Tuesday, April 18, 2023

With two weeks left in the regular season, Northwest Nazarene hopes to lock up another title while Montana State Billings looks to play its way in.

The Nighthawks continue to roll, having won seven of their last eight games and 11 of their last 12 conference contests. Northwest Nazarene added four more wins over Central Washington last weekend, allowing the Wildcats just three runs, two earned, and limiting CWU to a .167 batting average.

For the season, NNU leads the conference with a 2.23 ERA, almost a full point above the second-place team in the GNAC. The Nighthawks will close their schedule against Saint Martin’s this weekend.

The Saints sit in second at 8-4 but still have half of their GNAC schedule to play in the final two weeks thanks to rainouts. After the four-game series at NNU, Saint Martin’s will host Western Oregon on Tuesday and Western Washington on Wednesday for doubleheaders before closing the regular season with a four-game series at Central Washington.

Montana State Billings, meanwhile, played its way into the GNAC Championships picture by taking three of four games from Western Oregon last weekend. The Yellowjackets won both games on Friday in walk-off fashion, winning the 4-3 opener on Lauren Blaschak’s solo homer in the seventh and the 8-7 finale on solo homers by Blaschak and Teagan Seeton.

With the wins, MSUB evened its conference record at 8-8 with eight games to go. The Yellowjackets will be looking for their first trip to the GNAC Championships since 2015 and for just the second time in program history.

A lot is on the line with this weekend’s matchups. In addition to Saint Martin’s playing at Northwest Nazarene, Montana State Billings is at Western Washington as both teams fight for a coveted GNAC Championships berth.

The other conference series finds Central Washington at Simon Fraser. The Wildcats will be looking to keep pace with the Yellowjackets and Vikings for a chance at the No. 4 GNAC Championships berth.

THIS WEEK'S GNAC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
PLAYER
Marin Penney, Montana State Billings
3B • 5-6 • Junior • Lake Oswego, Ore.

Penney batted .455 as Montana State Billings took the season series from Western Oregon and moved into fourth place in the GNAC standings. She went 5 for 11 with three runs, a home run and five RBIs. Penney went 2 for 3 in Friday’s opener, including a two-RBI single in the 4-3 victory. She then went 2 for 3 in the nightcap, which included a three-run homer in the third that started the comeback for the eventual 8-7 win. For the week, Penney amassed a .500 on-base percentage and a .727 slugging percentage.

Also Nominated: Harlee Carpenter (Central Washington), Madison Felter (Northwest Nazarene), Kekai Schultz (Saint Martin’s), Kristen Davyduke (Simon Fraser), Isabelle Lewis (Western Oregon), Kinzey Williams (Western Washington).

PITCHER
Tori Hensley, Northwest Nazarene
P • 5-9 • Senior • Kirkland, Wash.

Hensley allowed just seven hits and one walk while striking out 10 in two complete-game wins over Central Washington. On Friday, Hensley allowed just three hits and struck out five in the Nighthawks’ 8-0, five-inning win. In Saturday’s finale, Hensley allowed four hits and a walk while striking out five for the 4-0 shutout to improve to 12-5 on the season.

Also Nominated: Ashlee Laver (Central Washington), Alyssa Etheridge (Montana State Billings), Tia Ridings (Saint Martin’s), Maddie Mayer (Western Oregon), Joie Baker (Western Washington).

CENTRAL WASHINGTON
• Central Washington dropped a four-game home series against Northwest Nazarene. The Wildcats lost the Friday games 4-2 and 8-0 (five innings) and Saturday by scores of 4-1 and 4-0.

• Senior Myiah Seaton led the CWU offense with a .400 batting average in the series, going 4 for 10 with two doubles and a run scored. She also walked twice. Seaton went 1 for 2 in Friday’s opener and went 1 for 3 and scored the only CWU run of the game in Saturday’s opener. She closed the week by going 2 for 3 in Saturday’s finale. Seaton enters the week with a .255 batting average.

• Senior Harlee Carpenter batted .286 in the series, going 4 for 14 with a double, a triple and an RBI. Carpenter went 1 for 4 with an RBI triple in Friday’s opener before going 2 for 3 in the nightcap. Her other hit came in Saturday’s opener, going 1 for 4. Carpenter is batting .250 on the season.

• Senior Ashlee Laver took two of the losses on the week and led CWU with a 3.23 ERA in two starts. Laver allowed four runs on nine hits with three walks and five strikeouts in six innings of Friday’s opener. She then allowed four runs, two earned on seven hits with three walks and four strikeouts in Saturday’s opener. Laver is sixth in the GNAC with a 2.56 ERA.

• Central Washington enters the week with a .251 batting average and 3.58 ERA.

• Central Washington takes its final regular-season road trip of the season, traveling to Simon Fraser for a four-game series Saturday and Sunday.

MONTANA STATE BILLINGS
• Montana State Billings moved into fourth place in the GNAC standings by taking three of four games from Western Oregon at home. The Yellowjackets won both of Friday games, 4-3 and 8-7, on walk-off hits in the seventh. The Wolves won Saturday’s opener 9-0 in six innings before MSUB won the finale 9-1 in five innings.

• Junior Marin Penney was named the GNAC Softball Player of the Week after she hit .455 in the series, going 5 for 11 with three runs, a home run and five RBIs. Penney went 2 for 3 in Friday’s opener, including a two-RBI single in the 4-3 victory. She then went 2 for 3 in the nightcap, which included a three-run homer in the third that started the comeback for the eventual 8-7 win. For the week, Penney amassed a .500 on-base percentage and a .727 slugging percentage. Penney enters the week with a .315 batting average and is fourth with the GNAC with 72 total bases.

• Freshman Teagan Seeton batted .333 in the four games, going 4 for 12 with a double, two home runs, five runs and two RBIs. Seeton went 2 for 3 in Friday’s second game, which included two solo home runs. She then went 2 for 3 in Saturday’s second game with a double and a run scored. Seeton leads MSUB and ranks ninth in the GNAC with a .333 batting average.

• Senior Alyssa Etheridge went 2-1 in 13.2 innings of work in the series. Etheridge was the winner in both games on Friday. In game one, she allowed three runs on seven hits with two walks and eight strikeouts in the complete game effort. She won in relief in game two, allowing two hits in two-thirds of an inning. On Saturday, Etheridge took the loss in game one by allowing nine runs, four earned, on 10 hits with six strikeouts. Etheridge is seventh in the GNAC with a 3.19 ERA and ranks fifth in Division II with 20 complete games.

• The Yellowjackets enter the week with a .222 batting average and a 4.43 ERA. They lead the GNAC with 29 home runs.

• Montana State Billings takes its final regular-season road trip this week, traveling to Western Washington for a four-game series on Saturday and Sunday.

NORTHWEST NAZARENE
• Northwest Nazarene extended its lead in the GNAC standings with a four-game road sweep of Central Washington. The Nighthawks won on Friday 4-2 and 8-0 (six innings) and on Saturday 4-1 and 4-0.

• Senior Tori Hensley was named the GNAC Softball Pitcher of the Week after she allowed just seven hits and struck out 10 in a pair of complete-game wins. Hensley allowed three hits and struck out 10 in Friday’s five-inning victory. She then allowed four hits and a walk and struck out five to win the Saturday series finale. Hensley also helped her own cause at the plate, going 5 for 11 with a home run, four runs scored and three RBIs. Hensley leads the GNAC with a 1.95 ERA and is fourth with 12 wins. Offensively, Hensley ranks 13th in Division II in toughest to strike out at 43.7.

• Junior Madison Felter batted .417 in the four games, going 5 for 12 with three runs, a double, two home runs and four RBIs. Felter went 2 for 4 in Friday’s opener with a two-run homer before going 2 for 2 in the nightcap with an RBI double and two runs scored. She went 1 for 3 in Saturday’s opener with a sacrifice fly. Felter is batting .305 on the season.

• Sophomore Clarissa Moreno also batted .417 in the series, going 5 for 12 with two doubles, two RBIs and four runs scored. Moreno scored twice in Friday’s second game and drew a bases-loaded walk. She then went 3 for 4 in Saturday’s first game and 2 for 3 in the second game with an RBI double. Moreno enters the week with a .304 batting average.

• Northwest Nazarene leads the GNAC with a 2.23 ERA and is fourth with a .276 batting average. The Nighthawks rank 23rd with a 3.34 strikeout-to-walk ratio and 24th with 143 walks drawn.

• The Nighthawks play their final home series of the season this weekend, hosting Saint Martin’s for a critical four-game set on Friday and Saturday.

SAINT MARTIN’S
• Saint Martin’s opened the week with two wins in a rain make-up twinbill at Simon Fraser on Wednesday, 8-4 and 15-9. The Saints then split a doubleheader at home with Western Washington, winning the opener 8-0 and dropping the nightcap 10-2, both in six innings.

• Sunday’s games against Western Washington were rained out and will be made up on Apr. 26 at 1 p.m.

• Junior Vanessa Smoke led the SMU offense with a .545 batting average, going 6 for 11 with four runs, two doubles and two RBIs. Smoke went 2 for 2 in the opener with Simon Fraser with an RBI single. She then went 2 for 5 in the nightcap with an RBI single in the seventh. Against WWU, Smoke went 2 for 2 with two runs in the opener. Smoke enters the week with a .224 batting average.

• Sophomore Kekai Schultz batted .400 in the four games, going 6 for 15 with three runs, a double, a home run and seven RBIs. Schultz was huge in the second game against SFU, going 3 for 3 with two runs and six RBIs. Four of those RBIs came in a grand slam in the second. Schultz went 2 for 4 in the opener against WWU with two runs and an RBI single and went 1 for 3 in the nightcap. Schultz is fourth in the GNAC with a .370 batting average.

• Junior Tia Ridings won both of her starts. In the first game against SFU, Ridings allowed four runs on six hits with three walks and seven strikeouts in 6.2 innings. In the opener against WWU, Ridings allowed just four hits and three walks with one strikeout in the complete-game effort. Ridings is fifth in the GNAC with a 2.46 ERA.

• Saint Martin’s leads the conference with a .298 batting average and owns a 3.23 team ERA. The Saints rank 30th in Division II with 1.72 doubles per game.

• The Saints will travel to Nampa, Idaho this week for a four-game series at Northwest Nazarene on Friday and Saturday.

SIMON FRASER
• Simon Fraser lost its only games last week, dropping 8-4 and 15-9 decisions at home to Saint Martin’s in a rain make-up doubleheader on Wednesday.

• Sophomore Kristen Davyduke went 4 for 6 in the doubleheader to lead the Red Leafs offensively. All four hits came in the second game as she went 4 for 4 with a three-run homer and an RBI double. She also scored two runs. Davyduke enters the week hitting .265

• Junior Megan Duclos went 5 for 9 with four runs, an RBI and two stolen bases in the doubleheader. Duclos went 1 for 4 in the opener, scoring two runs and stealing a base. She then went 4 for 5 in the second game with an RBI single, two runs scored and another stolen base. Duclos is second in the GNAC with a .402 batting average. The GNAC single-season record holder in stolen bases, her 38 steals rank fifth in Division II and she ranks eighth with 1.09 stolen bases per game.

• Freshman Amy Hughes and sophomore Abby McGlynn each went 4 for 8 in the two games with both notching two hits in each game. McGlynn ranks third in the GNAC with a .373 batting average.

• Simon Fraser ranks third in the GNAC with a .294 batting average and also has a 6.27 ERA. The Red Leafs rank 19th in Division II with 2.51 stolen bases per game, 21st with 98 total stolen bases and 21st with 11.51 hits allowed per seven innings.

• Simon Fraser wraps its home schedule this weekend, hosting Central Washington for a four-game series on Saturday and Sunday.

WESTERN OREGON
• Western Oregon dropped three of four games at Montana State Billings last week. The Wolves lost both games on Friday, 4-3 and 8-7, before bouncing back for a 9-0, six-inning win in the first game on Saturday. The Wolves dropped the series finale, 9-1 in six innings.

• Junior Isabelle Lewis batted .636 in the four games to lead Western Oregon, going 7 for 11 with two runs scored, a double and four RBIs. Lewis went 3 for 4 in Friday’s second game with a two-run double and a run scored. She went 2 for 4 in Saturday’s opener with a pair of RBI singles and went 1 for 2 in the finale. Lewis enters the week with a .318 batting average in 20 games and 12 starts.

• Senior Logan Carlos finished with a .400 batting average, going 6 for 14 with four runs scored, a home run and three RBIs. Carlos went 2 for 4 in Friday’s opener with a solo home run before going 2 for 4 in the nightcap with an RBI single. She opened Saturday’s twinbill by going 2 for 4 with an RBI single and two runs scored. Carlos enters the week with a .244 batting average.

• Senior Maddie Mayer went 1-1 on the week and amassed a 0.58 ERA in 12 innings. Mayer took the loss in Friday’s opener, allowing four runs, one earned, on five hits with five walks and two strikeouts. She was the winner in Saturday’s opener, allowing two hits and a walk while striking out four. Mayer is second in the GNAC with a 2.01 ERA and is fifth with 98 strikeouts.

• Western Oregon enters the week with a .260 batting average and is second in the GNAC with a 3.06 ERA.

• Western Oregon does not play again until the final week of the regular season. The Wolves play a rain make-up doubleheader at Saint Martin’s on Apr. 25 before hosting Northwest Nazarene in a four-game series on Apr. 28 and 29.

WESTERN WASHINGTON
• Western Washington split a doubleheader at Saint Martin’s on Saturday, dropping the opener 8-0 in six innings before winning the second game 10-2 in six innings.

• Sunday’s doubleheader was rained out and will be made up on Wed., Apr. 26.

• Senior Kinzey Williams went 4 for 6 in the doubleheader to lead the Vikings with two runs scored and an RBI. Williams went 1 for 2 in the opener before going 3 for 4 in the nightcap with an RBI single and two runs scored. Williams is batting .323 on the season.

• Freshman Hailey Rath and sophomore Kanilehua Pitoy each went 3 for 6 in the two games. Rath went 3 for 4 in the second game with an RBI double and three runs scored. Pitoy went 2 for 3 and scored a pair of runs. Rath is seventh in the GNAC with a .341 batting average while Pitoy is batting .303 on the season.

• Sophomore Joie Baker picked up the win in the second game, allowing two runs on four hits with two talks and four strikeouts to improve to 3-4 on the season. It was her eighth start of the year. Baker enters the week with a 4.13 ERA.

• Western Washington is second in the GNAC with a .295 batting average and enters the week with a 3.45 ERA.

• Western Washington will close its home schedule this weekend, hosting Montana State Billings on Saturday and Sunday.