Baseball | 2/11/2009 8:21:02 PM

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What's happening:
The No. 30 Western Oregon University baseball team (1-3) will start a seven-game road trip this week as it travels to San Diego, Calif., for a pair of doubleheaders against the nation's No. 2 team UC San Diego (Feb.14-15). The Wolves will then head up the coast for a doubleheader at No. 14 Sonoma State on Tuesday (Feb. 17) before ending the road trip with a single game against Simpson College in Redding, Calif., Wednesday (Jan. 18).

Head coach Jeremiah Robbins:
On the early season schedule: "We always have a strong schedule early in the season because we want to play the best teams around. We want to play as many Division II opponents as possible but in order to do that we have to play most teams on the road."

More on difficult early schedule: "These games help prepare us for Great Northwest Athletic Conference play as well as help us know what teams in our west region championship will be like if we get there."

On UC San Diego: "The Tritons' hitting is there greatest strength. They returned eight of their nine starting hitters from last season along with three pitchers. They have a small ballpark which is very conducive to their powerful lineup."

On WOU against UC San Diego: "This is the highest ranked team, nationally, that Western Oregon has ever played. It will be interesting to see how we respond to four games in two days against a quality opponent."

On Western Oregon at Chico State: "Our team chemistry on the trip really impressed me; watching the guys bond for the first time in the road and the positive mind set that they displayed."

More on the Chico State trip: "We swung the bats well but we could do better than that. Pitching overall was a concern but we were able to get some very good individual performances. We will continue to grow and get better each weekend. No one had their best game yet."

On the Chico State series: "We didn't win the series and now our players know where they stand. We had some good efforts at the plate and on the mound but they were not good enough to even split the series."

On losing the series: "My hope is that the players learn from this because the performance on the field is up to them. The coaches provide them with the instruction and games but it is really up to them."

Fox and Lind earn GNAC honors:
Travis Fox and Kirk Lind of the Western Oregon University baseball team were named Great Northwest Athletic Conference Player and Pitcher of the Week for the week of Feb. 2-8.

Fox, a senior from Colville, Wash. (Colville High School/Wenatchee Valley CC), collected player of the week honors after hitting .471 over a four game stretch with perennial West Region powerhouse Chico State. He went nine for 17 in the series with four RBIs and six runs scored. The Wolves' leadoff batter and center fielder also stole two bases.

Kirk Lind, a freshman from Vancouver, Wash. (Prairie High School), earned Western Oregon's first win of the 2009 season as he entered Sunday's game in relief and pitched six innings of shutout ball. Lind allowed six hits, two walks and fanned two batters en route to collecting his first collegiate victory. "Kirk did a phenomenal job in his first collegiate experience on the mound," Robbins said. "He battled all day and was able to get through some tough counts and compete with every batter."

Last time out:
The Western Oregon baseball team dropped three of its four games against NCAA west region rival and the current No. 3 team in DII, Chico State, the first two by one run each.

In the season opener, Bret Ringer hit a grand slam in the bottom of the 11th inning to lift No. 7 (Collegiate America) Chico State to a 13-9 victory. Down one, the Wolves rallied with two runs in the ninth to take a 9-8 lead. With one out, Justin Thornton doubled and Travis Fox singled him in to tie the game. Fox was then sacrificed over to second base and Jason Moseby delivered with the two-out hit to give the Wolves the lead. Chico State tied the game up in the bottom of the ninth on a walk by Cody Dee and an infield single by Kyle Eveland. The game then remained tied until Ringer's grand slam.

In the first game of Saturday's doubleheader, Taylor Mieras hit a two-run game-tying pinch-hit home run in the top of the ninth inning but it was not enough as the Western Oregon baseball team fell 12-11. After tying the game at 11-11 in the top of the ninth, Western Oregon allowed a leadoff single to Adam Arakawa start the bottom of the inning and he would eventually come around to score the game-winning run on an error.

In the second game of the doubleheader, Joel Garcia pitched a compete game giving up just four runs, three earned, and five hits to lift Chico State to a 8-4 victory.

On Sunday, Kirk Lind pitched six innings of shutout ball in relief as the Western Oregon baseball team earned a 7-5 win over Chico State to avoid the sweep. Lind relieved starter Mike Cusick in the bottom of the fourth inning and went the rest of the way giving up just six hits and two walks to earn his first collegiate victory. Leadoff batter Travis Fox led the Wolves at the plate as he went 3-5 with two runs and one RBI.