Softball | 3/26/2014 11:54:00 AM

MONMOUTH, Ore. – The Western Oregon University softball team attempts to stay atop the Great Northwest Athletic Conference when it travels to Northwest Nazarene University (Idaho) for two doubleheaders this weekend.

The Wolves (18-11, 9-1 GNAC) are receiving four votes in the NFCA Div. II national poll this week. Western Oregon is the lone team from the conference in the poll and sixth from the West Region. WOU had its 10-game win streak snapped with a 3-2 loss at home last Saturday to Central Washington. The second longest win streak in program history was one victory shy of the record set in 2008. Western Oregon rebounded for a 4-0 win in the second game against CWU. The Wolves currently have a two-game lead in the conference standings over Central Washington.

Another streak came to an end last weekend, as Melanie Pfeiffer had her 15-game hit streak snapped. The senior went 0-for-3 at the plate in Game 2 against Saint Martin's. Her streak ranks the seventh longest in conference history and is the longest this season. Teammate Amanda Evola rides an 11-game hit streak into this weekend at Northwest Nazarene. Pfeiffer hit .547 (29-of-53) during her streak. Evola is batting .553 (21-of-38) during her streak.

The Wolves swept the conference's weekly honors as Raina Reece shared the Player of the Week title and Kelli Demianew was named the Pitcher of the Week. Reece had three home runs and 10 RBI to lead Western Oregon to two wins over Saint Martin's and a split with Central Washington. She also had a single and double and batted .385 (5-of-13).

In the circle, Demianew didn't allow an earned run in pitching the Wolves to two victories in a 4-0 shutout over Central Washington. She takes a string of 26 consecutive innings without surrendering an earned run into WOU's series at Nampa. The junior leads the conference with a 1.96 earned run average.

Nationally, the Wolves' 0.62 double play per game average ranks sixth. Bridjet Box is 16th in the country with three sacrifice flies.

In the GNAC, Evola and Pfeiffer are second and third with .423 and .413 batting averages. Kelsie Gardner is fifth at .404. Those three are first, second, and third in total hits; Evola (44), Pfeiffer (43), and Gardner (38). They also lead the conference in runs scored; Gardner (30), Pfeiffer (29), and Evola (28). Evola's 11 doubles, 30 RBI, and 67 total bases pace the GNAC as well. Jourdan Williams has been walked more than any batter in the conference at 17 times.

Northwest Nazarene (7-16, 2-5) sits in sixth in the GNAC standings, but has only played seven conference games. Last weekend, Justine Callen batted .500 (5-of-10) and matched Shelby Johnson for most hits in NNU's series with Simon Fraser. The Crusaders had 16 fewer hits, but twice as many walks (16-7) and scored only two fewer runs. Three of the four games were decided by one run with NNU winning the first two.

The Crusaders rank second in the conference averaging 0.87 home runs per game. Noelle Wright is third in the GNAC with 57 strikeouts. Brianna Kinghorn leads NNU with a .348 batting average. Callen follows at .304. Wright (3-10) has two saves this season and a 4.93 ERA.

Western Oregon has won eight straight over Northwest Nazarene, and 48 of the 62 meetings in the all-time series. The Wolves have won seven straight at NNU and are 28-6 all-time in Nampa. The last Crusader win in the series came in Monmouth in 2012.

Friday's doubleheader begins at 2 p.m. Mountain Time, while Saturday's first pitch is scheduled for 12 p.m. MT. Live stats from all four games will be available on WOUWolves.com.