Baseball 3/2/2021 1:30:00 PM Brian Kortz

Baseball to Open Season Against Saint Martin’s

MONMOUTH, Ore./LACEY, Wash. – The long-awaited return to the field for the Western Oregon University baseball team will finally be realized this week when the Wolves face Saint Martin's in a pair of doubleheaders first in Monmouth on Thursday and then in Lacey on Friday. *Thursday's start time moved up to 11 a.m.*

With the first games of the season canceled against Eastern Oregon, the Wolves will face Great Northwest Athletic Conference opponent Saint Martin's in what will be non-conference games this week. The teams will play again on Apr. 2-3 in Monmouth which will count as GNAC games.

In the shortened 2020 season, WOU went 6-6, including a 4-4 mark in GNAC play. WOU split all three series played against Fresno Pacific, Montana State Billings and Central Washington.

Connor McCord returns after leading the team with a .484 batting average, driving in 11 runs, posting eight doubles and also added a home run and a triple starting all 12 games. Jacob Maiben was second on the team with a .368 average with four doubles and three RBI. He also had a team-best five stolen bases. WOU will be without third leading hitter Joshua McIntyre who posted a .302 average and led the team with three home runs and tied McCord for the team lead in RBI with 11. McIntyre graduated this past year.

The pitching staff returns many of the same arms from last year with Logan Hatley back after holding an impressive 0.69 ERA in 13 innings of work. He went 1-0 with a save and tallied 19 strikeouts. Fellow starter Alan Vasquez tallied 27 strikeouts in 13 innings of work, going 2-1 with a 3.46 ERA. Out of the bullpen, Wryland McKnight and Dylan Myers each worked scoreless outings in 2019 with McKnight appearing in one game and Myers in three. Seth Kuykendall appeared in a pair of games, logging 5.2 innings coming away with a 1.59 ERA. Mike Peterson tied Vasquez for the most starts on the team with each opening in three games. He went on to finish with a 4.24 ERA in 17 innings, tallying a 1-1 record.

Last time WOU and SMU played during the 2019 season WOU won six of the nine meetings. The teams split the four-game series in Monmouth before WOU closed the regular season sweeping all four games in Lacey. The teams then met in the GNAC Tournament with SMU claiming the victory. Since 2002, the Wolves hold a 127-27 advantage in the series record going 58-10 at home and 56-12 on the road, while holding a 13-5 mark in neutral meetings.

The Saints have four games played so far this season splitting a home and home series with Central Washington this past weekend. All four games were close with SMU winning games by scores of 6-4, 13-11 and CWU tallying wins by scores of 10-8, 4-3.

Cody Chavis leads SMU with a .455 batting average posting five hits over the first three games. Braeden McNally adds a .429 average. Seven others on the roster have at least a .300 average in the early start to the season. The Saints are hitting .255 and allowing a .345 average. On the mound, Justice Yamashita had a scoreless outing lasting four innings. Ryan Driscoll also has a spotless ERA tossing two innings without a run allowed. The SMU pitching staff holds an 8.36 ERA and the opposition has a 6.75 ERA.

WOU and SMU will open their series with a doubleheader this Thursday in Monmouth starting at 11 a.m. The teams will play a nine inning first game, followed by a seven inning second game. On Friday, the series will shift to Lacey as another doubleheader will start at 11 a.m.

In order to ensure the health and safety of the student-athletes, coaches, officials and staff, and to provide the best opportunity to complete the spring seasons, spectators will not be allowed for regular-season home events at GNAC institutions for the remainder of the 2020-21 academic year. Additionally, spectators will not be allowed at the GNAC's spring championships. Live video and stats will be available for the games.

For the Thursday games in Monmouth, click here for live video and click here for live stats.
For the Friday games in Lacey, click here for live video and click here for live stats.

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