Tuesday, April 18, 2023

THIS WEEK'S GNAC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Player
AJ Cortese, Western Oregon
IF • 6-1 • Jr. • Loveland, Colo.

Cortese earned GNAC Baseball Player of the Week honors after leading Western Oregon to a four-game sweep of Central Washington with a .538 batting average. Cortese finished the series with 7 for 13 with six RBIs, five runs scored and a stolen base on three doubles, a home run and a walk. He put together one of his best performances of the week in Saturday’s 10-2 win, going 2 for 3 with three RBIs and a run scored courtesy of a pair of doubles.

Also Nominated: Ben Leid (Central Washington), Kaden Kirshenbaum (Montana State Billings), Kaleb Karpstein (Northwest Nazarene), Kelton Tom (Saint Martin’s).

Pitcher
Trevor Cassell, Montana State Billings
RHP • 5-11 • Jr. • Enumclaw, Wash.

Cassell was named the GNAC Baseball Player of the Week after throwing a complete-game shutout against Northwest Nazarene on Friday. He allowed just two hits and four walks while striking out nine batters to improve to 3-1 on the season.

Also Nominated: Daniel Charron (Central Washington), Finley Butler (Saint Martin’s), Arturo Alvarez (Western Oregon). 

AROUND THE GNAC

CENTRAL WASHINGTON
• Central Washington went 1-4 last week, winning a non-conference game against  Eastern Oregon, 7-3, at home on Tuesday before going 0-4 at Western Oregon, to slip back to fourth in the GNAC standings. The Wildcats dropped Saturday’s games 9-3 and 10-2 before falling 14-1 and 5-2 on Sunday.

• Sophomore Ben Leid led the Central Washington offense for the week, finishing with a .333 batting average. Leid went 6 for 18 with four RBIs and two runs scored, including a home run and a double. He put together one of his best performances of the week in Tuesday’s win, going 1 for 4 with a three-run homer in the first inning.

• Seven Central Washington pitchers toed the rubber for the Wildcats on Tuesday, with sophomore Zach Connors earning the win after throwing three innings as the starter. Connors allowed just one hit while striking out four batters in 42 pitches for his first win of the season.

• Central Washington will look to bounce back at home this week as it hosts Northwest Nazarene for a four-game series on Friday and Saturday.

MONTANA STATE BILLINGS
• Montana State Billings split its series at home against Northwest Nazarene last week. The Yellowjackets won both of Friday’s games, 8-4 and 2-0, before falling 8-4 and 5-2 in Saturday’s games.

• Junior Trevor Cassell was named the GNAC Baseball Pitcher of the Week after throwing a complete-game shutout in Friday’s 2-0 win. Cassell allowed just two hits and four walks while striking out nine batters to improve to 3-1 on the season. He ranks second for MSUB with a 3.41 ERA on the season.

• Sophomore Kaden Kirshenbaum was the top performer for the Yellowjackets at the plate, finishing the series with a .308 batting average, three RBIs, a home run, two doubles, three walks and a run scored. In Friday’s opener, he went 2 for 4 with three RBIs including an RBI double and a solo home run while also drawing a walk. Kirshenbaum is second in the GNAC with nine home runs this season.

• Senior Hayden Foltz came up with the game-winning RBI in Friday’s slim 2-0 victory on a bunt-single in the fifth inning. Foltz finished the week 4 for 15 from the plate with an RBI, two runs scored and a walk.

• Montana State Billings will begin its final road trip of the regular season this week, traveling to Lacey to face Saint Martin’s for a pair of double-headers on Saturday and Sunday.

NORTHWEST NAZARENE
• Northwest Nazarene split its series on the road against Montana State Billings last week, dropping Friday’s games 8-4 and 2-0 before bouncing back to even the series with 8-4 and 5-2 wins on Saturday.

• In a week where the Nighthawks had a very balanced offensive effort, redshirt freshman Kaleb Karpstein led the way with a .400 batting average and a .462 on base percentage. Karpstein finished the series 4 for 10 at the plate with an RBI, three runs scored and two walks. In Saturday’s opener, he went 2 for 3 with and RBI via a sacrifice fly, a run scored and a walk. Karpstein followed that up by going 2 for 4 in the series finale, scoring the first run of the game.

• Senior Shane Martin made two strong appearances in relief for the Nighthawks against MSUB. In Friday’s 2-0 loss, Martin threw one inning without allowing a hit and struck out two of the three batters he faced. He then picked up the win in Saturday’s finale, allowing just one hit and striking out a pair in 3.2 innings of work.

• Junior Adam Paganelli was the top power bat for NNU last week, slugging .636 with a double and a triple while going 4 for 11 with an RBI and two runs scored in three games. Paganelli opened his week by going 1 for 4 with a double and a run scored in Friday’s game one loss. In Saturday’s 8-4 win, he went 2 for 4 with two runs scored including a leadoff triple in the eighth inning and a sacrifice fly in ninth.

• Northwest Nazarene will look to reclaim the top spot in the GNAC standings as it stays on the road to face Central Washington in a pair of doubleheaders on Friday and Saturday.

SAINT MARTIN’S
• Saint Martin’s played just one game last week, winning a non-conference contest against Puget Sound, 7-5, at Cheney Stadium, home of the Seattle Mariners’ Triple-A affiliate Tacoma Rainiers.

• Junior Reid Little opened scoring for Saint Martin’s in the first inning with an RBI double. Little finished the game 2 for 2 at the plate with two RBIs and a run scored. Junior Braeden McNally also notched a pair of RBIs, going 2 for 4 with a walk and scoring a pair of runs.

•  Eight pitchers took to the mound for the Saints under the lights. Junior Justice Yamashita got the start, throwing the first inning and allowing one run on two hits and a walk while striking out a pair before passing the rock to winning-pitcher Finnley Butler. In one inning of work, Butler sat down all three batters he faced with strikeouts to earn his first win of the season. Sophomore Sam McCauley picked up the save, allowing one hit and one walk in 1.1 innings.  

• Saint Martin’s will now turn its attention fully to conference competition for the remainder of the regular season and will host Montana State Billings for a four-game series on Saturday and Sunday.

WESTERN OREGON
• Western Oregon had a perfect 5-0 record last week, beating Bushnell 6-5 on the road in a non-conference game last Tuesday before sweeping Central Washington at home to take first place in the GNAC standings. The Wolves took 9-3 and 10-2 wins on Saturday and closed out the series with 14-1 and 5-2 wins on Sunday.

• Western Oregon’s performances earned the Wolves GNAC Team of the Week honors.

• Junior AJ Cortese was named the GNAC Baseball Player of the Week after going 7 for 13 with six RBIs, five runs scored on three doubles, a home run, a stolen base and a walk across the four games against CWU.  Cortese notched a pair of hits in three of the four games, including a 2 for 3 performance in Saturday’s nightcap where he finished with three RBIs and a run scored with a pair of doubles. In Sunday’s opener, he went 2 for 4 with two RBIs and two runs scored, with a double, a stolen base and a walk.

• Sophomore Dylan Chalmers picked up the win on the mound in Saturday’s opener, allowing three runs on five hits while striking out three in six innings to improve to 5-0 on the season. Chalmers leads the GNAC with a 2.59 ERA and is second in the conference with just 32 hits allowed.

• Senior Arturo Alvarez earned the win on the mound in Sunday’s opener, throwing six innings while allowing one unearned run on three hits and two walks while striking out five batters.

• Senior Justyn Herzog raked in the runs last week while going 5 for 15 with seven RBIs, two runs scored, a double and two walks. He had a pair of RBIs in three games, including Saturday’s opener where he went 2 for 4.

• Western Oregon is ranked No. 9 in the West Region and will have a week off before hosting Montana State Billings for five games from April 27-29.