NEWBERG, Ore. – The Western Oregon University baseball team will travel just up the road to face George Fox this Tuesday afternoon at 2 p.m. for a single, nine inning game. This will be the first of two meetings between the teams as they will then play in Monmouth on Apr. 5.
WOU (9-7) is coming off of a 3-1 series win against Montana State Billings to open the GNAC part of the schedule. The Wolves swept the first doubleheader of the series on Friday rolling to a pair of wins by scores of 10-2 and 8-1. WOU then won the first game in a low-scoring battle on Saturday coming away with the 2-1 victory. The series finale remained close before the Yellowjackets were able to score six runs in the seventh to take the win.
Jacob Maiben leads the way with a .327 average, tallying 17 hits, nine runs scored, a double, a triple and five RBI. He has also gone 7-7 on stolen base attempts. Brother Derek Maiben is hitting .310 with 18 hits, 12 runs scored, a double and seven RBI. He adds five stolen bases. Spencer Weston is hitting .280 with 14 hits, 12 runs scored, three doubles and eight RBI. He has added three stolen bases. Jackson Holstad is hitting .273 with 15 hits, five runs scored, three doubles, a triple and nine RBI, along with adding four stolen bases. Some other top numbers include Sebastian Morales hitting .348 with eight hits, two doubles and an RBI. Darian Noll is hitting .333 in three at-bats and Anthony Zellner is at .289 with 13 hits, six runs scored, four doubles and seven RBI. John Stark hit his first collegiate home run in the series finale and has four RBI on the season. WOU is hitting .231 as a team, with 117 hits, 76 runs scored, 19 doubles, two triples, three home runs and 57 RBI. Opponents are hitting .240 with 122 hits, 71 runs scored, 25 doubles, two triples, three home runs and 64 RBI.
On the mound, Sebasten Boivin lowered his ERA to a team best 1.50 in 12 innings, posting nine strikeouts. Arturo Alvarez has a 2.25 ERA in 20 innings that includes four starts. He has 12 strikeouts to just three walks and is 2-0 on the season. Bryce Bond had another strong start to collect his first win of the season to move to 1-0 on the year in 14.1 innings. He has a 2.51 ERA and 17 strikeouts. Matthew Dunaway holds a 2.60 ERA in 17.1 innings, tallying 32 strikeouts to just six walks. Parker Johnson had a big relief appearance in getting the win in game three of the series to move to 3-1 on the year. He has a 2.70 ERA in 13.1 innings with 15 strikeouts to just four walks. Seth Kuykendall tallied a save in the 2-1 win for his first of the season in 18.2 innings of work. He is also 2-1 on the season with a 3.37 ERA. Mike Peterson tossed a strong six innings against the 'Jackets and holds a 4.00 ERA in nine innings this season. As a staff, the Wolves have a 4.02 ERA in 132 innings, tallying 148 strikeouts to just 55 walks. Opponents have a 3.52 ERA in 133 innings, coming away with 129 strikeouts to 68 walks.
WOU and George Fox haven't played a regular season game in awhile as the Wolves hold the all-time series record at 50-26. George Fox is 9-8 on the season and took two of three from Pacific Lutheran this past weekend in Newberg. The Bruins played their first 14 games of the season on the road before hosting their first series this weekend.
Jeremy Sangalang leads the team with a .345 average, adding nine RBI and 20 hits. Jared Miller is hitting .273 with 18 hits, 14 runs scored, two doubles and five RBI. Brandon King leads the team with 10 RBI. Three pitchers have a below one ERA to start the season with Andrew Sutherland tossing 18.2 innings and has a 0.48 ERA and a 2-0 record. Noah Meffert is 3-1 on the season in 10.1 innings and a 2.61 ERA.
Following the single game against George Fox, the Wolves will return home to host Central Washington this weekend in GNAC action playing a pair of doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday starting at noon at the WOU Baseball Field.
Live video and stats will be available for the game at George Fox. Live video can be found here and live stats can be found here.
