NAMPA, Idaho – The Western Oregon baseball team saw its comeback run for a conference title and incredible postseason run come to an end on Friday afternoon with a 9-8 loss to Northwest Nazarene in the final game of the 2016 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Baseball Championships.
 
The Wolves end their season at 33-23 overall, while the Crusaders grab their first GNAC tourney title moving to 30-21.
 
Northwest Nazarene got the scoring started in the bottom of the first, getting consecutive RBI hits with two outs.
 
WOU responded by slicing the lead in half in the following half inning. Nathan Etheridge doubled to move Kyle Vanderkin to third after he reached on an error. Justin Wakem brought Vanderkin home with a ground ball to the right side of the infield to make the score 2-1 in favor of the Crusaders.
 
The Wolves tied the game in the third with a two-out RBI double from Trevor Podratz to left-center that scored Forrest Garcia and took their first advantage in the fourth. Etheridge doubled to lead off and Marcus Madden followed with a single. An errant throw on check back to first base skipped to the fence, allowing Etheridge to score the go-ahead tally. Western Oregon could not bring home anymore despite having the bases loaded with nobody out.
 
WOU got two hits and used two Crudsader errors to add three more runs in the top of the fifth to make it a 6-2 lead. Madden doubled home a pair and later scored on a throwing error by the shortstop on a play to first base.
 
Northwest Nazarene got the big shot of the game in the bottom of the sixth. With a run already in after a leadoff homer, Ryan Johnson cleared the bags with a double into the gap in right center field and Tyler Davis followed with a two-run home run to build a 9-6 lead.
 
The Wolves came back with two runs in the seventh, as Cody Poznanski singled with one out and Garcia pulled a pitch over the wall in right field for a home run. WOU got the potential tying run to second with one out, but the NNU bullpen worked out of the jam.
 
NNU's bullpen would retire the final eight batters ending the Wolves' quest for consecutive league tournament titles.
 
Elias Bedolla (3-4) took the loss in relief, after Gary Steindorf allowed six runs on seven hits over 5 2/3 innings.
 
Seniors Podratz and Etheridge each finished 3-for-5, while Madden and Garcia separately added two hits and two runs batted in.