series with Saint Martin’s. The Wildcats won the first game on Saturday 17-4 before dropping the nightcap 6-2. On Sunday, the roles were reversed, with SMU winning the first game 10-5 but CWU winning the nightcap, 8-5.
• Zach Berryman provided some key hits for the Wildcats while going 6 for 15 with five RBI. In Saturday’s opener, Berryman punctuated a seven-run first inning with a two-run double before providing the bulk of CWU’s offense in the 10-5 loss with a three-run home run in the fifth. Berryman ranks fourth in the GNAC with a .345 batting average.
• The Wildcats jumped on Saint Martin’s early and often in the 17-4 win, scoring seven in the first, four in the second and three in each of the third and fourth innings. Six separate Wildcats had multi-RBI games, led by Austin Ohland and Andrew Vankemseke with three apiece. Both players hit two-run homers in the second inning. It was Vankemseke’s first of the year and doubled his season RBI total to four. Ohland, on the other hand, has six home runs and leads Division II with 16 doubles.
• Ryan Arredondo needed far less than those 17 runs to pick up the win in Saturday’s opener, throwing six innings and giving up two runs, one earned, on two hits and three walks. Dylan Weese and Brayde Hirai shared mound duties in Sunday’s win, with Weese picking up his first win and Hirai his third save.
• Central Washington currently has a conference-leading .296 batting average and a 7.21 team ERA. They boast the conference leaders in hits (Berryman and Adam Fahsel, 40), runs scored (Fahsel, 27) and RBI (Ohland, 33).
• Central Washington will host four more GNAC games this weekend, facing Montana State Billings on doubleheaders Friday and Saturday.

MONTANA STATE BILLINGS
• Montana State Billings split with first-place Northwest Nazarene in its first home series of the season. On Friday, MSUB won the opener 10-5 before losing the nightcap 3-2. The Yellowjackets won the opener again on Saturday, 11-6, before falling in game two, 12-5.
• The Yellowjackets turned 12 double plays over the course of the four-game series, tying the single-game school record of four in both games on Saturday. Second baseman Tyler Godfrey contributed to all 12.
• Carson Green did nonstop damage against the Nighthawks on his way to becoming the first Yellowjacket position player to win GNAC weekly honors this season. Green batted .471 (8 for 17) and hit three doubles and a home run while driving in seven runs and scoring six. He had a huge game in Saturday’s win, driving in five on a three-run double in the fourth and an opposite-field two-run homer in the seventh. Green also broke up a potential NNU perfect game with a leadoff double in the seventh inning of Friday’s nightcap.
• Aside from his defense, Godfrey hit .429 (6 for 14), including a Little League home run in Saturday’s loss in which he tripled to center field and scored on a throwing error.
• Dylan Barkley continued his strong campaign by giving up only an unearned run on three hits in six innings during Friday’s opener. In the nightcap, Matthew Houlihan took the loss but held the Nighthawks to three runs on five hits, striking out five without walking a batter in a seven-inning complete-game effort. Houlihan is one of two GNAC pitchers with multiple complete games this year.
• The Yellowjackets are batting .266 and have a 6.39 ERA, ranking third in the GNAC in both. They lead the conference in triples (nine) and rank second in runs scored (178).
• Montana State Billings will travel to Ellensburg to battle Central Washington twice on Friday and twice on Saturday.

NORTHWEST NAZARENE
• Northwest Nazarene became the first team to play on the road in Billings this season and earned a four-game split with the Yellowjackets. Twice, the Nighthawks salvaged a daily split after losing the opening game. On Friday, they lost 10-5 before winning 3-2, and on Saturday they lost 11-6 before winning 12-5.
• Brock Moffitt earned GNAC Pitcher of the Week honors after flirting with perfection in his outing during Friday’s nightcap. In a seven-inning contest, The junior lefty retired the first 18 batters he faced, eight of which were via the strikeout. Moffitt allowed a double and a triple to open the final inning and was pulled from the game, but closer Max Holtzclaw, despite allowing the inherited runner to score, locked down the 3-2 victory for his Division II-leading ninth save of the season. The GNAC has five no-hitters in conference history, the most recent of which was thrown by Western Oregon’s Austin Crowson in a seven-inning game against Concordia (Ore.) on Apr. 25, 2019.  
• The Nighthawks’ offense in that 3-2 win came from the long ball as Haden Keller hit a two-run shot and Duke Pahukoa hit a solo bomb. Parker Price also hit a leadoff home run in the top of the first inning in Saturday’s opener. Price was NNU’s best hitter over the week, batting .429 (6 for 14) with three runs scored, four RBI and three walks. Walker Moore recorded three RBI in Saturday’s win on a sacrifice fly and a two-run double.
• Aside from Moffitt’s heroics, Blake McFadden won his GNAC-leading fifth game of the season in Saturday’s nightcap. He allowed two runs and two hits in 2.1 relief innings.
• Northwest Nazarene is batting .279 and has a 5.05 ERA, ranking second in the GNAC in both. They lead the conference in home runs (31), hits (288) and runs scored (184) while their pitching staff leads in strikeouts (290).
• The Nighthawks are tied for fifth in the latest NCBWA West Region poll. They were in sole possession of fifth last week.
• Northwest Nazarene is off this week. They will next host Central Washington for four games on Apr. 8-9.

SAINT MARTIN’S
• Saint Martin’s took two of four on the road at Central Washington. The Saints lost Saturday’s opener 17-4 but rebounded to take the next two games, 6-2 on Saturday and 10-5 on Sunday, before CWU won the final game 8-5.
• Reid Little hit .538 (7 for 13) with six runs batted in. He recorded a two-run single in Saturday’s nightcap and had three separate RBI hits (a single and two doubles) in Sunday’s opener before adding another RBI single in Sunday’s nightcap.
• Ryne Oshiro was a beneficiary of Little’s clutch hitting, scoring four runs after hitting .438 (7 for 16). Aaron Renaud added another home run to give him six for the year, tied for second in the GNAC.
• Justice Yamashita earned a complete-game victory in Saturday’s nightcap, giving up two runs on four hits while walking and striking out six. Yamashita is one of two GNAC pitchers with multiple complete games this year. The Saints also received a pair of valuable relief performances. Entering with his team down 17-1 on Saturday, Colin Driscoll steadied the ship with four one-hit innings. In SMU’s Sunday victory, Kameron Edwards also pitched four relief innings, allowing only an unearned run.
• The Saints have a .255 team batting average and a 7.34 team ERA. They lead the conference 22nd in Division II with 22 double plays turned.
• Saint Martin’s will head to Monmouth for a four-game set with Western Oregon on Friday and Saturday.

WESTERN OREGON
• Western Oregon defeated Bushnell 13-4 in a non-conference tilt on Tuesday in its only game of the week.
•  After Bushnell took an early 1-0 lead, the Wolves exploded for five runs in the fourth and four in the sixth. Spencer Weston had RBI in both innings, driving in a run while reaching on a fielder’s choice in the fourth and delivering with an RBI single in the sixth. Weston added two more RBI when he doubled in the eighth.
• John Stark left the yard in the seventh inning and Justyn Herzog hit an inside-the-park home run to center field in the eighth.
• The Wolves utilized a bullpen-game approach, throwing seven pitchers in nine innings. Standouts included Curran Mitzel getting the start and throwing two two-hit innings, Dominic Miller recording the win by throwing two one-hit innings and Sebasten Boivin finishing out the game by making his 13th relief appearance in the ninth.
• Western Oregon has a GNAC-low .248 batting average but leads the league with a 4.12 team ERA and .973 fielding percentage, ranking 39th in Division II in the former category and 16th in Division II in the latter category. The Wolves also lead the conference in sacrifice bunts (16) and fewest strikeouts (205), while their pitching staff has given up the fewest hits (213), runs (117) and walks (98) in the conference.
• Individually, Derek Maiben leads the conference with a .358 batting average, with his brother Jacob Maiben in third at .349. The brothers are also 1-2 in the league in stolen bases, with Derek at 14 and Jacob at 10. On the mound, Arturo Alvarez leads the GNAC with a 2.27 ERA in 31 innings pitched.
 • The Wolves sit seventh in the latest NCBWA West Region Poll, where they ranked last week.
• Western Oregon will host Saint Martin’s for a four-game series on Friday and Saturday.