LACEY, Wash./ELLENSBURG, Wash.-- The Western Oregon University softball team will play their first Great Northwest Athletic Conference games of the season this week as they travel to Saint Martin's on Saturday and Central Washington on Sunday to finish off a grueling road swing that has included 15 consecutive games away from home.
 
Western Oregon (10-8) just concluded a trip to the PFX Athletics Tournament in Florida where the Wolves went 3-3 over their three days. The tournament included wins over Concordia College – New York, College of Saint Rose and Wilmington University.
 
WOU scored 19 total runs over their first two games of the tournament, including a 9-0 five-inning win over Concordia. Defensively, they were able to hold opponents to five or fewer runs in four of the six games. This led to a clean sweep of the GNAC Player of the Week awards for Western as Tyler Creach and Maddie Mayer took home the honors. Head Coach Lonny Sargent is approaching 250 career NCAA victories, entering the weekend with 244 wins.
 
Creach led the conference in hits over the week with 10, posting a .455 batting average for the tourney. She also tied for the team lead in RBI with six, runs scored with four and total bases with 16. Her three doubles were also a team high, while she slugged .727 and had a .455 on-base percentage.
 
Mayer was solid in the circle all week in Florida as the sophomore left-hander went 2-1 with a 1.17 ERA in three appearances. She tossed a pair of complete games in 18 innings of work and allowed just three earned runs while posting 14 strikeouts.

WOU holds a .312 team batting average, while opponents have a .313 average. The Wolves have piled up the extra base hits with 23 doubles, six triples and 12 home runs so far this season. Six players are hitting over .300, with Ayanna Arceneaux leading the way with a .435 average, as she has 27 hits, four doubles, three triples, a home run and seven RBI in starting all 18 games this season. She also has six walks to just four strikeouts and has swiped three bases. Creach is right behind with a .400 average, collecting 26 hits, six doubles, two home runs and 16 RBI. Sydney Bowers leads the team with three home runs and is second to Creach on the team in RBI with 11, while hitting .370. Zoie Recolan is hitting .341, with 15 hits, two doubles and nine RBI. Allyson Drury and Nicole Miller are both hitting .333, with Drury tallying 10 hits, a home run and seven RBI, while Miller has seven hits, with a home run and seven RBI. Chandler Bishop is third on the team in RBI with 10.

In the circle, Mayer leads the way with a 3.52 ERA, posting a 5-2 record with a save in 47.2 innings of work. She has five complete games, a shutout and 29 strikeouts. Bishop has a 4.67 ERA with a 2-2 record in 30 innings of work. She has two complete games and 10 strikeouts. Reilly Tidwell has three wins this season, going 3-4 in 38.1 innings of work and holds a 6.03 ERA. She has added 14 strikeouts and three complete games. WOU has a 4.65 team ERA and opponents have a 4.56 team ERA.

WOU ranks in the top-three in the GNAC in several categories including third in the GNAC and 55^th nationally in batting average (.312), third in the GNAC and 55^th nationally in double plays (5), second in the GNAC and 75^th nationally in doubles (23), second in the GNAC and 86^th nationally in fielding percentage (.960), second in the GNAC and 36^th nationally in hits (157), 52^nd nationally in home runs (12), second in the GNAC and 47^th nationally in total runs (102), third in the GNAC in total sacrifice bunts (7), first in the GNAC and 23^rd nationally in triples (6), second in the GNAC and 43^rd nationally in triples per game (0.33), third in the GNAC and 96^th nationally in win-loss percentage (0.556).

Arceneaux is second in the GNAC and 32^nd nationally in hits (27), third in the GNAC and 63^rd nationally in total bases (40), first in the GNAC and eighth nationally in triples (3) and first in the GNAC and 32^nd nationally in triples per game (0.17). Mayer is third in the GNAC and 60^th nationally in complete games (5). Creach is 74^th nationally in doubles (6), third in the GNAC and 42^nd nationally in hits (26) and 80^th nationally in total bases (38). Bowers is 95^th nationally in home runs (3).
 
Saint Martin's (5-4) earned four of their five wins this season at the Desert Stinger where they went 4-1, only falling to UT – Tyler. Since then they have lost three of their last four, including being out-scored by Concordia Irvine 20-3 in their previous two games.
 
SMU is hitting .304 as a team with 12 doubles and seven home runs in 247 at-bats. In the circle, they have a 4.54 team ERA including a conference-low 24 strikeouts in 57.0 innings of work.
 
WOU is 64-30 against the Saints all-time. They have won five straight in the series with their last loss coming back on March 31, 2018. Western is 23-16 in Lacey.
 
Central Washington (9-7) comes into the week on a four-game winning streak. The wins follow a slide of losses in five of six games to get the Wildcats back over .500 by two games.
 
CWU has struggled at the plate, hitting just .276 this season, but did have 20 runs last week in a win over Pacific Lutheran. Their pitching has had issues as well, holding a GNAC-high 5.30 team ERA.
 
WOU is 48-53 against Central all-time. The Wolves have won 10 of the last 13 meetings dating back to 2017. They are 13-25 in Ellensburg.
 
Their doubleheader with the Saints is set to start at 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 7, while their twin bill with the Wildcats on Sunday, March 8, will have a 12 p.m. PST first pitch. Both games will have live stats available here.