View the complete 2024 GNAC baseball schedule online here.

WOLVES ON THE HUNT: After handing Northwest Nazarene its first series loss of the season and earning GNAC Team of the Week honors last time out, Western Oregon (18015, 12-8 GNAC) sits just one game back from the Nighthawks in second place in the conference standings. The Wolves will aim to keep the momentum rolling this week as they host George Fox for a single non-conference game on Wednesday before heading to Ellensburg to face third-place Central Washington (16-18, 11-9) for a four-game series that begins on Saturday.

Western Oregon has been surging over the last few weeks, winning seven of its last 10 games to claim sole possession of second place in the standings and crack the top 10 of the NCBWA west region rankings. The pitching staff has been a key element of the team’s recent success as the rotation leads the GNAC with a 4.42 ERA and just 8.27 hits allowed per nine innings to rank 19th in Division II. Through the last 10 games, WOU has not allowed more than five runs in a single contest. Reigning GNAC Co-Pitcher of the Year Dylan Chalmers has been the best of anybody on the WOU pitching staff and owns a 2.96 ERA as the only pitcher in the conference with a sub-three average.  

Offensively, the Wolves have benefitted from contributions up and down the lineup. Owen Bischoff has been one of the most reliable batters for the team, leading WOU with a .312 batting average and a .459 slugging percentage while also reaching base at a clip of .394. The Wolves’ lineup features five batters with at least 15 RBIs and is led by John Oleson with 26 on the year. In terms of power, Justyn Herzog has racked up 12 extra-base hits, including seven doubles, a triple and a team-leading four home runs.

Central Washington comes into this week’s matchup with the Wolves looking to reclaim second place in the standings after splitting its series with Saint Martin’s last time out. The Wildcats’ performance in Lacey last week yielded both weekly individual awards from the conference as Ryan McCarthy was named the Player of the Week and Jonathan Garza II was named the Pitcher of the Week. McCarthy led the league in hitting last week, building on a season where he is averaging .316 through 57 at-bats and has driven in 15 runs. Ben Leid has been arguably the most impressive Wildcat at the plate across the balance of the season, leading the conference in batting average (.408) on-base percentage (.466) and slugging (.600) on the way to collecting 28 RBIs and scoring 26 runs.

Garza was virtually flawless against Saint Martin’s last week as he threw just the sixth no-hitter in GNAC history in the Wildcats’ 11-0 victory last Saturday. Across seven innings, Garza struck out six while working around four walks and one hit batter to improve to 2-2 on the season and move to a 4.66 ERA on the season. Garza’s efforts against the Saints also earned the junior right-hander selection as the NCBWA West Region Pitcher of the Week, marking the fourth time that a GNAC pitcher has earned the award this season.

BACK ON THE ATTACK: After a week off from competition, Montana State Billings (11-23, 5-11) will be back in action at home as it hosts Saint Martin’s (13-24, 7-13) for a four-game series that begins on Friday. With both teams on the outside looking in on the playoff picture, this week’s series could prove to be a key factor as both teams look for a way into the top three heading down the stretch. The Saints come into the week as winners of their last two games, having forced a split with Central Washington with 7-2 and 4-2 wins last Sunday.

One of two teams in the GNAC to have scored over 300 runs this season, the MSUB lineup is led by 25 RBIs from Payton Flynn which ties him for sixth in the conference. Flynn has been a power-hitting machine once again this season for the ‘Jackets and also ranks second in the GNAC with seven home runs on the year while leading the conference with 73 total bases. Flynn is one of three Yellowjackets that has started in all 34 games of the season so far along with Zack Blasak and Kaden Kirshenbaum.

On the mound, Jackson Betancourt (5.54 ERA), Ryun Cross (8.50 ERA), Cy Miller (8.28 ERA) and Sage Wayment (5.53 ERA) have thrown the bulk of the innings for the Yellowjackets this season, combining for 140.2 innings of work. Betancourt paces the team with 52 innings thrown and 37 strikeouts while allowing just 11 walks all year. Cross follows Betancourt with 34 punchouts through 36 innings.

Where the Yellowjackets have found much of their success through offense this season, the Saints have found most of theirs in elite pitchers Colin Driscoll (3.13 ERA, 3-3) and Justice Yamashita (3.67 ERA, 2-3)). Coming into the week, Driscoll ranks second in the league in ERA and is first in both innings pitched (54.2) and strikeouts (52). Driscoll’s excellence on the mound also sees him lead the league with a .198 opponent batting percentage.  Yamashita follows Driscoll with 43 strikeouts in 49 innings of work while his ERA ranks fourth in the conference.

At the plate, Dylan Mclaughlin has been a consistent scoring threat for SMU, leading the team with a .343 batting average, a .486 slugging percentage and 19 RBIs. Austin Schaler has been another key player for the Saints at the plate, hitting a team-leading four home runs on the season while also leading SMU with 22 runs scored and 19 walks.

ONE EYE OPEN: Northwest Nazarene (23-10-1, 13-7) will not be in conference action this week, but will most certainly have its eye on the standings as it sits atop the GNAC table with four weeks remaining in the regular season. The Nighthawks entered the week just one game second-place Western Oregon after dropping three of four against the Wolves last time out. They played their only game of the week, a non-conference contest against Division I Utah Valley, on Tuesday, falling 22-7 despite a 3-for-4, four-RBI performance by Duke Pahukoa that included a pair of home runs. Northwest Nazarene will be back in action next on Friday, April 19 as it faces Montana State Billings on the road.

Heading into the bye week, the Nighthawks are led by Carter Walsh with a .291 batting average and 19 stolen bases. In terms of power, Trevor Tishenkel leads the way with a .571 slugging percentage courtesy of 10 doubles and eight home runs. On the mound, Kyle Ethridge leads the way for NNU with a 3.86 ERA and 39 strikeouts. Ethridge is one of three Nighthawks to own a 3-2 record along with Kailer Saunders (4.82 ERA) and Jonathan Zayas (5.79 ERA). 

It was a tale of two fortunes for the conference in the NCBWA rankings this week. After handing Northwest Nazarene (23-10-1, 13-7 GNAC) its first series loss of the season, Western Oregon (18-15, 12-8) cracked the top 10 in the regional rankings for the first time since January 22 and checks in at No. 9 in the west while NNU dropped to No. 3 in the region. The Nighthawks remain in the top 25 of the national rankings for the eighth consecutive week, checking in at No. 21 heading into a week off from conference competition.

Complete Games: 2. CWU, 6; 11. SMU, 5; 26. WOU, 4
Double Plays: 22. MSUB, 30
Double Plays Per Game: 19. MSUB, 0.88
Fielding Percentage: 20. WOU, .974; 25. NNU, .974
Hits Allowed Per Nine Innings: 19. WOU, 8.27
Shutouts: 20. CWU, 3
Strikeout-to-Walk Ratio: 15. NNU, 2.63
Triples: 15. WOU, 14
Triples Per Game: 14. WOU, 0.42
WHIP: 6. NNU, 1.25; 13. WOU, 1.30
Walks Allowed Per Nine Innings: 3. NNU, 2.39; 10. CWU, 2.97; 19. WOU, 3.41

Complete Games: 3. Daniel Charron, CWU, 4; 10. Justice Yamashita, SMU, 3
Doubles Per Game: 22. AJ Cortese, WOU, 0.44
Hit Batters: 4. Cole Hatton, SMU, 17
Hit By Pitch Per Game: 13. Justyn Herzog, WOU, 0.48
Hit By Pitch: 13. Justyn Herzog, WOU, 16
Hits Allowed Per Nine Innings: 25. Colin Driscoll, SMU, 6.06
Hits Per Game: 10. Ben Leid, CWU, 1.67
Sacrifice Bunts: 6. Carter Walsh, NNU, 9; 16. Emiliano Alarcon, WOU, 7
Sacrifice Bunts Per Game: 6. Carter Walsh, NNU, 0.27
Saves: 7. Wade Duncan, NNU, 7
Strikeout-to-Walk Ratio: 19. Kyle Ethridge, NNU, 6.50
Triples: 5. Curran Mitzel, WOU, 5; 18. Owen Bischoff, WOU, 4
Triples Per Game: 15. Curran Mitzel, WOU, 0.15
WHIP: 11. Kyle Ethridge, NNU, 0.92; 15. Colin Driscoll, SMU, 0.94
Walks Allowed Per Nine Innings: 2. Logan Pierce, CWU, 0.64; 9. Kyle Ethridge, NNU, 1.05

 Points awarded on a 5-4-3-2-1 basis.