FRESNO, Calif. – The first two series of the new season will take the Western Oregon University baseball team to California as they will open the new year at Fresno Pacific this week playing a four-game series. The Wolves will then travel to Turlock next week to play four games at Stanislaus State.
WOU will open their series with Fresno Pacific on Thursday, Feb. 3 with a single game starting at 6 p.m. The teams will play a doubleheader on Friday starting at 2 p.m. before wrapping up the set on Saturday with a single game at 12 p.m.
The Wolves are coming off of a trip to the NCAA West Regional that was hosted by Northwest Nazarene in Nampa. NNU, WOU and Azusa Pacific were the three teams selected to participate in the postseason tournament. WOU and NNU opened the regional against each other and a pitcher's duel followed with the Wolves plating two runs in the ninth to take the 2-1 victory. WOU then rolled to a 16-5 win over Azusa Pacific to advance to face Northwest Nazarene again. The Nighthawks rallied in the ninth this time to take the 7-5 win to force the teams to a winner-take-all finale the next day. NNU started early and held off the Wolves for the 12-6 win in the regional championship game.
Connor McCord and Mike Peterson each were named All-Region by the NCBWA and ABCA. McCord finished the year and his career in style leading WOU in multiple categories including batting average (.418), OPS (1.449), doubles (12), home runs (11), RBI (41), slugging percentage (.912), walks (22), on-base percentage (.537) and struck out just 10 times in 91 at-bats. He was also named the GNAC Player of the Year.
Peterson helped anchor a strong pitching staff as he led the Wolves in wins going 6-0, innings (49), starts (8), and tied for the team lead in appearances (9). Peterson held a 3.31 ERA and had 35 strikeouts to just 13 walks. He was also named the GNAC Pitcher of the Year.
Offensively, WOU returns several players from the 2021 season. Derek Maiben was second on the team with a .400 batting average and will be back for the Wolves. He also added a team-high 50 hits, 34 runs scored and drove in 20 runs. He struck out just four times in 125 at-bats. He also led the team in steals with seven. Derek was named to the All-GNAC First Team. Twin brother Jacob Maiben will be back for the coming season after hitting .337 with 35 hits, seven doubles and 16 RBI. Jacob was named to the All-GNAC Second Team. Justyn Herzog returns for the Wolves after collecting 24 hits, four home runs and 17 RBI in 2021. Anthony Zellner posted a .320 average in 18 games in 2021 and will be back behind the plate for the Wolves. He added five doubles and drove in 17.
Josh Berman and Blayze Arcano capped their careers with strong 2021 seasons with Berman hitting .354 with eight home runs and 26 RBI, while Arcano added a .342 average with seven home runs and 39 RBI. Arcano was also named the NCBWA National Player of the Week on May 5 for this performance on the road at Montana State Billings. Several others closed their WOU careers strong with Hunter Johnson hitting .344, David Gibons at .341, Sam Jones holding a .324 average, Jayden Hanna and Spencer Weston at .286, Tyler Brandenburg a .265 and Hank Forrest at .261. Ryan Santa Cruz played in 13 games behind the plate.
In addition to Peterson on the mound, WOU will have Matthew Dunaway back after he put together a big 2021 season as well. The right-hander led the starting staff in ERA (3.06) and strikeouts (49), tossing 32.1 innings and going 3-1 in eight total appearances with seven starts. He held opponents to a .175 batting average. Dunaway was named All-GNAC Second Team. Michael Moore had the top ERA out of the bullpen at 1.42 in 6.1 innings of work. Seth Kuykendall will be back as well for the Wolves after going 3-0 spending time as a reliever and starter. He tossed 20 innings and posted 20 strikeouts to just five walks. Joe Kinsky is back as well for the Wolves after pitching in seven games and 12.1 innings. He went 1-0 on the season.
Nick Parr, Nathan Bonck, Ryan Shipley, Alan Vasquez and Logan Hatley all capped their careers in 2021. Parr went 4-0 in 33.1 innings of work. Bonck added three saves in eight appearances. Shipley went 2-0 with a save in six appearances that included a start. Vasquez posted three saves as well in nine appearances that included a start. Hatley pitched in eight games that included six starts, logging 27.2 innings going 2-2 on the season.
Fresno Pacific went 19-21 last year and 12-12 in the PacWest conference. They played a similar opponent to the Wolves in Azusa Pacific as APU swept the four-game set in Fresno.
Chase Pinheiro led the Sunbirds with a .352 average, along with two doubles, a home run and seven RBI. Garrett Cooper tallied a .300 average with 11 RBI and four doubles. Jared Aguilar drove in 35 runs and Matt McGrady hit six home runs.
On the mound, Tyler Rumbaugh held a 3.86 ERA in 39.2 innings, going 4-1 on the season. Cooper went 5-3 with a 4.13 ERA in 52.1 innings. Pinheiro, Cooper, Aguilar, and McGrady are all back for this season.
WOU and FPU have played each other six times since 2017 splitting the series. All six games have been played in Fresno. The teams played four during the 2020 season going 2-2. The Wolves won the final two games of the series by scores of 4-1 and 9-3.
Live video and stats will be available for the four-game series. Video can be found here and stats can be found here.
