Tuesday, March 22, 2016
PORTLAND, Ore. – GNAC Insider aired its 88th episode on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. Pacific time. The show featured Northwest Nazarene second baseman Tyler Davis, Concordia head softball coach Carrie Kosderka-Farrell and Western Oregon men’s basketball guard Julian Nichols.
Davis is a senior second baseman for the Northwest Nazarene baseball team. He has the Crusaders to a 13-9 overall record and 8-4 in the GNAC after defeating reigning GNAC champion Western Oregon in three out of four games last weekend. Davis leads the GNAC with eight home runs on the season and is second in runs scored (20), total bases (50) and third in runs batted in (18). The Crusaders are among those receiving votes in the latest National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association West Region Poll with five votes. They host first place Central Washington this week for a four-game series. Davis spoke about his impressive power numbers, the Crusaders strong start to the season and the upcoming series against Central Washington.
Kosderka-Farrell is in her 13th season as head softball coach at Concordia as the Cavaliers are in the midst of their first season in the GNAC. In the NAIA’s Cascade Collegiate Conference, Kosderka-Farrell led the Cavaliers to nine straight winning seasons and to a third place finish at the NAIA World Series in 2015. This year, Concordia is 17-8 overall and in first place in the GNAC with a 5-1 record. They have upcoming doubleheaders against top GNAC opponents in Saint Martin’s and Central Washington this week. Along with her duties as head softball coach, Kosderka-Farrell is also Concordia’s assistant thletics director for student-athlete welfare and development. Koskerka-Farrell spoke about the transition from NAIA to Division II, her team's start to GNAC competition and how the team's strong hitting has translated to the Division II level.
Nichols is a senior guard for the Western Oregon men’s basketball team as he leads the Wolves to the NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Elite Eight in Frisco, Texas. Western Oregon faces Saginaw Valley State in the quarterfinal round on Wednesday after winning its first West Region title last week. Nichols is one of five seniors on the team and one of the best guards in the GNAC. Nichols leads the conference with 165 assists and an assist/turnover ratio of 3.2. He was named Second Team All-GNAC after averaging 12.8 points, 5 assists and 4.8 rebounds per game. Nichols spoke about his role as a senior, winning the West Region and the upcoming Elite Eight game against Saginaw Valley State.
GNAC Insider is hosted by Rob Lowery airing live at 7 p.m. Pacific every Tuesday and is produced by the conference office. All episodes become available as free podcasts via iTunes. To listen to archived episodes go to GNAC.TV.