Wednesday, March 11, 2020

TRUE NORTH RISING: The Simon Fraser softball team continued its hot streak as the Clan swept Montana State Billings last week to improve to 7-1 in conference play (13-5 overall) and earn selection as the GNAC Team of the Week.

Simon Fraser escaped with a pair of one-run victories in Saturday’s doubleheader. The Clan scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning of a 9-8 series opener, capped off by a walk-off RBI single by junior utility player Kate Fergusson. The Clan then walked it off again in the second game of the twin bill, capitalizing on two MSUB errors in the bottom of the seventh to win 7-6.

The Clan erupted for 11 hits in Sunday’s opener to win 12-4 in six innings before rallying for four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning of the finale to complete the sweep with a 5-4 win.

“The team was able to piece everything together this weekend,” first-year head coach Tina Andreana said. “I’m proud of the way they performed on the field and truly felt that they were always in control, even when we were down by a few runs.”

After punching through the game-winning hit in the opener, Fergusson went 1 for 3 with a run and an RBI single in Sunday’s 12-4 rout. She finished the week with a 2 for 3, one-run performance in Sunday’s nightcap.

VIKINGS MAKING AN EARLY STATEMENT: On the other side of the 49th parallel, Western Washington took three of four games from Northwest Nazarene in what could prove to be a critical turn for both teams in the quest to make the GNAC Championships.

What made it impressive, however, was the dominant fashion the Vikings took the three wins. Western Washington allowed just five hits in those wins with a .070 opponent batting average. Sunday’s 4-0 win was a one-hitter for junior Anna Kasner, who earned GNAC Softball Pitcher of the Week honors.

The Vikings will teat that 4-4 conference record on the road this weekend with games at Central Washington on Thursday and at Saint Martin’s on Saturday.

THIS WEEK'S GNAC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
PLAYER
Tatum Dow, Western Washington
SS • 5-8 • Senior • Issaquah, Wash.

Dow led the Vikings to three wins over Northwest Nazarene with a .667 batting average, .692 on-base percentage and a 1.083 slugging percentage. She went 8 for 12 with two runs, six RBI, two doubles and a home run. Dow opened by going 2 for 2 with an RBI single in Friday’s 4-0 win in the opener and then went 3 for 4 with a home run and an RBI single in the 9-7 nightcap loss. She went 1 for 2 with an RBI double in Saturday’s 4-0 win in the opener and closed the week by going 2 for 4 with an RBI double and RBI single in the 6-0 nightcap shutout.

Also Nominated: Harlee Carpenter (Central Washington), Hannah Self (Concordia), Skyler Jenkins (Montana State Billings), Julia Lucas (Saint Martin’s), Chelsea Hotner (Simon Fraser), Kiley Lynn (Western Oregon).

PITCHER
Anna Kanser, Weestern Washington
P • 5-8 •  Junior • Milton, Wash.

Kasner was masterful to win two games over Northwest Nazarene. In 19 innings, she allowed just four hits and three walks while striking out 19 in a pair of complete games. Kasner opened with a three-hitter in Friday’s 4-0 victory, walking two and striking out nine. She doubled down with a one-hitter in Saturday’s 4-0 win, allowing one walk while striking out 10. The games are Kasner’s fifth and sixth shutouts of the season.

Also Nominated: Samantha Stanfield (Central Washington), Kate Gillum (Concordia), Brandi Schoessler (Saint Martin’s), Anissa Zacharczuk (Simon Fraser), Chandler Bishop (Western Oregon).

AROUND THE GNAC
CENTRAL WASHINGTON
• Central Washington opened GNAC play with a 3-1 start. The Wildcats beat Concordia 5-2 and 9-7 on Saturday before splitting with Western Oregon on Sunday, losing the opener 10-6 and winning the nightcap 8-4.

• Freshman Harlee Carpenter led the Wildcats offensively with a .533 batting average in the four games, going 8 for 15 with three runs, two doubles, a home run and seven RBI. She had her biggest impact in the WOU games, going 2 for 4 with an RBI single and RBI double in game one and 4 for 4 with a home run and a pair of RBI singles in game two. Carpenter has a .391 batting average with 18 hits and three home runs.

• Senior Julia Reuble batted .500 in the four games, going 6 for 12 with a run, two doubles and four RBI. Reuble went 2 for 2 in the opener against Concordia with a two-run homer. She then went 3 for 4 in the opener against Western Oregon with a two-run double to cap a four-run first. Reuble has a .304 batting average.

• Junior Lexie Strasser improved to 4-1 on the season as she earned two of the three wins in the circle. Strasser took the win in Saturday’s second game against Concordia by allowing seven runs, three earned, on six hits with a walk and five strikeouts. She also was the winner in the finale against Western Oregon, allowing four runs, three earned, on six hits with five walks and a strikeout. Strasser has a 5.10 earned run average.

• Central Washington enters the week with a .280 batting average and 4.95 earned run average. The Wildcats are 19th in Division II with 21 home runs and 10th with 1.11 home runs per game.

• The Wildcats continue an eight-game homestand this weekend, hosting Simon Fraser on Saturday and Western Washington on Sunday.

CONCORDIA
• Concordia stumbled in its opening GNAC weekend. The Cavaliers dropped both games on Saturday at Central Washington, 5-2 and 9-7. The Cavs split against Saint Martin’s on Sunday, losing the opener 5-2 and winning the nightcap 4-0.

• Senior Hannah Self led Concordia with a .455 batting average, going 5 for 11 with four runs and a home run in the four games. Her high-water mark came in the opener against Saint Martin’s, going 3 for 3 with two runs and a solo home run. Self enters the week with a .431 batting average and a .858 slugging percentage in 18 games. She is tied for second in the GNAC with six home runs.

• Senior Elena Cook batted .400 on the road trip, going 4 for 10 with a double and an RBI. She had a single hit in each game over the weekend, which included a double in Sunday’s second game with Saint Martin’s. Cook enters the week with a .435 batting average in 13 games.

• Freshman Kate Gillum earned the win in the final game of the Saint Martin’s series, throwing a four-hit shutout with two walks and five strikeouts. The victory allowed Gillum to improve to 4-5 on the season. Gillum is sixth in the GNAC with a 3.55 earned run average.

• Concordia is second in the GNAC with a .314 batting average and a 3.94 earned run average. The Cavaliers lead the conference with 29 stolen bases and 36 doubles. The team leads the GNAC and is seventh in Division II with 25 home runs and is also seventh nationally with 28 sacrifice bunts.

MONTANA STATE BILLINGS
• Montana State Billings opened last week with a pair of non-conference wins over Carroll (Mont.), winning 4-3 and 10-5. The Yellowjackets then lost all four games in the team’s GNAC openers at Simon Fraser, falling 9-8 and 7-6 on Saturday and 12-4 (6 innings) and  5-4 (8 innings) on Sunday.

• Junior Allie Hughes led MSUB with a .611 batting average in five games, going 11 for 18 with five runs, three doubles, two home runs and seven RBI. Hughes went 2 for 3 with a pair of home runs in her lone game against Carroll. She opened the Simon Fraser series by going 4 for 4 in Saturday’s first game with an RBI single and RBI double. he also knocked two hits in Saturday’s second game and Sunday’s second game. Hughes enters the week with a .333 batting average.

• Sophomore Skyler Jenkins posted a .526 batting average in the six games She went 6 for 6 with seven runs, one double and four home runs in the Carroll doubleheader, which included three homers in the second game. Her best effort in the Simon Fraser series came in Saturday’s opener, going 2 for 4 with an RBI double in the first. Jenkins enters the week with a .490 batting average and ranks fourth in the GNAC with five home runs.

• Senior Maddy Lincoln and junior Haley Crouch split the wins in the Carroll twinbill. Lincoln won game one as she allowed three runs on six hits with six strikeouts. Crouch won game two in relief, allowing two runs on five hits with three strikeouts in four innings. Lincoln leads MSUB with a 4.49 earned run average.

• The Yellowjackets enter the week with a .295 batting average and 5.47 earned run average. The team is tied for 25th in Division II with 20 home runs.

• Montana State Billings visits the Willamette Valley for a four-game series at Western Oregon on Thursday and Friday.

• The Cavaliers play at home for the first time in almost a month this weekend, hosting Northwest Nazarene for a four-game series on Friday and Saturday.

NORTHWEST NAZARENE
• Northwest Nazarene dropped three of four games in its season-opening road trip to Western Washington. The Nighthawks split on Friday, losing the opener 4-0 and winning the nightcap 9-7. They lost both games on Saturday, 4-0 and 6-0.

• Junior Tori Hensley led the Nighthawks with a .462 batting average in the four games, going 6 for 12 with two runs and a double. All of her hits came in Friday’s doubleheader, going 2 for 3 in the opener and 4 for 4 with two runs and a double in the nightcap. Hensley was also the winning pitcher in the Nighthawks’ lone victory, allowing four runs, two earned, on nine hits and a walk with three strikeouts in five innings. Hensley has a .444 batting average in seven games and is ninth in the GNAC with a 3.75 earned run average.

• Freshman Sidney Booth went 3 for 11 in the four-game series, which included a two-run homer in Friday’s second game. Booth also made three appearances in the circle. She took the loss in Sunday’s opener as she allowed three runs on three hits with a walk and three strikeouts in 4.2 innings. Booth enters the week with a .368 batting average and 5.12 earned run average in nine appearances. She ranks 11th in Division II with an 8.00 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

• The Nighthawks enter the week with a .291 batting average and 4.24 earned run average. The team is tied for 25th in Division II with 20 home runs.

• Northwest Nazarene will close a 20-game season-opening road trip with four games at Concordia on Friday and Saturday.

SAINT MARTIN’S
• Saint Martin’s went 2-1 last weekend. The Saints won the first game against Western Oregon on Saturday, 12-11 in 10 innings, and saw the second game halted due to darkness. The Saints split games with Concordia on Sunday, winning 5-2 before dropping the second game 4-0. Saint Martin’s opened a short four-game Willamette Valley road trip with 4-0 and 11-4 wins at Warner Pacific on Tuesday.

• Junior Julia Lucas led the Saints in the weekend games with a .500 batting average, going 5 for 10 with a run and an RBI. She went 3 for 5 against Western Oregon on Saturday and then went 2 for 3 with an RBI in Sunday’s opener with Concordia. Against Warner Pacific, Lucas went  5 for 9 in the twinbill with three runs, which included a 3 for 5 effort in the second game. Lucas now has a .409 batting average with 18 hits and 10 RBI.

• Senior Kylie Lopez batted .400 in the weekend games, going 4 for 10 with four runs and two doubles. Her weekend was highlighted by a 2 for 3 effort against Concordia. Lopez then went 3 for 3 in Tuesday’s second game at Warner Pacific with a pair of home runs, including a three-run shot. Lopez is batting .333 with 15 hits and five home runs.

• Senior Brandi Schoessler picked up both weekend pitching wins. She went all 10 innings against Western Oregon on Saturday for the win and then allowed two runs, one earned, on four hits with four strikeouts in the opener against Concordia. Schoessler allowed just four hits to shutout Warner Pacific in Tuesday’s opener. Schoessler is third in the GNAC with a 2.70 earned run average.

• Saint Martin’s owns a .301 batting average and a 4.15 earned run average. The Saints are 22nd in Division II with 2.17 stolen bases per game.

• The Saints will play at Corban on Wednesday before weekend doubleheaders against Western Washington on Saturday and Simon Fraser on Sunday.

SIMON FRASER
• Simon Fraser is on a roll, running its win streak to six games after a series sweep of Montana State Billings. The Clan took 9-8 and 7-6 wins on Saturday, both walk-off victories, and 12-4 (6 innings) and 5-4 (8 innings) wins on Sunday.

• Junior Hanna Finkelstein led Simon Fraser with a .462 batting average in the sweep, going 6  for 13 with four runs, a double and seven RBI. Her best performances came in Saturday’s twinbill, going 2 for 4 with the game-winning single in the opener and 2 for 3 with an RBI double and two-RBI single in the second game. Finkelstein is batting .297 with 19 hits and three home runs.

• Junior Hannah Boulanger batted .500 in the series, going 6 for 12 with three runs, a double, a home run and four RBI. She had a hit in each game of the series, headlined by a 3 for 4 performance in Saturday’s opener with a two-run homer. Boulanger has a .362 batting average and is third in the GNAC with a .660 slugging percentage.

• Sophomore Anissa Zacharczuk improved to 10-0 on the season with two more wins. She won Saturday’s opener by allowing two unearned runs on nine hits with two walks and five strikeouts. She then allowed four runs on six hits with three walks in the six-inning win on Sunday. Zacharczuk is seventh in the GNAC with a 3.58 earned run average and is 13th in Division II with those 10 victories.

• Simon Fraser is third in the GNAC with a .304 batting average and owns a 4.41 earned run average. The Clan is 29th in Division II with a .497 slugging percentage and is tied for 25th with 20 home runs.

• Simon Fraser hits the road for a doubleheader at Central Washington on Saturday and Saint Martin’s on Sunday.

WESTERN OREGON
• Western Oregon dropped two of three games last week to open GNAC play. The Wolves took a 12-11, 10-inning loss to Saint Martin’s on Saturday before the second game was halted due to darkness. Western split with Central Washington on Sunday, winning the opener 10-6 and dropping the nightcap 8-4.

• Junior Kylie Lynn led the Wolves with a .545 batting average, going 6 for 11 with three runs, a double and three RBI. Lynn went 3 for 5 against Saint Martin’s with a pair of RBI singles. She then went 2 for 3 in Sunday’s opener at Central Washington with an RBI single in the first. Lynn enters the week with a .333 batting average.

• Sophomore Logan Carlos went 5 for 10 in the three games with two runs, a double and two RBI. Against Saint Martin’s, Carlos was 2 for 4 with an RBI double in the six-run fifth inning. She then went 3 for 4 in the opener against Central Washington with an RBI single. Carlos is batting .236 this season.

• Senior Chandler Bishop earned the lone pitching win on the week in relief against Central Washington. She allowed three runs on seven hits with two strikeouts in 5.1 innings. Bishop enters the week with a 3-2 record and 4.56 earned run average.

• Western Oregon leads the GNAC with a .316 batting average while also owning a 5.05 earned run average. The Wolves are 13th in Division II with eight triples and 26th with 0.38 triples per game.

• Western Oregon will host Montana State Billings for a four-game series this weekend. The series has moved up due to an inclement weather forecast with games on Thursday and Friday.

WESTERN WASHINGTON
• Western Washington rolled to a series win over Northwest Nazarene over the weekend. The Vikings split on Friday, winning the opener 4-0 and dropping the second game 9-7. The Vikings swept the Saturday twinbill by scores of 4-0 and 6-0.

• Senior Tatum Dow was named the GNAC Softball Player of the Week after finishing with a .667 batting average, .692 on-base percentage and a 1.083 slugging percentage in the four games. She went 8 for 12 with two runs, six RBI, two doubles and a home run. Dow opened by going 2 for 2 with an RBI single in Friday’s opener and then went 3 for 4 with a home run and an RBI single in the nightcap. She went 1 for 2 with an RBI double in Saturday’s opener and closed the week by going 2 for 4 with an RBI double and RBI single in the nightcap. Tatum enters the week with a .293 batting average.

• Junior Anna Kasner earned GNAC Softball Pitcher of the Week honors after winning both of her games in spectacular fashion. In 19 innings, she allowed just four hits and three walks while striking out 19 in a pair of complete games. Kasner opened with a three-hitter in Friday’s 4-0 victory, walking two and striking out nine. She doubled down with a one-hitter in Saturday’s 4-0 win, allowing one walk while striking out 10. The games are Kasner’s fifth and sixth shutouts of the season. Kasner leads the GNAC with a 1.82 earned run average. Her 96 strikeouts rank ninth in Division II.

• Western Washington enters the week with a .276 batting average and leads the conference with a 2.68 earned run average. The Vikings are eighth in Division II with seven shutouts.

• The Vikings hit the road this week for a doubleheader at Central Washington on Thursday and at Saint Martin’s on Saturday.