Saturday, May 5, 2018
PORTLAND, Ore. – In an almost identical field to last year’s conference tournament, a trio of seasoned veterans and a first-timer comprise the field for the 2018 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Baseball Championships, which begin May 9 at the Central Washington Baseball Field.
Claiming its third regular season title in four years, Montana State Billings enters as the tournament’s No. 1 seed. Making their fifth appearance to the tournament, the Yellowjackets dominated conference opponents all season by winning eight of 10 GNAC series to finish at 30-16, 29-11 GNAC. Montana State Billings has clubbed a program-best 62 home runs and is one away from tying the GNAC single-season record of 63, which was achieved by Northwest Nazarene last season.
Western Oregon, the reigning GNAC champion, is in the conference tournament for the sixth consecutive season. The Wolves have relied on dominant pitching and solid defense to earn the No. 2 seed as they lead the GNAC in earned run average and fielding percentage. Along with Central Washington, Western Oregon clinched a postseason berth in the penultimate week of the regular season and finished at 24-20, 24-16 GNAC.
Hosting the GNAC Championships for the first time in program history, Central Washington owns a 13-11 record at home this season. The No. 3 seed in the tournament ended the regular season with 21 conference wins and punched its ticket to the tournament with a 5-3 victory over Western Oregon last weekend. Central Washington will make its fourth appearance to the GNAC postseason and hopes to repeat the success it had in 2014 where it claimed the title.
Concordia, the No. 4 seed, will make its first appearance in the GNAC Championships in its first full year as a Division II member. The Cavaliers (20-30, 19-21 GNAC) used a monster stretch in the middle of the season to play themselves back into postseason contention, where they won nine of 11 games over an 18-day span. They clinched the tournament berth on the final day of the regular season with a 5-4 win over Saint Martin’s, edging fifth-place Northwest Nazarene by two games.
Tournament action begins at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday with No. 2 seed Western Oregon taking on No. 3 seed Central Washington while No. 1 Montana State Billings faces No. 4 seed Concordia at 3 p.m. The championship game of the double-elimination tournament will take place Friday at noon.
Every game of the GNAC Baseball Championships will be webcast at GNAC.tv. Advance tickets are available now at GNACtickets.com.
GNAC BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS
May 9-11 at CWU Baseball Field, Ellensburg, Wash.
WED., MAY 9
Game 1: No. 3 Central Washington vs. No. 2 Western Oregon, 11:30 a.m.
Game 2: No. 4 Concordia vs. No. 1 Montana State Billings, 3 p.m.
THURS., May 10
Game 3: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 9:30 a.m.
Game 4: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 12:30 p.m.
Game 5: Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 3:30 p.m.
FRI., MAY 11
Game 6: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5, Noon
Game 7: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6 (if necessary), 30 minutes following the conclusion of Game 6