Monday, April 8, 2024
by Thomas Lal

PORTLAND, Ore. –  Coming into last week, the Western Oregon baseball team was tied for second in the conference standings and three games back from first-place Northwest Nazarene. Now, after taking three of four games from the No. 10 Nighthawks in Monmouth, the Wolves are well and truly in the hunt, just one game back from NNU in sole possession of second place on the table and with GNAC Team of the Week honors to boot.

The wins couldn’t have been more timely for the Wolves as they look to close in on the Nighthawks heading into the postseason stretch. With the three victories, Western Oregon has now won seven of its last 10 games and owns the season series with Northwest Nazarene 5-3.  

“It was a competitive group effort by our entire roster this weekend against a really good team in NNU,” head coach Kellen Walker said.

The Wolves opened their week with a 6-2 win over the Nighthawks to open their Friday doubleheader. Despite conceding the first run of the game to NNU in the top of the third, WOU bounced back to score the next six runs of the game unanswered through the seventh-inning stretch. A big three-run fourth inning gave the Wolves their first lead of the game as junior Emiliano Alarcon sent a two-out double down the left-field line on the first pitch he saw to bring Owen Bischoff and John Oleson around to score after Randy Stultz tied up the game earlier in the frame with a sacrifice fly.

Reigning GNAC Co-Pitcher of the Year Dylan Chalmers earned the win on the mound to improve to 3-2 on the season. Through seven innings of work, Chalmers allowed just one unearned run on five hits and two walks while striking out six batters. The junior right-hander’s line also included nine ground-outs, highlighted by a one-two-three sixth inning where he threw just seven pitches.

After dropping the second half of Friday’s doubleheader, 4-3, Western Oregon bounced back to sweep Saturday’s doubleheader and allowed just three runs across the day. The day began with a 7-3 victory for the Wolves as they overcame an early deficit once again to come away with the win.

After allowing the first three runs of the game to the Nighthawks through two innings, the WOU lineup sprang to life, cranking out seven unanswered runs. The offensive outpouring was highlighted by a four-run fourth inning where Oleson came through with a three-run shot for his third long ball of the season. Where most batters might have responded to a 2-2 count with one out and a runner in scoring position by choking up on the bat and aiming to put the ball into a gap in the outfield, Oleson showed no such reservation, cranking a high drive to left field that NNU outfielder Casey Wayne could only watch as it left the ballpark.

On the mound, 2022 GNAC Pitcher of the Year Arturo Alvarez emerged with the win after throwing five innings to improve to 5-2 on the season, Alvarez allowed just one earned run in the start, scattering four hits and one walk while striking out four NNU batters. Relievers Ryan Shipley and Bryce Bond closed out the win by allowing just one combined hit and striking out five.

The final game of the series was won by the slimmest of margins as Western Oregon took a 1-0 shutout victory over NNU in the final regular season meeting between the two teams. The win came behind a pair of excellent performances on the mound by starter Jacob Memmott and reliever Devin Bell. Memmott earned the win on the mound to move to 5-1 on the season while allowing just three hits and three walks while striking out four through five innings of work. Bell picked up the save, his second of the season, by throwing the last two innings of the game and struck out three while allowing just one hit. Oleson provided the lone run of the game with an RBI single in the bottom of the second to bring AJ Cortese around to score.

With one of its most important GNAC series wins this season in the books, Western Oregon will host a single non-conference game against George Fox on Wednesday before playing a four-game series at Central Washington that begins on Saturday.