PORTLAND, Ore. – With the start to a new season right around the corner, the Western Oregon University softball team was tabbed to finish third in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Preseason Poll that was released on Wednesday.
WOU tallied 24 points to come in third, with Western Washington picked to win the title with 46 points and four first-place votes. Northwest Nazarene was a close second with 44 points and three first-place votes. Right behind WOU was Saint Martin's in fourth with 22 points, Simon Fraser in fifth with 21 points, Montana State Billings in sixth with 20 points and Central Washington in seventh with 19 points.
The Wolves finished fifth last year in the GNAC standings after going 14-17 overall and 9-11 in GNAC play. WOU entered the GNAC Championships last season as the No. 4 seed after Central Washington had to withdraw due to COVID protocols. Hosting the championships, the Wolves made a push taking Northwest Nazarene to the limit in the opening game before falling by a run. WOU then stayed alive picking up a 7-6 win over Saint Martin's before facing the Nighthawks again with NNU winning the second meeting in the championships.
The 2021 season featured a no-hitter by Reilly Tidwell at Northwest Nazarene and Chandler Bishop was named NFCA National Player of the Week in early April becoming the first in program history. Head coach Lonny Sargent became the program's all-time winningest coach and now has 230 victories at WOU. He passed Pam Knox's 226 career victories at WOU that was set in 2012.
Bishop finished the season leading the Wolves in multiple categories including average (.357), home runs (7), RBI (22), slugging percentage (.750), walks (13), OPS (1.222) and on-base percentage (.472). In the circle, Bishop pitched in seven games that were all starts, tallying a win and two complete games in 32 innings.
Tidwell returns this season after leading the Wolves in ERA (3.94), strikeouts (28) and was tied for the team lead in complete games (3), while pitching 48 innings and tallying a pair of wins. Maddie Mayer is back in the circle for the Wolves after leading the team in wins (4), innings pitched (54.2) and tying for the team lead in complete games (3). Several other pitchers will be back for the Wolves after pitching for the first time this past season. Erica Soliz saw time in 32 innings, collecting two wins and a complete game. Nicki Derrick added three wins and a save in 25.2 innings. Jada Young tallied two wins in 18 innings.
Logan Carlos is back for the Wolves after finishing fourth on the team with a .288 batting average. She also added 21 hits, four doubles, a home run and seven RBI in 28 starts. Kirah McGlothan also played in 28 games last year and is back for the Wolves, collecting 13 hits, five doubles, three home runs and 11 RBI. Soliz also added four hits in 10 at-bats, driving in three runs. Maddie Brandner tallied a double and two RBI on the season. Bella Valdes saw time in 20 games, posting a .273 average with nine hits, a double, a triple and three RBI. Baylie Kahele added 12 hits, a double and seven RBI. Zoie Recolan played in 23 games coming away with 17 hits, three doubles, two home runs and nine RBI. Isabelle Lewis played in 16 games, posting nine hits, three doubles and four RBI. Karly Tiedeman added a double on the season. Hannah Stewart played in 22 games and had nine hits, two doubles and four RBI. Sophie Franklin scored nine runs and added an RBI. Natalie Willoughby had a hit and two runs scored. Sage Barnes saw action in four games.
WOU will look to open the 2022 season on Feb. 1 at home against Bushnell with a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. After that, the Wolves will travel to California for the Concordia-Irvine Tournament and then the Hawaii Pacific Tournament before returning home to host Montana State Billings in non-conference action on Feb. 26-27. A few more road trips will follow playing non-conference games at Western Washington and Saint Martin's to open March before starting GNAC play in Canada against Simon Fraser on Mar. 12-13. The Wolves will see Montana State Billings again on Mar. 19-20 in Monmouth, but these games will count as GNAC contests. WOU closes March hosting Saint Martin's in GNAC games on Mar. 26-27.
WOU will start April by competing in the Tournament of Champions in Turlock, Calif., before traveling to Idaho to face Northwest Nazarene. The Wolves then host Western Washington on Apr. 23-24 in the final home games of the season before playing at Central Washington at the end of April to close the regular season. The GNAC Championships will take place May 5-7 in Lacey, Wash., hosted by Saint Martin's.
