ELLENSBURG, Wash. – After opening the Great Northwest Athletic Conference season last weekend by splitting with Montana State Billings, the Western Oregon University baseball team hits the road this week playing at Central Washington with a pair of doubleheaders both Saturday and Sunday starting at noon.
Western Oregon enters the week 4-4 overall and 2-2 in the GNAC season. The Wolves opened the series with the 'Jackets in style rolling to a 11-1 win. After falling just short in game two, WOU came back for the 3-2 win in game three, before MSU Billings claimed the win in the finale to split the series.
Eight games in, WOU is hitting .240 as a team, while the pitching staff has held the opposition to just a .194 average. Four regulars in the lineup are hitting over .300 with Connor McCord off to a torrid pace to start the season hitting .583 with 14 hits, eight doubles, a triple and eight RBI. He has scored six runs, is slugging 1.000 and has a .625 on-base percentage. The Maiben twins are also hitting over .300 with Jacob Maiben at .345 and Derek Maiben at .313. Jacob has 10 hits, three doubles, three RBI and nine runs scored. He also has three stolen bases. Derek has five hits, a double and four runs scored. Joshua McIntyre rounds out the group that's hitting over .300 at .310 with nine hits, a home run and three RBI with six runs scored.
The pitching staff has a 4.04 ERA and the opposition has a 3.23 ERA. Six Wolves haven't allowed an earned run to start the season with McCord, Kolbe Bates, Evan Kingma, Seth Kuykendall, Michael Moore and Dylan Myers. Of the group, Moore has pitched the most innings with six and has recorded 10 strikeouts. McCord has eight strikeouts in four innings of work, along with a save. Kuykendall, Moore, Mike Peterson and Alan Vasquez all have wins this season. Logan Hatley has the other save on the season.
WOU ranks in the top-three in the GNAC in several categories including second in double plays per game (0.50), second in doubles per game (1.75), first in the GNAC and 65th nationally in earned run average (4.04), second in the GNAC and 80th nationally in fielding percentage (0.966), first in the GNAC and sixth nationally in hits allowed per nine innings (6.12), third in the GNAC in scoring (5.4), third in the GNAC in stolen bases per game (1.13), third in the GNAC in strikeout-to-walk ratio (1.77), third in the GNAC and 59th nationally in strikeouts per nine innings (9.6), third in the GNAC and 86th nationally in triples (3), second in the GNAC and 44th nationally in triples per game (0.38), first in the GNAC and 33rd nationally in WHIP (1.28) and second in the GNAC in win-loss percentage (.500).
Individually, McCord is first in the GNAC and second nationally in batting average (.583), first in the GNAC and 19th nationally in doubles (8), first in the GNAC and tied for first nationally in doubles per game (1.0), first in the GNAC and 31st nationally in hits per game (1.75), first in the GNAC and 12th nationally in on-base percentage (.625), second in the GNAC in runs batted in per game (1.00), first in the GNAC and 55th nationally in sacrifice flies (2), first in the GNAC and fifth nationally in slugging percentage (1.000), second in the GNAC in triples (1) and second in the GNAC in triples per game (0.13). Blayze Arcano is first in the GNAC in sacrifice bunts (2) and is first in the GNAC and 39th nationally in sacrifice bunts per game (0.25). Jacob Maiben is first in the GNAC and 70th nationally in toughest to strikeout. Justyn Herzog and Mitchell Hulse are tied for McCord for second in the GNAC in triples (1), while Hules is first in the GNAC and 94th nationally in triples per game (0.14). Peterson is first in the GNAC in both WHIP (0.79), good for 42nd nationally and in walks allowed per nine innings (1.42), good for 60th nationally.
Central Washington is 4-10 overall and 1-3 in GNAC play, dropping three of four this past weekend at home to Northwest Nazarene. CWU started the season dropping three straight to Stanislaus State, split a four game series versus Academy of Art and dropped two of three at Corban before the Northwest Nazarene series.
The Wildcats hit .270 as a team and allow a .282 average. Michael Copeland leads the team with a .414 average, with 12 hits, a home run and six RBI. Justin Hampson adds a .396 average with a home run and seven RBI. Mitch Lesmeister leads the team with 11 RBI. On the mound, the team holds a 6.83 ERA and the opposition has a 4.74 team ERA. JJ Asinas and Aaron Foust each have an under four ERA with Asinas at 3.72 with a 1-0 record in 9.2 innings, while Foust has a 3.86 ERA and an 0-1 record in seven innings of work. Tyler Hoefer leads the team with a 2-0 record in 17 innings.
Since 2003, WOU has dominated the series holding a 110-39 record. The teams played nine times last year, with the first meeting a non-conference contest in Portland with WOU dominating the 13-1 victory. The Wolves went 7-2 in the meetings last year, splitting the four on the road and sweeping the four in Monmouth.
WOU and Central Washington will open their four-game series on Saturday beginning at noon. Live video and stats can be found by clicking here.
