Friday, March 6, 2020

THIS WEEK'S GNAC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
PLAYER
Tyler Creach, Western Oregon
UT • 5-3 • Junior • Bend, Ore.

Creach led Western Oregon to a 3-3 record at the PFX Athletics Tournament with a .455 batting average, going 10 for 22 with four runs, six RBI, three doubles and a home run. Creach opened with a 2 for 4 performance in Friday’s 9-0, five-inning win over Concordia (N.Y.) and then went 3 for 4 with a three-run homer and an RBI single in a 10-8 win over Saint Rose. On Saturday, Creach went 3 for 4 with an RBI double in a 4-3 loss on Saturday to Davenport. Creach finished with a .455 on-base percentage and a .727 slugging percentage.

Also Nominated: Kennedy Jantzi (Concordia), Amanda Janes (Simon Fraser), Dakota Brooks (Western Washington).

PITCHER
Maddie Mayer, Western Oregon
P • 5-8 •  Sophomore • Portland, Ore.

Mayer went 2-1 for the Wolves with a 1.17 earned run average at the PFX Athletics Tournament. In 18 innings, she allowed seven runs, three earned, on 23 hits with 14 strikeouts. Mayer earned the win in Friday’s 10-8 win over Saint Rose in relief, allowing two hits and striking out five in three innings. Mayer went the distance in extra innings in Sunday’s 3-2 win over Wilmington. She allowed two unearned runs on 11 hits with three walks and six strikeouts.

Also Nominated: Sally Bowles (Concordia), Anissa Zacharczuk (Simon Fraser), Anna Kasner (Western Washington).

AROUND THE GNAC
CENTRAL WASHINGTON
• Central Washington did not play last week. The Wildcats will open conference play by hosting Concordia on Saturday and Western Oregon on Sunday.

• In a late addition to the schedule, Central Washington cruised to a doubleheader sweep at Division III Pacific Lutheran, 20-7 and 5-4, on Feb. 22.

• The Wildcats hammered out 13 runs on seven hits in the sixth inning of the opener, including five home runs. The hit parade was led by a three-run homer by junior Maddy Zerr.

• Junior Alicia Bannan went 4 for 6 in the twinbill to lead the Wildcats. She went  2 for 2 in the opener and went 2 for 4 in the nightcap, including a solo home run in the sixth that opened a four-run comeback frame. Bannan has a .368 batting average.

• Freshman Alyssa Benthagen went 3 for 7 in the two games. She went 2 for 4 in the opener, hitting a solo home run in the fifth and a two-run double in the sixth. She followed up by going 1 for 3 in the nightcap. Benthagen has a .326 batting average and has started 15 of 16 games as a freshman.

• Sophomore Samantha Stanfield and sophomore Isabel Womack earned the pitching wins. Stanfield earned her fifth win of the season in game one, allowing two runs on five hits with three walks and six strikeouts in four innings. Womack earned the second game win in relief, allowing one unearned run with two walks and a strikeout in two innings.

CONCORDIA
• Concordia went 2-4 on a six-game SoCal road trip last week. The Cavaliers swept San Diego Christian on Friday, 7-1 and 11-1, before taking 10-0 and 7-3 losses to Cal State San Marcos on Saturday and 5-4 and 4-3 to Biola on Sunday.

• Junior Kennedy Jantzi led the Cavaliers offensively with a .474 batting average, going 9 for 19 with five runs, a double,  four home runs and nine RBI. Jantzi went 3 for 3 with an RBI double and a two-run homer in the second game against San Diego Christian and had two hits in both games at Cal State San Marcos. The second game a solo home run in the fourth and a two-run shot in the sixth. Jantzi is batting .413 and is tied for second in the GNAC with 18 RBIs.

• Freshman Abby Fischer finished with a .400 batting average in five games, going 6 for 15 with two runs, three doubles, a triple and four RBI. Most of her offense came in the San Diego Christian series, going 3 for 4 with an RBI triple and a two-run single in the opener and 2 for 3 with an RBI double in the nightcap. Fischer leads Concordia and is sixth in the GNAC with a .411 batting average.

• Senior Sally Bowles made three starts and earned the win in the first game against San Diego Christian, allowing one run on seven hits and two walks with two strikeouts to improve to 6-1 on the season. Bowles is third in the GNAC with a 2.71 earned run average and is 25th in Division II with seven complete games.

• Concordia leads the GNAC and is 22nd in Division II with a .332 batting average and is second in the conference with a 3.78 earned run average. The Cavaliers also lead the GNAC and rank 14th in Division II with a .535 slugging percentage and 26th with a .416 on-base percentage.

• The Cavaliers open conference play on the road this weekend, traveling to Central Washington on Saturday and Saint Martin’s on Sunday.

MONTANA STATE BILLINGS
• After not playing over the weekend, Montana State Billings opened its home schedule with a doubleheader sweep of Carroll (Mont.) on Monday, 4-3 and 10-5. A scheduled Tuesday doubleheader was canceled due to inclement weather.

• Sophomore Skyler Jenkins had a big day, going 6 for 6 with seven runs, one double and four home runs. She opened the twinbill by going 2 for 2 with a game-winning two-run homer in the eighth. Jenkins then went 4 for 4 in the nightcap with two-run homers in the third and sixth and a solo shot in the fifth. Jenkins enters the week with a .556 batting average in 14 games.

• Junior Allie Hughes hit a pair of home runs in the second game, a solo shot in the third and a two-run shot in the fifth. Hughes enters the week with a .231 batting average and three homers on the year.

• Senior Maddy Lincoln went the distance in the opener, allowing three runs on six hits with six strikeouts in the eight-inning affair. Junior Haley Crouch won the second game in relief, allowing two runs on five hits with three strikeouts in four innings. Lincoln ranks ninth in the GNAC with a 3.66 earned run average.

• The Yellowjackets own a .282 batting average and a 4.61 earned run average.

• Montana State Billings opens conference play this weekend with a four-game series at Simon Fraser on Saturday and Sunday.

NORTHWEST NAZARENE
• Northwest Nazarene did not play last week. The Nighthawks will open their conference schedule this weekend with a four-game series at Western Washington on Friday and Saturday.

• Northwest Nazarene finished with a 3-2 record at the Courtyard Classic, collecting an 11-3, five-inning win over Notre Dame de Namur on Thursday, on Feb. 6-8. The Nighthawks earned an 11-5 win over Hawaii Hilo on Friday and an 11-0, five-inning win over Fort Lewis on Saturday. The Nighthawks also played a doubleheader against Dixie State on Feb. 10, falling 9-0 and 5-1.

• Senior Brittany Genuardi hit .571 in the Courtyard Classic, going 8 for 14 with seven runs, seven RBI, two doubles, a home run and four walks. Genuardi had single hits in the first three games before going 2 for 3 with an RBI double in Saturday’s loss to MSU Denver. She then went 3 for 3 with a two-run double and a grand slam against Fort Lewis. Genuardi is second in the GNAC and 26th in Division II with a .516 batting average.

• Freshman Emma Mulligan batted .500 in the seven games, going 6 for 18 with 10 runs, four doubles, four RBI and a home run. All six hits came in the first three games of the tournament, going 2 for 4 with two doubles against Cal State Dominguez Hills, 2 for 2 with a double and two runs against Notre Dame de Namur. Mulligan has a .316 season batting average.

• Junior Tori Hensley made four starts in the pitching circle, going 2 for 2. She earned the win against Hawaii Hilo by allowing three runs, one earned, on eight hits with two walks and four strikeouts in four innings. She allowed just four hits in four innings for the win over Fort Lewis, striking out two.

• The Nighthawks enter the week ranked second in the GNAC with a .329 batting average and are fourth with a 4.16 earned run average. They are tied for 13th in Division II with 19 home runs and are 11th with 7.75 runs scored per game.

SAINT MARTIN’S
• Saint Martin’s did not play last week and do not play again until opening conference play on Saturday against Western Oregon in Lacey.

• Saint Martin’s went 1-3 in their last action on a road trip to Southern California. The Saints split on Feb. 14 with Azusa Pacific, losing the opener 2-1 before taking the nightcap 8-0. The Saints dropped both games at Concordia Irvine on Feb. 15, 14-3 (5 inn.) and 6-0.

• Senior Regan Byrd led the Saints’ offense with a .400 batting average, going 4 for 10. All her offense came in the Azusa Pacific games, going 2 for 4 in the opener and 2 for 3 with an RBI single in the second game. Byrd has with a .385 batting average.

• Sophomore Kylee Vanderbout batted .333 in the four games, going 4 for 12 with a home run and three RBI. She had a hit in each of the four games and had all three RBI in Friday’s second game with Azusa Pacific on a sacrifice fly and a two-run homer. Vanderbout is averaging .370 with a .741 slugging percentage.

• Freshman Abby Runyon picked up the pitching win for Saint Martin’s at  Azusa Pacific, allowing eight hits and three walks in the five-inning shutout. She threw 8.1 innings on the road trip, allowing three runs on 14 hits. Senior Brandi Schoessler took two losses on the trip and had a 1.85 earned run average, allowing seven runs, three earned, on 16 hits in 11.1 innings. Schoessler leads the GNAC with a 1.66 earned run average.

• Saint Martin’s has a .304 batting average and 4.54 earned run average. The Saints are third in the GNAC with 21 stolen bases and rank 23rd in Division II with 2.33 stolen bases per game.

SIMON FRASER
• Simon  Fraser took three of four games from Western Washington to open conference play. The Clan took the opener in Bellingham last Friday, 7-6 in eight innings, and swept Sunday’s games in Burnaby by scores of 4-2 and 7-5.

• Junior Alex Ogg led Simon Fraser offensively with a .471 batting average, going 8 for 17 with two runs and two doubles in the four-game set. Ogg went 2 for 5 with a run scored in the opener on Friday. She then went 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI in Sunday’s opener before going 3 for 4 with a double and a run scored in the nightcap. Ogg leads the GNAC and ranks eighth in Division II with a .571 batting average and 32 hits.

• Senior Amanda Janes went 3 for 8 in the series with two home runs and six RBI. Janes went 1 for 1 with two walks, an RBI single and a sacrifice fly in Friday’s opener before hitting two-run homers in each of Sunday’s games. Janes enters the week with a .212 batting average.

• Sophomore Anissa Zacharczuk picked up all three wins in the circle in the series. She went the distance in Friday’s opener, allowing six runs on 13 hits with two walks and two strikeouts. She then earned the complete-game win in Sunday’s opener as she allowed two unearned runs on nine hits with two walks and five strikeouts. Zacharczuk earned the third in relief, allowing one run on three hits with two strikeouts in one inning of the Sunday nightcap. Zacharczuk is fourth in the GNAC with a 2.89 earned run average and is 19th in Division II with 18 victories.

• Simon Fraser enters the week with a .293 batting average and third in the GNAC with a 4.03 earned run average. The Clan ranks eighth in Division II with nine double plays turned and is 28th nationally with 6.79 runs per game.

• The Clan will host Montana State Billings for a four-game GNAC series on Saturday and Sunday.

WESTERN OREGON
• Western Oregon went 3-3 at the PDX Athletics Tournament in Winter Haven, Florida. The Wolves picked up a 9-0, five-inning win over Concordia (N.Y.) and a 10-8 win over Saint Rose on Friday and also had a 3-2, eight-inning win over Wilmington on Sunday.

• Junior Tyler Creach was named the GNAC Softball Player of the Week after she batted .400 in the six games, going 10 for 22 with four runs, three doubles, a home runs and six RBI. Creach opened with a 2 for 4 performance against Concordia (N.Y.) and then went 3 for 4 with a three-run homer and an RBI single against Saint Rose. On Saturday, Creach went 3 for 4 with an RBI double in a 4-3 loss to Davenport. Creach is eighth in the GNAC with a .400 batting average and is tied for second in the GNAC with 26 hits.

• Sophomore Maddie Mayer earned GNAC Softball Pitcher of the Week accolades for going 2-1 in three appearances, allowing seven runs, three earned, on 23 hits with six walks and 14 strikeouts. Mayer earned the win against Saint Rose in relief, allowing two hits and striking out five in three innings. Mayer went the distance in extra innings against Wilmington. She allowed two unearned runs on 11 hits with three walks and six strikeouts. Mayer is eighth in the GNAC with a 3.52 earned run average.

• Western Oregon is third in the GNAC with a .310 batting average to go with a 4.69 earned run average. The Wolves are tied for 23rd in Division II with six triples on the season.

• Western Oregon hits the road to open the GNAC schedule, playing doubleheaders at Saint Martin’s on Saturday and Central Washington on Sunday.

WESTERN WASHINGTON
• Western Washington dropped three of four games to Simon Fraser in the opening weekend of GNAC play. The Vikings took a 7-6, eight-inning loss in last Friday’s opener before winning 1-0 in the nightcap. They lost both Saturday games by scores of 4-2 and 7-5.

• Junior Dakota Brooks led the Vikings with a .583 batting average, going 7 for 12 with two runs, a double and a home run in the four games. Brooks opened by going 3 for 4 in Friday’s opener with a solo home run in the first. She then went 3 for 4 in Sunday’s opening game. Brooks leads the Vikings and is fifth in the GNAC with a .438 batting average.

• Junior Rylie Wales had a .462 batting average on the week, going 6 for 13  with two doubles and three RBI. She had two hits in both games on Sunday which included a double in the opener and an RBI single in the nightcap. Wales has a .370 batting average in 12 games this season.

• Junior Anna Kasner made three appearances and earned the Vikings’ lone win of the series.  She went the distance in the win, allowing just three hits and four walks while striking out four. Kasner is second in the GNAC with a 2.22 earned run average. She leads the GNAC and is 12th in Division II with 77 strikeouts.

• Western Washington enters the week with a .275 batting average and leads the conference with a 2.80 earned run average. The Vikings are 16th in Division II with four shutouts.

• The Vikings will host Northwest Nazarene four a four-game series on Friday and Saturday.