MONMOUTH, Ore. -

What's happening:
The Western Oregon softball team resumes Great Northwest Athletic Conference play this week with a four-game series at Northwest Nazarene. The two teams will meet in the first pair of doubleheaders Friday (April 8), beginning at 3:00 pm PST. A second set of doubleheaders will be played the following day with the first pitch set for noon PST.

Scouting Northwest Nazarene:
The Crusaders (10-18, 9-9 GNAC) enters the series having lost all five of their games as part of last weekend's Mizuno Tournament of Champions. Only one game was decided by less than three runs (a 2-1 loss to Chaminade). They have, however, taken three of four games from previous series with GNAC foes MSU Billings and Saint Martin's.

Junior pitcher Chelsey Anderson (2.51 era) is one of three GNAC pitchers with an ERA of less than 3.00. In 16 outings, Anderson has allowed opponents to bat .281. Junior catcher Arielle Chao leads NNU in batting average (.338), slugging percentage (.575), and hits (27). She has homered five times and has 11 runs batted in.

The series vs. Northwest Nazarene:
Record: WOU leads 40-8 (21-3 in Nampa)
Last meeting: WOU 16, NNU 1 (WOU swept series)
Streak: WOU 11
Notes: The Wolves first met NNU in 2002. The inaugural series saw WOU sweep the Crusaders in four games . . . NNU's last victory over Western was a 6-5 decision back on Feb. 28 2009 in Nampa.

Bright spots from ToC:
Sophomore Andrea Bailey batted .389 for the tournament. She led the Wolves with seven hits . . . Senior Jessica Hallmark hit her seventh home run of the season and slugged .722 over the three-day tournament. She paced Western with four doubles . . . Senior Jessica Wood hit her first career home run in WOU's final game. Her .333 batting average was tied for third on the team.

Western in the GNAC:
WOU is one of three conference teams with a collective ERA of less than 4.00 (3.57). The Wolves are first in stolen bases (33), second in walks (94), and third in doubles (35).

Sophomore Andrea Bailey is fifth in the GNAC in batting average (.389). She also ranks first in stolen bases (10), fifth in hits (35) and eighth in runs scored (19). Senior Jessica Hallmark ranks fourth in home runs (7) and eighth in doubles (6). Senior Tierra-Lyn Cuba is fourth in both stolen bases (5) and walks (18).

Senior Jessica Wood ranks third in strikeouts (80) and sixth in opponent batting average (.280). Freshman Alex Hillmick is one of three GNAC pitchers to record a shutout thus far. She has pitched six complete games. Her opponent batting average (.278) is good for fifth in the conference.

The Wolves in the national rankings (as of 3/29):
As a team, Western ranks 69th nationally in double plays per game (0.32), 91st in stolen bases per game (1.18), and 99th in home runs per game (0.61). There are 300 NCAA Division II teams eligible for ranking.

Individually, senior Jessica Hallmark ranks in both home runs per game (0.27; 53) and home runs (7; 76). Senior Tierra-Lyn Cuba ranks in walks (0.75; 19). Senior Jessica Wood ranks in both strikeouts (80; 113) and strikeouts per seven innings (5.9; 122). Sophomore Andrea Bailey also ranks in walks (0.52; 127). There are 300 DII student-athletes eligible for ranking.