NIGHTHAWKS CLOSE REGULAR SEASON AT HOME: Northwest Nazarene will wrap up its regular-season schedule at home this weekend, as it holds a bye next week prior to the GNAC Championships. The Nighthawks need just one win over the visiting Wolves to make a tournament berth official, as the two-time reigning GNAC tournament champion will look to become the first-ever conference team to win the event three years in-a-row.

Sidney Booth earned her GNAC-record 11th-career pitcher of the week award on Monday, after picking up two wins and a save in the Nighthawks’ 3-1 series triumph over Saint Martin’s. Booth leads the GNAC in ERA (1.45), strikeouts (141), innings pitched (140 1/3) and wins (20), while ranking second in opponents’ batting average at .180. Booth also became the third pitcher in GNAC history to surpass 700 career innings pitched last week.

NNU’s Gina Skinner is tied with Booth for the top ERA in the conference at 1.45, while holding an opponents’ batting average of .212 and earning 11 wins across her 91 2/3 innings pitched. Offensively, the Nighthawks boast four regular starters who are hitting over .300 led by Abigail Gagnon at .365. Emma Bumatay leads the team with seven home runs and 31 RBIs, and NNU ranks second in the conference in hitting at .278 and third in home runs with 30.

Western Oregon snapped out of a six-game losing skid by winning its final two games at Central Washington last weekend. The Wolves have the toughest schedule over the final two weeks of the regular season, as they will host the No. 11 Vikings next week after this weekend’s series against the No. 17 Nighthawks. Friday will mark the first time in 2024 that WOU and NNU have squared off against one another.

Like the Nighthawks, the Wolves have a formidable pitching duo in Mackenzee Collins and Alivia Holden, who rank fifth and sixth in the GNAC with ERAs of 1.75 and 1.80, respectively. Collins is just behind Booth with 140 strikeouts, while ranking third in the GNAC with 128 1/3 innings pitched and fourth with an opponents’ batting average of .210. Holden meanwhile leads the league in opponents’ batting average at .175.

The WOU offense is paced by Victoria Zimmerman (.336 avg.) and Kate Ronning (.327 avg.), while Bella Valdes leads the team and ranks second in the conference with 14 stolen bases. Natalie Willoughby has hit six of the team’s nine home runs on the season, and her 22 RBIs pace the WOU squad.

VIKINGS HOST WILDCATS: Western Washington will look to extend its historic string of victories at home this week, with a four-game series against Central Washington kicking off at Noon (Pacific) on Friday. It has been a month since WWU dropped a game, with a 2-0 loss to Northwest Nazarene on March 16 being the last loss for the conference-leading Vikings. WWU is in pursuit of its second GNAC regular-season title, as it claimed the 2007 crown by going 15-5 in conference play.

Sophomore Hailey Rath, who picked up her second GNAC Player of the Week award of the season, moved her name to the top of the conference leaderboard with a batting average of .388. The reigning GNAC Freshman of the Year has a GNAC-high 50 hits this spring, while ranking second in the conference in slugging (.667) and RBIs (34), third in home runs (7) and eighth in on-base percentage (.427). Emma Andrewjeski-Ramirez meanwhile leads the GNAC with 37 RBIs, while ranking second in the league with 12 home runs and fourth in slugging at .622.

The pitching trio of Kaiana Kong (1.51 ERA), Alli Kimball (1.56 ERA) and Joie Baker (2.20 ERA) has carried the Vikings to their success this spring, as WWU has its single-season program record of 36 wins (2011) within reach this weekend. Baker enters the week fourth in the conference with 90 strikeouts and 108 innings pitched, while Kimball’s 12 victories are second most in the league.

Central Washington meanwhile is looking to return to the conference tournament after missing out on last year’s event, and to make it for the eighth time since the event was founded in 2013. The Wildcats will close their regular season next week at home, with a four-game series against Simon Fraser. Alyssa Benthagen has been CWU’s offensive cog all season long, leading the team in hitting (.324), home runs (3) and RBIs (18). In the circle, Ashlee Laver has taken command with a 3.03 ERA and 59 strikeouts across 107 innings of work.

RED LEAFS, ‘JACKETS LOOKING FOR MAGIC IN MONTANA: Both Simon Fraser and Montana State Billings would have to win at least seven of their remaining eight games and receive help from the teams ahead of them in the standings, as each enters this week’s series in Billings clinging to hope for the postseason. The Yellowjackets battled tough against the Vikings but were swept last week, while Simon Fraser enters the series on a seven-game skid and is coming off a bye last week.

Megan Duclos enters the weekend second in GNAC history with 79 stolen bases, as she leads the conference thus far in 2024 with 21 swipes. She is seven steals behind GNAC all-time leader Andrea Williams of Humboldt State, who stole 86 bags from 2001-04. Duclos leads the team with a .308 batting average, while Cassidy Affeldt has a team-high three home runs. In the circle, Monica Bourque has been the top arm for SFU with a 3.90 ERA and eight complete games across her 97 innings pitched.

Teagan Seeton has put together a historic season for the Yellowjackets, as she enters the week leading the GNAC with 14 home runs and ranking second with 34 RBIs. The sophomore is one home run shy of tying the MSUB single-season record of 15, and is looking to become the seventh different Yellowjacket to lead the conference in home runs during a complete season. MSUB’s GNAC-leading 45 home runs have come from a variety of sources, with Jazlyn Kalehuawehe, Marin Penney and Lauren Blaschak each with six, and Kilee Imada contributing five. Penney moved up to a tie for 11th in GNAC history 34 career home runs to her name.

The National Fastpitch Coaches Association releases its national rankings every at noon (ET) on every Tuesday throughout the season, beginning on Feb. 13. The 2024 preseason coaches poll was released on Jan. 23.

The Vikings stayed put at No. 11 in the latest national rankings, while the Nighthawks crept up one spot to No. 17. NNU is one spot away from reaching its highest ranking of the season, which came at No. 16 the week of March 19.

April 15 GNAC Softball Players of the Week

Player of the Week – Hailey Rath, Western Washington

Second-career player of the week, second this season.

Rath had one of the best offensive weeks by any GNAC player thus far in 2024, leading the conference in nine major offensive categories. The Viking sophomore slashed .615/.667/.1.615, with a GNAC-leading three home runs, eight RBIs, four doubles, seven runs scored and eight hits. Rath racked up 21 total bases, helping the Vikings extend their school-record winning streak to 17 games with a 4-0 series sweep of Montana State Billings on the road. The shortstop was equally impressive defensively, committing just one error in 19 chances in the four-game series.

“She has been seeing the ball well all year, and she did again this weekend,” said WWU head coach Sheryl Gilmore. “She is a confident player, she puts the work in every day and it allows her to be so consistent. She doesn’t ride the highs or lows of at-bats, and that helps her find the success she has had.”

Also Nominated: Alyssa Benthagen, CWU; Marin Penney, MSUB; Abigail Gagnon, NNU; Ashley Goodale, SMU; Maddie Doig, WOU.

Pitcher of the Week – Sidney Booth, Northwest Nazarene

Eleventh-career pitcher of the week, third this season.

Booth impacted all three of the Nighthawks’ victories last week, as she helped her team to a 3-1 series victory over Saint Martin’s on the road. The senior led all GNAC pitchers with 16 strikeouts and 14 2/3 innings pitched, earning a pair of wins and a save. Booth surrendered just one earned run for an ERA of 0.48, and limited the opposition to a batting average of .176. Booth passed Seattle University’s Erin Martin for the most-ever GNAC Pitcher of the Week awards, picking up the 11th of her career and her third of the season. Only Sam Munger of Saint Martin’s, who had seven pitcher of the week and eight player of the week honors, earned more with 15 total from 2011-14.

“Every conference week is really tough, especially since she has been in the conference for so long,” NNU head coach Rich Wagner said of the fifth-year senior. “There are hitters who have 30-plus at-bats off her. She did a great job of pitching, and not just throwing to spots, and did a great job of thinking through batters. It has been one of her more challenging years in terms of players having lots of good at-bats against her. Saint Martin’s comes up with a really good game plan every time we play them, and Sidney did a great job of staying consistent. She is an incredible competitor.”

Also Nominated: Zoey Theophilus, CWU; Mackenzee Collins, WOU; Alli Kimball, WWU.