Softball | 3/17/2009 5:54:03 PM

[Day 1: Game program]

This week…
With the Western Oregon University softball team's three-game home series against No. 4 Humboldt State being cancelled due to inclement weather, the Wolves will now prepare to take on Great Northwest Athletic Conference rival Western Washington in a four-game series at the WOU Softball Field, Mar. 21-22. The teams will play a doubleheader Saturday (Mar. 21) at noon then another doubleheader Sunday (Mar. 22) at 11:00 a.m.

A look at Western Oregon…
The Western Oregon softball team is 8-6 this season and in fourth place in the GNAC standings with the same record. Last week against Central Washington, the Wolves lost its first series of the season as it dropped Saturday's (Mar. 14) doubleheader, 5-2 and 4-3, before being snowed out on Sunday.

Leadoff batter Tyler Sutherland leads the Wolves' offensive attack. She has a team-best 18 hits and 11 of those have gone for extra bases. Sutherland leads the GNAC with nine doubles and 1.43 runs scored per game. She is also ninth in the conference in batting average (.360) and tied for second in stolen bases (5).

Jessica Hallmark is the team-leader with four home runs and 14 RBI. She is tied for second in the conference with the four homers and is fourth in RBI. With the homer against SMU, the sophomore now has 12 home runs in her career, one behind Western Oregon record holder, Trina Dorn. Earlier this season, she set the Western Oregon school-record and matched the GNAC-record with eight RBIs in the Wolves' 14-8 win over NNU.

Freshman Kendra George is third in the GNAC with a .429 batting average and second with five stolen bases. She is also ranked fourth in the GNAC in on-base percentage (.515) and fifth in slugging percentage (.679).

Fellow freshman Rocky Knuth is seventh in the league with a .375 batting average and 12 runs scored. She is also third in the GNAC with a .524 on-base percentage. Knuth is also sporting a .571 batting average on balls in play.

Second baseman Amanda Fleer is third in the GNAC in slugging (.690), fifth in doubles (5), fifth in on-base percentage (.509), seventh in runs (12) and 10th in average (.357). She has reached base safely in 12 of the past 13 games.

Kylee Hancock registered eight RBI in the Saint Martin's series (Mar. 7-8), with at least one in each game. She has started the past eight games for Western Oregon and hit safely in six of the past seven.

Krysta Pennington is tied with Hancock for second on the club with 11 RBI. She has reached base safely in eight of the last nine games she has played.

On the mound, Jessica Wood (4-2) has a 2.42 ERA while holding opponents to a .215 batting average in 39.1 innings. She has pitched a complete game in all three of her starts this season and opponents have managed only 32 hits against Wood in 149 at-bats. She had a season-high 10 strikeouts against Northwest Nazarene, Feb. 27.

Stephanie Albrecht (2-2) won back-to-back games against the Saints (Mar. 7-8) allowing just one run and nine hits in 13 innings of work. She has a 2.45 ERA and three complete games to go along with her shutout of SMU.

Jessie Lessard (2-2) pitched a complete game two-hit shutout in her first game as a Wolf, then she went on to throw a three-hit shutout in her first start against NNU. Opponents are hitting .267 off Lessard. At the plate, Lessard has gone 4-for-12 with five RBIs.

As a team, Western Oregon has a .329 batting average and a .435 on-base percentage. Meanwhile, the WOU pitchers are holding its opponents to a .256 batting average and a .393 OBP. The Wolves have also collected 45 extra base hits on the season with 11 home runs while its opponents have 34 extra base hits and eight home runs.

A look at Western Washington…
Western Washington is in third place in the GNAC standings with a 6-4 record. The Vikings were rained out in their last series at home against Saint Martin's (Mar. 14-15). WWU last played Mar. 7-8 when it lost three of four games to Montana State Billings.

Meghan Flem has started all 10 games for the Vikings this season. She leads the team and the GNAC with a .517 batting average, a .571 on-base percentage and a .793 slugging percentage. She has gone 15-for-29 this season with two home runs and 15 RBI. Michelle Wrigley leads the team with 11 runs scored and is second with 17 total bases. On the mound, Sarah McEnroe has posted a 4-2 record along with a 1.16 ERA. She has yielded just 26 hits and six runs in 36.1 innings of work while holding opponents to a .197 batting average.

As a team, WWU has scored 47 runs in 10 games while holding its opponents to just 29 runs and a .246 batting average.

Western Washington leads the all-time series 39-18. WOU won three of four games between the schools last season, including the last two at home.

Recap of the previous series…
The Western Oregon softball team dropped its doubleheader at Central Washington Saturday (Mar. 14), 5-2 and 4-3, and then Sunday's doubleheader was snowed out, shortening the series to two games. This was the first losing series of the season for the Wolves.

Game 1: Central Washington scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to break a 2-2 tie as it went on to the 5-2 win. The go-ahead run scored on a Meghan Kopczynski walk then Taylor Trautmann singled up the middle to score two and cap off the three-run inning for the Wildcats. CWU pitcher Linse Vlahovich held the Wolves to just three hits and two runs while striking out 10. After WOU scored two runs in the top of the first inning Vlahovich did not allow a WOU runner past second base. Western Oregon used three pitchers in the game as Stephanie Albrecht started and went 2.2 innings before giving way to Jessica Wood who pitched the next 1.2 innings giving up four runs (three earned) to take the loss. Jessie Lessard took over for Wood in the fifth and finished out the game.

Game 2: With the score tied at 3-3 in the bottom of the eighth inning, Holly Rossman hit a 1-0 pitch over the left field fence to lift Central Washington to a 4-3 victory over Western Oregon. This was the second home run of the game for Rossman who had previously tied the game at three apiece with a two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth. Western Oregon opened up a 3-0 after its half of the fourth inning as the first five batters of the inning would reach. After Krysta Pennington led off with a single and Kylee Hancock drew a walk, Amanda Fleer singled to right center field scoring Pennington and giving the Wolves a 1-0 lead. Bailey Rueck then singled to right field scoring Hancock. With runners at first and third, Kendra George laid down the sacrifice bunt to which CWU's first baseman made a throwing error allowing Fleer to score the Wolves' third run of the inning. Linse Vlahovich would take over on the mound for the Wildcats in the fifth inning, in relief of Lindy Baxter, and would pitch four shutout innings to earn the win. Jessie Lessard (2-2) pitched a complete game for the Wolves, her third of the season, giving up four runs, seven hits and two walks while striking out four to take the loss.

Games 3 & 4: The remainder of the series was postponed due to accumulating snow showers. No make up dates have been announced.