Sunday, April 30, 2023

PORTLAND, Ore. – With a third consecutive regular-season championship under its belt, Northwest Nazarene is the No. 1 seed in the 2023 GNAC Softball Championships, which begin on Thursday at Beedie Field on the campus of Simon Fraser University.

The Nighthawks join Saint Martin’s, Western Washington and Western Oregon in the three-day double-elimination tournament, the winner of which receives the conference’s automatic berth to the NCAA Championships.

The Nighthawks have dominated conference competition all season, winning the regular-season crown with an 18-3 conference record and a 33-15 overall mark. Against GNAC opponents, NNU owns a .309 batting average and a 1.60 ERA and has outscored conference foes 140-46. Northwest Nazarene was the only GNAC team in last week’s NCAA Division II West Region Rankings, coming in at No. 6. For the season, NNU is hitting .273 and the team’s 2.07 ERA leads the conference by over a point.

Northwest Nazarene is led by senior utility player Tori Hensley, who ranks second in the GNAC with a 1.94 ERA and fourth with a .373 batting average. Junior Sidney Booth is third in the conference with a 1.98 ERA and is tied for first with 16 wins.

Saint Martin’s proved consistent from start to finish, finishing 15-9 in GNAC play and 28-16 overall. Thanks to inclement weather, the Saints played a third of their conference season over the last week, going 6-2 in that stretch to sew up the tournament’s No. 2 seed. Saint Martin’s enters the GNAC Championships ranked second in the GNAC with a 3.13 ERA and third with a .282 batting average.

Freshman Haley Agena leads the conference with a .434 batting average and a .434 on base percentage. She ranks third in the GNAC with 59 hits. Junior Tia Ridings is sixth in the conference with a 2.69 ERA and is third in the conference with 15 wins.

Western Washington used a late April charge to qualify for its third consecutive GNAC Championships berth. The Vikings won six of their last eight games, including a critical four-game sweep of Montana State Billings in Yakima, Washington on April 22 and 23. The No. 3 seed in the GNAC Championships, Western Washington is the only GNAC team batting above .300 with a .301 average and also owns a 3.21 ERA.

Freshman Hailey Rath has been the Vikings’ difference-maker at the plate with a .345 batting average. She ranks fifth in the GNAC with 51 hits and is second with 15 doubles. Senior Mareena Ramirez leads the conference with a 1.87 ERA and 16 wins. She is among the Division II leaders with 162 strikeouts.

Western Oregon earned the No. 4 seed with an 11-13 conference record and a 22-28 overall record. The Wolves opened conference play by winning nine of 12 games but have slumped as of late, losing their last seven games. The Wolves enter the GNAC Championships with a .257 batting average and rank third in the conference with a 3.16 ERA.

Senior Maddie Mayer leads the pitching staff with a 13-10 record. She is fourth in the GNAC with a 2.24 ERA. Sophomore Maddie Doig is eighth in the GNAC with a .345 batting average.

The GNAC Championships begin on Thursday with No. 2 Saint Martin’s facing No. 3 Western Washington at noon. No. 1 Northwest Nazarene will face No. 4 Western Oregon at 2:30 p.m. The tournament concludes with the championship game on Saturday at noon.

Tickets are available now by visiting GNACTickets.com. Single-session tickets are $12 (USD) for adults and $7 (USD) for seniors (60 and over), students and youth ages 6-14. Children five and under are admitted free. All games of the GNAC Softball Championships will be live-streamed through the conference’s YouTube page at GNAC.tv.

The 2023 GNAC Softball Championships will be just the third NCAA conference championship to be held outside of the United States. Simon Fraser previously hosted the GNAC Women’s Soccer Championships in 2015 and 2016.

GNAC SOFTBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS
May 4-6 at Beedie Field, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C.

THURS., MAY 4
Game 1: No. 2 Saint Martin's vs. No. 3 Western Washington, Noon
Game 2: No. 1 Northwest Nazarene vs. No. 4 Western Oregon, 2:30 p.m.
Game 3: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 5 p.m. (Elimination Game)

FRI., MAY 5
Game 4: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, Noon
Game 5: Winner Game 4 vs. Loser Game 4, 2:30 p.m. (Elimination Game)

SAT., MAY 6
Game 6: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5, Noon
Game 7: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6 (if necessary), 2:30 p.m.