BILLINGS, Mont. – Senior Austin Hamilton registered three hits and drove in three runs, as Western Oregon University's baseball team forced a fifth and deciding game at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) Baseball Championships with a 7-2 victory over Northwest Nazarene University Friday at Dehler Park.

Western Oregon (28-24) would get three hits from Hamilton and fellow senior Matt Taylor, while senior Marcus Hinkle and junior Cody Sullivan tallied two hits each in the win for the Wolves. Along with Hamilton's three RBI day, Sullivan drove in the eventual winning runs on a two-run double in the top of the sixth inning as the duo accounted for five of WOU's seven RBI.

Junior Darrien Moran got the start for Western Oregon allowing one earned run on four hits over the opening 8.0 innings to go along with a team-high six strikeouts before fellow junior Jacob Storedahl came in to pitch the ninth inning. Moran would register his fifth win of the season in the process.

Northwest Nazarene (29-27) was led offensively by six different players with a hit, as Jesse Hilyard and Tim Jones recorded the two RBI for the Crusaders. Jake Reppert started for NNU allowing three earned runs on seven hits over 7.0 innings of work with a game-high eight K's before the bullpen took over with relievers Justin Pilgrim and Nick Strange combining to allow four earned runs on four hits over the final 2.0 innings.

A pitcher's dual broke out over the opening two innings between Moran and Reppert before Western Oregon got on the board first when the Wolves got back-to-back one-out hits from Taylor and Sullivan before junior Brandon Oliver lifted a sacrifice fly into right field that scored Taylor and handed WOU an early 1-0 lead.

Northwest Nazarene would tie the game at 1-1 on a RBI single to left center by Jones in the bottom of the fifth inning before Western Oregon added two more runs in the top of the sixth inning on Sullivan's aforementioned double to right center that put the Wolves in front by a pair of runs (3-1).

In the top of the eighth inning, Hamilton would connect on his first home run of the season via a solo shot over the left field wall to extend Western Oregon's lead to 4-1.

One inning later, Western Oregon would add three more runs to the scoreboard on a RBI single by senior Jacob Whisler before Hamilton ripped a double just inside third base down the left field line that scored two runs pushing the Wolves' lead to six runs (7-1).

In the bottom of the ninth inning, Northwest Nazarene would score its second and final run of the game on a RBI single through the left side by Hilyard that scored Andrew Helmstadter following his one-out triple one batter earlier for the final difference of five runs (7-2).

Both teams will close out the GNAC Baseball Championships later today – Friday, May 8 – in a winner-take-all championship game beginning at 2:30 PM (MT) at Dehler Park in Billings, Montana.