Game Times (Pacific):
Sunday (DH) – 12 p.m., 3 p.m.
Monday (DH) – 11 a.m., 2 p.m.

Radio: None
Video & Live Stats: WOU Wolves Live
Twitter: @WOUBaseball | #WOUBaseball

Home games turn into neutral sites games this Sunday and Monday for the Western Oregon University baseball team plays a four-game Great Northwest Athletic Conference series against the Central Washington University Wildcats. The first two games will be played at Joe Etzel Field on the campus of the University of Portland on Sunday (12 p.m.) while the final two will see Porter Park on Concordia-Portland's campus as the home site on Monday (11 a.m.).

WOLVES AGAINST THE WILDCATS
Western Oregon has face Central Washington 163 previous times, posting a record of 112-51 against the Wildcats. The Wolves won seven of eight games last season sweeping a four-game set in Ellensburg and taking three of four in the final set of the regular season at WOU Baseball Field. Under Kellen Walker, WOU is 22-12 against Central Washington.

FOLLOW LIVE
WOUWolves.com/Live will have live stats for all four games on the series. Also follow @WOUWolves on Twitter for in-game updates.
 
LAST WEEK FOR THE WOLVES
Western Oregon won another three games this weekend, but weather interrupted another weekend for the Wolves, preventing the fourth game from being played. Western Oregon is now ranked No. 8 in the NCBWA West Region poll, which is the highest ranking of any GNAC team this year. Connor McCord picked up his second win of the year in the series opener, throwing 4.1 innings in relief with no runs and one hit allowed. He struck out six batters and faced only two more than the minimum. Freshman Kade Mechals came in for the final inning to earn his third save of the season in the 6-3 win. Mechals is now tied for 33rd in Division II in saves. Craig Grubbe threw six shutout innings with five strikeouts and two hits to earn his first victory of the season. Cam Walker threw the ninth inning to preserve the 2-1 victory for his second save of the season. Grubbe now has a team-best 4.22 ERA. The Wolves' offense is led by Justin Waken, who is batting .433 with an on-base percentage of .528 this year. He has scored five runs and driven in four. Jay Leverett has been the power source in the Wolves' lineup with four doubles and a home run. He is slugging .615 with six RBIs and five runs scored. Nyles Nygaard hit two singles and drove in three runs in the series finale as the Wolves went on to win 9-2 against Concordia. He also reached base on a walk and stole a bag.
 
WILDCAT NOTES
The Wildcats won one of four games in their series against Northwest Nazarene. The Wildcats still lead the conference in overall wins. Dylan Freyre hit three home runs and two doubles in the series to earn GNAC Player of the Week honors. In the Game 2 victory, the third basemen went 2 for 4 with a double and a run. Mackenzie Gaul earned the win, which was his third consecutive victory in as many weeks. He threw five innings with seven strikeouts and three runs allowed. Gaul leads the conference in strikeouts with 38, which is 11 more than anyone else. He also ranks third in innings pitched with 30. Dylan Freyre leads the conference in batting average with 26 hits in 53 at-bats, which also ranks 14th in Division II. He also ranks 31st in slugging percentage at 0.830. Connor Plaisance leads the team in doubles with nine this year. That mark ranks in the top 25 in Division II. He has also hit one triple this year. James Smith went 3 for 3 in the Wildcats' victory, including a home run. It was his fourth home run this year, giving him a team-best 13 RBIs and 12 runs. Smith has also stole two bases this year.

ATOP THE GNAC PACK
Western Oregon has finished either the league champion or league runner-up for 15 consecutive seasons. Under Kellen Walker, WOU won the league championship in 2014 and 2015 while making it to the GNAC Championship game in 2016.
 
PRESEASON RANKS
Western Oregon baseball was selected by the league's coaches to finish second behind defending league champion Northwest Nazarene in the race for the Great Northwest Athletic Conference title in 2017. In the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association vote, Western Oregon ranked in a tie for tenth with NNU. Brady Miller was named to the West Region First Team and took home third-team preseason All-American honors from the same group.
 
WALKER IN YEAR FIVE
Head coach Kellen Walker is his fifth year at the helm of the Wolves. Walker had led WOU to a 128-91 overall record in his tenure, including a 94-45 mark in GNAC competition.
 
ROSTER BREAKDOWN
Western Oregon's 37-man opening day active roster features nine seniors, 15 juniors, four sophomores and nine freshmen. The Wolves are a geographically diverse team with six stats represented. Twelve players hail from Oregon and nine from California. The states of Arizona and Washington each have six players while Nevada is represented by three and Hawaii has one.

UP NEXT ... 
Western Oregon plays a four-game set at Saint Martin's on March 25-26 in Lacey, Wash.