Baseball | 4/26/2014 7:02:00 PM
Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 MONMOUTH, Ore. – The Western Oregon University baseball team clinched its 13th straight Great Northwest Athletic Conference regular season title with a pair of wins over Saint Martin's University (Wash.) Saturday, 5-4 and 2-1.
The Wolves (29-15, 22-8 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) also clinched the top seed of the second annual GNAC tournament and will host the event for the second straight season on May 8-9. The two-day tournament will feature the top three teams in the conference. Central Washington has also clinched a spot in the field.
"It was good to get that taken care of today," WOU Head Coach
Kellen Walker said. "It gives us a little bit of time to know we will be here for the conference tournament, which is definitely huge. Our guys were excited to play for that, and will be excited to play here for the tournament."
On a rainy and cold day,
Chris Bradshaw went 3-for-7 at the plate with an RBI and scored twice.
Daniel McNabb was 2-for-7 with three RBI.
Matt Minnich and
Spenser Watkins both grabbed victories on the mound.
Watkins (6-3) had a perfect game through the first six innings of Game 1. He grabbed the win after allowing two earned runs on two hits in 6.2 innings of work. The senior matched his season-high 12 strikeout total against the Saints. He tossed three walks as well.
"Spenser has been better in his last three outings," Walker said. "He had a very good outing today. He made one mistake to (Chandler) Tracy and he capitalized on it. He's a very good hitter. But, Watkins was very sharp today."
Tracy set the new conference record for home runs in a career. SMU's first hit of the game was the senior's 30th home run in his career. His three-run shot over the left field wall cut the WOU lead to 5-3. The Wolves opened the scoring with a
Parker Miles RBI single in the third. In the fifth,
Tim Rausch hit an RBI double and McNabb had a two-RBI single. A passed ball in the sixth tacked on another WOU run.
The Saints (13-28, 9-17 GNAC) threatened in the ninth with a run and stranding three runners on base before the final. SMU left eight runners on base, while the Wolves stranded 11. WOU had the lone error in the game.
Kody Stone recorded his eighth save of the season. Zach Carter (5-3) received the loss after allowing five earned runs on 14 hits in 7.1 innings. He had two strikeouts and two walks.
Minnich (6-3) had the win in the second game. In six innings of work, he allowed one earned run on five hits. Minnich struck out 10 batters and walked one.
Jesse Pratt recorded his second save.
McNabb hit an RBI single that scored
Matt Taylor in the third inning. Then,
Garret Harpole scored on a fielding error in the fourth. SMU scored a run in the sixth. Josh Moss (2-9) had the loss for the Saints.
Western Oregon will go for the series sweep over Saint Martin's Sunday. The first pitch of the doubleheader is scheduled for 1 p.m.
Western Oregon 5, Saint Martin's 4 (04/26/14 at Monmouth, OR) (Game 1)
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Saint Martin's...... 000 000 301 - 4 2 0 (13-27, 9-16)
Western Oregon...... 001 031 00X - 5 14 1 (28-15, 21-8)
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Pitchers: Saint Martin's - Carter; LaDue(8) and Raczok. Western Oregon - Watkins,Spenser;
Tokunaga,Chase(7); Stone,Kody(9) and Chavarria,Will.
Win-Watkins,Spenser(6-3) Save-Stone,Kody(8) Loss-Carter(5-3) T-2:30 A-57
HR SMU - Tracy.
Weather: Cold and rainy
Western Oregon 2, Saint Martin's 1 (04/26/14 at Monmouth, OR) (Game 2)
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Saint Martin's...... 000 001 0 - 1 5 2 (13-28, 9-17)
Western Oregon...... 001 100 X - 2 6 1 (29-15, 22-8)
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Pitchers: Saint Martin's - Moss and Tracy. Western Oregon - Minnich,Matt; Pratt,Jesse(7) and
Turner,Jarrod.
Win-Minnich,Matt(6-3) Save-Pratt,Jesse(2) Loss-Moss(2-9) T-1:35 A-0
Weather: Cold and rainy
