Wednesday, April 1, 2015

PORTLAND, Ore. – Two second basemen, Tyler Davis from Northwest Nazarene and Brody Miller from Montana State Billings, led their teams to series wins last week.

NNU’s Davis batted .529 while driving in three winning runs last week in the Crusaders series victory over conference-leader Western Oregon. For his efforts, Davis was named the National Collegiate Baseball Writers of Associations West Region Player of the Week.

For the second week in a row, and third time this season, a player from the GNAC has been named the West Region Player of the Week. He joins MSUB's Luke Reinschmidt and last week’s recipient, SMU’s Carl Svanevik, as GNAC West Region winners.

Davis scored the first and last runs of game one hitting two home runs and recording four RBI’s in the 7-5 win.

Game three featured two more hits from Davis, including a two-run home run in the sixth that put the Crusaders ahead for a 3-1 win.

In the series finale, the second baseman added another pair of hits, including a double and an RBI single, leading NNU to a 10-6 victory.

Davis was named the GNAC co-Player of the Week as well, along with MSUB’s Miller.

The Yellowjacket senior also slugged three home runs as MSUB claimed the ‘Team of the Week’ battle against Saint Martin’s. The two squads were co-Team of the Week recipients last week.

Miller’s best game came in the opener as he went 3-for-4 with four runs scored and three RBI’s in the 11-8 win. He also recorded a game-winning hit in game three of the series, a three-run home run that put the Yellowjackets on top in the bottom of the seventh for an 11-10 victory.

Davis and Miller are the top two hitting second basemen in the conference, batting .352 and .357 respectively, while each lead their team in home runs. The pair's gloves are equally as good, ranking in the top three in the GNAC in assists on the field.

The Crusaders move up into third in the conference standings and play Saint Martin’s while MSUB, in second, has a week off from game-play.

Notes:

• At the halfway point of the conference season, four teams have won or tied at least two conference series while all five have swept at least one other GNAC opponent.

• Central Washington’s Kasey Bielec and MSUB’s Reinschmidt recorded their fifth and sixth three-RBI games last week which lead the conference.

• MSUB’s Lee Busto and NNU’s Andrew Helmstadter are leading the nation in pitching appearances and triples, respectively. Saint Martin’s Chandler Tracy also ranks in the top 10 in two categories, tying for sixth in home runs and walks.
   
• NNU's Jake Reppert continues to lead the GNAC in ERA at 1.95. He has the only ERA below the two-run mark and he is also one of only two pitchers in the GNAC that have a sub-three ERA.
   
• Saint Martin's Svanevik has been on an offensive tear the last two weeks. Svanevik has batted .441 with 19 RBI’s with four home runs, compared to teammate and GNAC home run champion Tracy who's hit three home runs and been walked seven times in that span.

• Northwest Nazarene’s Davis and Montana State Billings’ Miller were named the co-Players of the Week while Central Washington’s Cory Welch was the Pitcher of the Week. Welch made two appearances in the last two games of the Wildcats series road win over Holy Names last week. He picked up a save in game three while starting game four, going five innings and striking out five batters for the win. On the week, Welch had a 1.42 ERA while allowing only five hits and striking out seven.