Baseball | 4/25/2013 11:49:00 AM

BASEBALL – SAINT MARTIN'S AT WESTERN OREGON
Saturday, April 27, 2013 – 1:00 p.m. – Monmouth, Ore. - (DH)
Sunday, April 28, 2013 – 1:00 p.m. – Monmouth, Ore. – (DH)

LIVE VIDEO (Sunday, game one only): http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/wou.portal#
LIVE STATS: http://athletics.wou.edu/live/xlive.htm

MONMOUTH, Ore.- The Western Oregon baseball team closes out the home portion of the schedule this week as the Wolves open a four-game series with Saint Martin's on Saturday, April 27, at 1:00 p.m. The Wolves and Saints will close out the series on “Senior Day” with a doubleheader on Sunday, April 28, at 1:00 p.m.

The Wolves, seeking their 12th consecutive GNAC conference title, enter the series in first-place in the GNAC standings at 25-17 overall and 18-6 in conference play. The Wolves are currently a game ahead of second-place Central Washington with eight conference games remaining. Last week, the Wolves split a four game series at home against Lewis Clark State.

WOU currently has four players in the top 10 in hitting in the league, including three in the top five. Blake Miller, who leads the team in batting, is second in the conference with a .381 average and leads the league in on base percentage (.460). He looks to continue his play from last weekend as he went 11-for-15 in the series against Lewis Clark State and was named the NCBWA West Region Player of the Week.

Daniel McNabb (.358, third in GNAC), Matt Nylen (.351, 4th) and Scott David (.336, 7th) also rank in the top 10 in the league in hitting and are having outstanding seasons for the Wolves.

The Wolves strong pitching staff has been led by starters Spenser Watkins and A.J. Burke. Watkins is currently 6-5 with a 3.68 ERA and 61 strikeouts in 63.2 innings pitched, while Burke is 5-3 with a 3.48 ERA and 66 strikeouts in 64.2 innings pitched. Closer Kody Stone anchors the bullpen with a conference best 11 saves. As a unit, the Wolves pitching staff leads the conference in opposing batting average (.273) and strikeouts (300) and ranks second in team ERA at 4.73.

Saint Martin's enters the series ranked last in the conference at 3-20 in GNAC play with a 5-35 record overall after splitting a four game series against Central Washington last week.

Chandler Tracy has been the Saints leader at the plate, batting .324 overall while leading the conference with a .669 slugging percentage and is tied for the conference lead with 12 home runs. Bobby Twedt, who's batting a team best .326 and Travis Shaw (.323 BA), are the other players batting above .300 for the Saints. The Saints pitching staff, which has a 6.62 ERA in 312.2 innings pitched, are led by Brendan Jeffers, who is 2-4 with a 4.78 ERA in 58.1 innings pitched.

Earlier this season, the Wolves swept the Saints in a four game series.

Sunday's doubleheader is Senior Day and marks the final home game for seniors Matt Nylen, Blake Miller, AJ Burke, Scott David, Josh Wong, Michael Gange, Ethan Flory, Zach Nuno, Brian Pisca and Grant Mascolo.

Following this series, the first place Wolves travel to second place Central Washington for an important four game series against the Wildcats to close out the regular season. The series opens with a doubleheader on Friday, May 3 at 1:00 p.m. and concludes with a doubleheader on Saturday, May 4 at 12:00 p.m.