BILLINGS, Mont. – Having last played on Apr. 10, the Western Oregon University baseball team will be ready to return to the field this week when they will face Montana State Billings in a four-game Great Northwest Athletic Conference series this Thursday and Friday.
WOU was scheduled to face Central Washington at home on Apr. 17-18, but CWU had to cancel those games, which left the Wolves without playing each of the past two weeks as they had a bye this past week. It will be back-to-back road trips for the Wolves, first going to Montana and then to Lacey to face Saint Martin's on May 6-7.
Northwest Nazarene continues to lead the GNAC with a 17-3 record. WOU is second at 11-5, followed by Central Washington at 9-7, MSU Billings at 8-16 and Saint Martin's at 3-17. The top-three teams will make the GNAC Championships. WOU last faced NNU on Apr. 9-10 that was a wild four-game set with the Wolves winning the first two games and the Nighthawks coming back with a pair of walk-off wins to take both games of the final day.
Derek Maiben leads the team with a .379 batting average, tallying 25 hits, two triples, two doubles, 13 runs scored and 10 RBI. Connor McCord adds a .362 average with 17 hits, six doubles, five home runs and 17 RBI. He leads the team in home runs, doubles and RBI, while holding a 1.267 OPS and .808 slugging percentage. Jacob Maiben adds a .333 average with 17 hits, two doubles, six RBI and 10 runs scored. Sam Jones (.421), Hunter Johnson (.364), Jayden Hanna (.333) David Gibons (.326), Josh Berman (.324) and Blayze Arcano (.306) all have over .300. Justyn Herzog and Berman have each added three home runs, with Herzog driving in nine and Berman with 10 RBI. Overall, WOU is hitting .299 with 160 hits, 99 runs scored, 29 doubles, three triples, 15 home runs and 82 RBI. They also have 12 stolen bases.
On the mound, Michael Moore has a perfect 0.00 ERA in three appearances that includes 3.2 innings of work, a 1-0 record and four strikeouts without a walk. Trae Perkins has a 1.00 ERA in nine innings, tallying a pair of saves. Nick Parr has the lowest ERA of the starters at 1.83 in three starts this year going 2-0 in 19.2 innings and has 25 strikeouts. Mike Peterson is right behind with a 1.86 ERA in five starts this season, going 4-0 in 29 innings and has 25 strikeouts. Matthew Dunaway has a 2.25 ERA in four starts this year, logging 20 innings and is 2-1 with 31 strikeouts. Logan Hatley has thrown 24.1 innings in five starts, going 1-1 with 28 strikeouts. Seth Kuykendall picked up a big win in relief this past weekend and is 1-0 in 9.2 innings tallying 10 strikeouts. As a staff, WOU has a 3.95 ERA in 141.1 innings, collecting 155 strikeouts to just 56 walks.
WOU ranks high in the GNAC and nationally in several categories including third in the GNAC and 68th nationally in batting average (.299), first in the GNAC and 79th nationally in complete games (1), third in the GNAC in double plays turned per game (0.56), second in the GNAC and 23rd nationally in ERA (3.95), first in the GNAC and 70th nationally in fielding percentage (.966), third in the GNAC in hit-by-pitch (27), first in the GNAC and eighth nationally in hits allowed per nine innings (7.13), third in the GNAC in home runs (15), third in the GNAC in home runs per game (0.83), third in the GNAC and 95th nationally in on-base percentage (.389), first in the GNAC and 87th nationally in sacrifice bunts (11), third in the GNAC in sacrifice flies (12), first in the GNAC and 46th nationally in shutouts (2), 89th nationally in slugging percentage (.448), third in the GNAC in stolen bases per game (0.67), second in the GNAC and 23rd nationally in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.77), first in the GNAC and 47th nationally in strikeouts per nine innings (9.9), first in the GNAC and fifth nationally in WHIP (1.19), second in the GNAC and 45th nationally in win-loss percentage (.667) and second in the GNAC and 29th nationally in walks allowed per nine innings (3.57).
Individually, McCord is fourth in the GNAC and 72nd nationally in doubles per game (0.40), Parr is second in the GNAC and 23rd nationally in ERA (1.83), Peterson is third in the GNAC and 27th nationally (1.86), while Dunaway is fourth in the GNAC and 49th nationally (2.25). Jacob Maiben is first in the GNAC and first nationally in hit-by-pitch per game (0.76) and second in the GNAC and 15th nationally in hit-by-pitch (13). Dunaway is first in the GNAC and 12th nationally in hits allowed per nine innings (4.95), Peterson is second in the GNAC and 19th nationally (5.28) and Parr is third in the GNAC and 40th nationally (5.95). McCord is second in the GNAC and 42nd nationally in home runs per game (0.33), Jacob Maiben is third in the GNAC and 51st nationally in on-base percentage (.521). McCord is first in the GNAC and 30th nationally in slugging percentage (.809). Parr is first in the GNAC and 40th nationally in strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.25), Dunaway is second in the GNAC and 42nd nationally (6.20), Peterson is fifth (3.57) and Hatley is sixth (3.11). Dunaway is second in the GNAC and 16th nationally in strikeouts per nine innings (13.95), Parr is fifth in the GNAC and 92nd nationally (11.44), Hatley in sixth in the GNAC (10.36). Derek Maiben is first in the GNAC and 18th nationally in toughest to strikeout and ranks fourth in the GNAC in total triples (2) and second in the GNAC and 74th nationally in triples per game (0.11). Dunaway is first in the GNAC and ninth in the nation in WHIP (0.80), Peterson is second in the GNAC and 13th nationally (0.83) and Parr is third in the GNAC and 21st nationally (0.86). Parr is first in the GNAC and 75th nationally in walks allowed per nine innings (1.83), Peterson is third in the GNAC (2.17) and Dunaway is fourth in the GNAC (2.25).
Back on Mar. 26-27, WOU took three of four from MSU Billings in Monmouth. The Yellowjackets are 8-24 overall and 8-16 in GNAC play having won three of four against Saint Martin's this past week in Lacey.
Will Riley leads MSU Billings with a .386 average, tallying 49 hits, 13 doubles, a triple, six home runs and 25 RBI. Daniel Cipriano adds a .357 average with 40 hits, 10 doubles, 12 home runs and 43 RBI. Tanner Cantwell is hitting .324 with 35 hits, nine doubles, a triple, eight home runs and 24 RBI. As a team, the 'Jackets are hitting .290 with 303 hits, 251 runs scored, 65 doubles, eight triples, 59 home runs and 225 RBI.
On the mound, Blake Tritch has a 2.33 ERA in six appearances, going 1-0 in 19.1 innings. Mason Powell has a 4.66 ERA in six appearances and 9.2 innings, going 1-0. Five pitchers have thrown over 20 innings, as MSU Billings holds a 9.56 ERA in 240 innings.
Since 2008, WOU holds an 80-34 record in the series going 33-16 in Billings during that time. The teams have split the past 10 games going 5-5.
WOU and MSU Billings will open their four-game series this Thursday with a doubleheader starting at 12 p.m. (PST). The teams will play another doubleheader on Friday also at 12 p.m. (PST).
Live video can be found here.
Live stats can be found here.
