PORTLAND, Ore.—Looking for a third straight tournament title, the Western Oregon baseball team will begin its postseason stretch as the No. 2 seed in the GNAC Championships this week.

Western Oregon (29-11, 26-11 GNAC) will open play against No. 3-seeded Northwest Nazarene (24-22, 20-17 GNAC) on Wednesday, May 8 at Concordia University's Porter Park.

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2019 GNAC TOURNAMENT Live Video/Stats: gnac.tv #1 - MSU Billings (30-18, 30-10 GNAC) #2 - Western Oregon (29-11, 26-11 GNAC) #3 - Northwest Nazarene (24-22, 20-17 GNAC) #4 - Saint Martin's (19-30, 15-25 GNAC) Wednesday, May 8 G1: 2:30 p.m. - #3 NNU vs. #2 WOU G2: 6:00 p.m. - #4 SMU vs. #1 MSUB Thursday, May 9 G3: 12:00 p.m. - Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 G4: 3:30 p.m. - Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 G5: 7:00 p.m. - Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4 Friday, May 10 G6: 12:00 p.m. Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5 G7: 3:30 p.m. - Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6 (if necessary)
WOU vs. FIELD (GNAC Tournament History)
MSUB (6-2) 2013: W, 7-0 2015: W, 4-3 2016: L, 2-10 2016: W, 18-1 2017: W, 4-2 2018: W, 14-8 2018: L, 4-6 *2018: W, 8-4 * championship	NNU (4-2) 2015: L, 2-3 2015: W, 7-2 *2015: W, 4-3 2016: W, 14-3 *2016: L, 8-9 *2017: W, 9-1	SMU (1-0) 2014: W, 4-2

 

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GNAC TOURNEY TITLES: Since the GNAC started a conference tournament in 2013, WOU has gone on to win four of the six chances at the postseason event... The Wolves have made it to the finals of the tournament every year with Central Washington stopping the Wolves in the championship round in 2014 and Northwest Nazarene winning the title in 2016.

WOU AT GNAC CHAMPIONSHIPS: 15-7 (.681)
2018: 3-1*
2017: 3-0*
2016: 2-2
2015: 3-1*
2014: 1-2
2013: 3-1*
*tournament champions
 

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NCBWA WEST REGION POLL: Western Oregon held their No. 6 position in this week's NCBWA West Region Poll... With 40 points, the Wolves dropped out of their tie with MSU Billings... The ranking is the highest for WOU since collecting a season-high 45 points in the poll on March 18 for the No. 5 position.
 

NCBWA NCAA DIVISION II WEST REGION (May 6)
Rank	School	Record	Points	LW
1.	UC San Diego (8)	35-10	80	1
2.	Azusa Pacific	34-11	72	2
3.	Cal State Monterey Bay	31-19	62	3
4	Point Loma	28-17	58	T4
5.	Montana State Billings	30-18	43	T6
6.	Western Oregon	29-11	40	T6
7.	Stanislaus State	29-21	35	T4
8.	Chico State	28-19	25	9
9.	San Francisco State	23-19-1	14	8
10.	Cal Poly Pomona	25-125	7	RV
WESTERN OREGON IN WEST REGION POLLS
Date	School	Rank	Points
1/23	Western Oregon	9th	18
2/25	Western Oregon	8th	20
3/4	Western Oregon	7th	30
3/11	Western Oregon	6th	30
3/18	Western Oregon	5th	45
3/25	Western Oregon	8th	26
4/1	Western Oregon	9th	18
4/8	Western Oregon	9th	20
4/15	Western Oregon	9th	21
4/22	Western Oregon	8th	25
4/29	Western Oregon	T-6th	33
5/6	Western Oregon	6th	40

GNAC GETS AUTOMATIC SPOT TO REGIONALS: For the first time since the league was formed in 2002, the GNAC will be awarded an automatic spot in the West Region Championship... The spot in the six-team postseason tourney will be given to the winner of the GNAC Tournament.

GNAC DOMINANCE: Western Oregon has captured 14 of the 17 regular-season GNAC titles since the inaugural season in 2002… The Wolves won 13 straight regular-season crowns (2002-14) before MSU Billings broke the streak with a one-game lead over the Wolves in 2015.

COMBINED TITLES: WOU has combined to win 18 of the 23 total GNAC regular-season or tournament titles since 2002... MSU Billings is next up with three titles over that span while NNU and CWU have each earned one championship... The Wolves have won either a regular-season or tournament championship in all but one of the 17 seasons of GNAC play with 2016 the lone outlier.

GNAC HISTORY AT WEST REGION CHAMPIONSHIPS: Western Oregon remains the only GNAC team to ever play in the NCAA DII West Region Tournament... The Wolves have advanced to regional play on seven occasions with the most recent occurrence in the 2012 season... WOU hosted the West Region Championships in 2006, 2009 and 2012.

WOU at West Region Championships
2003: 0-2 (Hays, Kan.) #3 seed
2005: 2-2 (Grand Junction, Colo.) #3 seed
2006: 2-2 (Salem, Ore.) #1 seed
2008: 0-2 (Chico, Calif.) #5 seed
2009: 1-2 (Keizer, Ore.) #2 seed
2011: 0-2 (San Diego, Calif.) #2 seed
2012: 0-2 (Salem, Ore.) #1 seed

LAST WEEK: The Wolves earned their third four-game series sweep of the season with a 4-0 week at Saint Martin's... WOU outscored the Saints 40-7 in the series with back-to-back shutouts (18-0 and 6-0) on the opening day of the series.

NO-HITTER: Junior Austin Crowson tossed the fifth no-hitter in GNAC history in a 2-0 win over Concordia on April 25... In the 7-inning contest, Crowson struck out nine batters and walked four to improve to 4-1 on the season... With the outing, Crowson's earned-run average dropped to 3.62 on the season a rate good for No. 2 in the GNAC... Crowson's performance was the fifth no-hitter in GNAC history and the third for a Western Oregon hurler during its NCAA DII era. Blake Keitzaman was the most recent WOU pitcher to toss a no-hitter with a 1-0 win over Saint Martin's during the 2010 season... Luke Holscher no-hit Colorado Mesa in a 3-0 win in the 2004 season.

GOES TO 11: The WOU offense has scored at least 11 runs on 12 occasions this year and is 12-0 in those contests... The team reached double figures in scoring one other time while losing to Northwest Nazarene, 11-10, on March 22.

WALKER REACHES 200: With a 23-10 victory over MSU Billings on April 13, Western Oregon head coach Kellen Walker notched his 200th career win... In his 7th season at the helm, Walker holds a 211-135 overall record... Walker is ranked second all-time in school history (NCAA DII era) in wins behind Jeremiah Robbins' 252 set from 2006-12... Walker's win total is also ranked fourth all-time in GNAC history.

ROTH SETS K RECORD: Notching 15 strikeouts, junior right-hander Alex Roth set the school's single-game record against Saint Martin's on March 30... In addition, Roth tied the all-time GNAC record with the effort...  Roth struck out seven consecutive batters early in the game and allowed just three hits in 7.0 scoreless innings of work... Following the performance, Roth was named the GNAC and the NCBWA National Pitcher of the Week. 

WOU IN GNAC RANKS: The Wolves lead the GNAC with a .326 batting average and a 3.96 ERA... WOU hitters occupy four of the top 10 spots in the GNAC's best batting averages with Jared McDonald (.367) and Griffey Halle (.341) ranked 3rd overall... Griffey Halle (.333), Collin Runge (.329), and Patrick Chung (.325) are ranked 7th, 8th, and 10th in the GNAC, respectively... Alex Roth (2.65 ERA) tops the league in earned-run average while Jacob Fricke (4.83 ERA) is No. 8 overall.

FRICKE NOTES: Only two other Wolves have appeared on the mound more often than junior Justin Fricke… Fricke is tied for No. 3 all-time in WOU history with 51 appearances and is one appearance away from next on the list… Kirk Lind holds the school record with 56.

McCORD MARKS: Junior Connor McCord is No. 2 on WOU's all-time RBI chart with 114 runs batted in… Only two other WOU players have reached 100 RBI during the school's NCAA DII era with Greg McCarthy holding the school record at 183 RBI… McCord is also second in the school's record books in home career home runs with 19 roundtrippers… Daniel Dillard (2010-11) holds the school mark with 26 homers.

ROTH RECORDS: Junior Alex Roth has already landed in the school's all-time top 10 list in several pitching categories… Roth currently holds the school record with 11.40 strikeouts per nine innings…. He is also ranked No. 3 in batting average against (.221) and No. 9 in total strikeouts (163).

STREAKS: Three Wolves have posted double-digit hitting streaks this season... Patrick Chung is currently rifding a 13-game hitting streak and has reached based in 19 consecutive contests, both team highs for the season... Derek Maiben went on a 12-game hitting streak from March 10-30 to March 30... During that 12-game stretch, Maiben went 23-for-42 (.548) at the plate... Collin Runge recorded a 10-game hitting streak from March 11-23... Maiben had an 18-game stretch of reaching base snapped in the opening game against MSU Billings on April 13 where he recorded a single charged at bat.

SAFE STARTS: WOU is a combined 15-0 in starts by Alex Roth (10-0), Connor McCord (4-0) and Cam Walker (1-0).

5X CLUB: Two Wolves recorded five hits in the same game against Central Washington on March 11... Derek Maiben went 5-for-7 with three RBI and four runs scored while Waken posted a 5-for-6 line with five RBI and five runs scored against the Wildcats.

RECORD OFFENSE FOR WOU: The Wolves set a GNAC scoring record in a 32-14 win against Central Washington on March 11… Seven players finished with multiple hits in the game while Derek Maiben and Justin Wakem both had five-hit games… With the boost of two home runs, Wakem scored five runs and drove in five more… Patrick Chung went 4-for-6 with six RBI… The combined 46 runs in the contest was the most combined runs in a WOU game since a 25-22 win over CWU on May 10, 2002.

RAKIN' WAKEM NAMED GNAC PLAYER OF WEEK: Hitting above .500 while leading Western Oregon to a 5-1 record, senior Justin Wakem was selected as the GNAC Baseball Player of the Week on Monday, March 18… Wakem went 10-of-19 at the plate (.526 batting average) and tied for the team lead with nine RBI and 10 runs over the six-game span… In all, five of Wakem's 10 hits this week went for extra bases.

WOLVES TAKE MSUB SERIES: Playing at home in the conference opener, WOU used two walk-off wins en route to a 3-1 series win against MSU Billings on March 2-3… The Wolves posted back-to-back 8-6 wins to start the series before a wild 12-11 win to start the second day… MSUB won the series finale 7-3… Jared McDonald connected on a walk-off 3-run homer to complete a WOU comeback in game No. 2 while a dropped fly ball with the bases loaded provided the team's walk-off win in game No. 3.

OPENING WEEK: After seeing the first two series of the season canceled due to weather-related issues, the Wolves picked up two games in Portland and went 2-0 while playing at Concordia's Porter Park... WOU defeated Central Washington, 13-1, on Feb. 18 and Concordia, 3-2, on Feb. 21 in the mid-week contests... WOU pitchers combined to strike out 31 batters in 18 innings of work while sporting a 1.50 earned run average in the two games.  

PRESEASON HONORS FOR McCORD & McDONALD: Infielders Connor McCord and Jared McDonald were honored by the NCBWA after being named to the West Region Preseason Team on Jan. 23... McDonald started 46 of Western Oregon's 48 games a season ago and made an appearance in all but one contest for the GNAC Tournament champions... McDonald hit .349 on the season and had a team-leading 24 extra-base hits... McCord started all 48 games during his sophomore season and ended the year with a .306 batting average... McCord belted a team-high 11 home runs and paced the club with 48 RBI... McCord also logged eight appearances (four starts) from the mound.

2019 PRESEASON POLL: Western Oregon will wear the favorite's crown during the 2019 season as the Wolves were picked to win the GNAC according to the Preseason Coaches' Poll... WOU collected three of the six first-place votes to edge Montana State Billings in total points, 33 to 31… Central Washington (21 pts) and Concordia (17 pts) were picked in the third and fourth positions while Northwest Nazarene (13 pts) and Saint Martin's (11 pts) rounded out the poll.

2019 RETURNING PITCHERS: Western Oregon returns 25 players from last season, including 11 pitchers from a staff that led the GNAC with a 4.64 ERA last season... The Wolves return three of its four pitchers that logged at least 50 innings of work last season with Alex Roth (2.77 ERA, 57.1 inn.), Jacob Fricke (4.01 ERA, 51.2 inn.) and Gabe Benavides (4.45 ERA, 58.2 inn.) returning to the rotation.

2019 RETURNING HITTERS: Three players that hit over .300 last season will return to the lineup this season, including All-GNAC catcher Jared McDonald... McDonald went .349 at the plate last season with a team-leading 15 doubles... Griffey Halle (.312) and Connor McCord (.306) also return after successful 2018 campaigns.

2018 RECAP: Western Oregon compiled a 27-21 overall record in 2018 with a 24-16 mark in conference play... MSU Billings went 29-11 in league competitions to win the GNAC title by 5.0 games over the Wolves... As the No. 2 seed, WOU went on to win the GNAC title with an 8-4 victory over the Yellowjackets... The Wolves hit .299 as a team for No. 2 in the conference... Starters Alex Roth and Jacob Fricke posted the leagues's top two ERA's in the GNAC with Roth edging his teammate 3.77 to 4.01... 13 players earned All-GNAC honors for the Wolves, including four first-team members and four second-team picks.. Roth was joined by junior catcher Jared McDonald, senior infielder Jay Leverett and senior outfielder Jacob Martinez on the All-GNAC First Team...  Fricke was a second-team selection along with senior pitcher Craig Grubbe, sophomore infielder/pitcher Connor McCord and senior infielder Nyles Nygaard.