Tuesday, April 11, 2023

PORTLAND, Ore. – After earning GNAC Baseball Player of the Week honors earlier in the week, Northwest Nazarene’s Colby Moran has become the second consecutive player in the conference to be named the NCBWA Division II West Region Player of the Week.

The sophomore from Murrieta, California was a top contributor at the plate for the Nighthawks last week against Western Oregon as they surged past the Wolves and back to the top of the GNAC standings. Moran finished the week with a .571 batting average after going 8 for 14 with four runs, two doubles, a triple, two home runs and five RBIs against the top pitching staff in the conference.

Moran earns the regional honor one week after Central Washington’s Austin Ohland received the same recognition. It is the third time a GNAC player has received west region weekly honors this season with Saint Martin’s Justice Yamashita being named Pitcher of the Week earlier in the year.

After opening the series against Western Oregon slowly on Friday, Moran would not be denied for the remainder of the weekend. He bounced back in game two, going 2 for 3 with a double and a home run to go with an RBI and a run. He notched his first home run of the week in the second inning, launching a solo shot over the left-field fence to help NNU to an 11-7 victory.

Moran got even hotter on Saturday, opening the day with a 3 for 4 effort in Northwest Nazarene’s narrow 6-5 win. He finished the game with four RBIs and two runs scored courtesy of a home run and a double. After trailing in the top of the first inning, Moran gave NNU the lead in the bottom of the first with a two RBI double. He followed that up with his second homer of the week, a two-run blast, in the fifth inning to score the eventual game-winning run.

Moran closed out the series by going 3 for 3 with a triple and a run scored in the Nighthawks’ 9-1 victory. He finished the four-game set with a .571 on base percentage and a 1.286 slugging percentage.

The regional weekly honor is the first of Moran’s career. Selected by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, the West Region honoree recognizes the top player from the GANC, CCAA and PacWest conferences.

Along with Cal State San Bernardino’s Dylan O’Connor, the West Region Pitcher of the Week, and seven other regional player and pitcher honorees, Moran is now eligible to be selected by the NCBWA as the Division II National Player of the Week.