MONMOUTH, Ore. – The Western Oregon University baseball team put together a string of three straight impressive games that eventually led to the Wolves taking the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships on Saturday. The conference title will send WOU to the NCAA Regional field with the automatic bid. The Wolves had to win twice on Saturday, opening the day with a 7-2 win over Montana State Billings before starting early to defeat Northwest Nazarene in the title game by a score of 5-2.
"Happy for our guys that we get to keep playing. We haven't really done anything the easy way this season, but for them to bear down and be comfortable in tough situations. I'm just really, really happy for them that we're going to be able to keep playing and keep competing as a group," head coach Kellen Walker said.
It's the first conference championship title since 2018 when WOU won back-to-back crowns in 2017 and 2018. Since the tournament's inception in 2013, the Wolves have won the title five times.
WOU will now look forward to the NCAA Selection Show on Sunday night at 7 p.m. (Pacific) to see what seed they will receive and where they will play. The NCAA West Region takes the top six teams and has two host sites, with the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds hosting three total teams each. Entering the final week of the rankings, Point Loma was the top seed, while Azusa Pacific was second.
To even reach the championship game on Saturday, WOU (34-18) had to win against Montana State Billings to start the day.
The energy was electric from the opening pitch for the Wolves and it showed in the first inning. Jacob Maiben started things off with a first pitch single up the middle. Twin brother Derek Maiben laid down a perfect bunt single that put runners at first and second. Justyn Herzog then followed with another bunt that turned into a fielder's choice and allowed everyone to reach safely when the 'Jackets tried to get the lead runner at third, but Jacob Maiben beat the throw to load the bases. John Stark drove in the first run of the game with an RBI groundout to shortstop. Following the second out, Leighton Moniz hit a sharp grounder to third that turned into an RBI single as the third baseman made a dive to stop the ball and a throw from his knees wasn't in time to get the speedy Moniz to extend the lead to 2-0.
MSUB (26-27) got a run back in the home half of the first, as the Yellowjackets played as the home team. The 'Jackets tied the game at two with another run in the second and it stayed that way over the next several innings.
That's when Spencer Weston came through with a clutch hit in the sixth. With both Jackson Holstad and Moniz on with singles and two outs, Weston took the first pitch he saw back up the middle for a two-run single to give WOU a lead they wouldn't relinquish at 4-2.
That was all Parker Johnson needed on the mound. After a 1-2-3 sixth inning, he worked around a single in the seventh and another single in the eighth to close the game out tossing a 1-2-3 ninth.
The offense added a few more insurance runs in the eighth. Anthony Zellner doubled and then scored on a fielding error by the third baseman on a ball put in play by Weston. After Weston moved to third on a wild pitch, he scored on an RBI single by Jacob Maiben. Jacob stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch before scoring on an RBI single to right by Derek Maiben for the 7-2 lead.
WOU held the 12-7 edge in hits and the teams combined for three errors, two by MSUB. Derek Maiben led the way with three hits, while Jacob Maiben, Holstad, Moniz and Weston all added two hits apiece. Weston drove in two runs. On the mound, Johnson collected his team-high eighth win of the season (8-3) which ties for the GNAC lead. In addition to going all nine innings, he tallied three strikeouts and allowed just one earned run while throwing 80 pitches.
Tyler Godfrey paced MSUB with two hits, while Carson Green and Mitch Winter each drove in a run. Connor Redmond started and went the first three innings to get the no decision allowing two earned runs. Brooks Zimmer went the next 3.1 innings to take the loss (2-1) allowing two earned runs.
That then set the table to the championship game against Northwest Nazarene. The Nighthawks (30-21) had the bye into the championship game being the top seed. For this game, WOU was the home team.
If the energy was high to start the day, it went up another level entering the title game and it showed in the first few innings.
After Seth Kuykendall worked a 1-2-3 top of the first, the offense jumped ahead right away in the home half. Jacob Maiben singled and then Derek Maiben singled to center and on the play, the centerfielder misplayed the ball allowing Jacob to score from first for the 1-0 lead.
Following another 1-2-3 top of the second, WOU tallied four more runs in the second. Holstad opened the inning with a single up the middle. Moniz added a bunt single just past the pitcher to put two runners on. Zellner battled before drawing a full-count walk to load the bases. Weston was hit on the first pitch to bring in Holstad. Levi Cummings added a sacrifice fly to right that was a sinking line drive caught by the outfielder. On the play, after Moniz scored, the throw home sailed to the backstop allowing Zellner to move to third and Weston to second. Jacob Maiben cashed in with a single to third base to score Zellner. Derek Maiben closed the scoring in the frame with a sacrifice fly to right for the 5-0 lead.
Kuykendall worked two more scoreless innings before Northwest Nazarene threatened in the fifth. The first two baserunners reached on singles to put runners at the corners. A fielder's choice groundout to second brought in the first run for NNU. After the second out was recorded, a walk and then a single scored the second run of the inning leaving WOU with the 5-2 lead.
Bryce Bond came on in relief to finish off the fifth and then he worked around a few baserunners in the sixth getting a double play and later a strikeout. That momentum carried into the seventh working the 1-2-3 inning.
In the eighth, Matthew Dunaway entered and following a leadoff single, he retired the side in order. Down to their last at-bat in the ninth, Dunaway kept the Nighthawks from mounting a threat collecting a 1-2-3 inning for the save and the 5-2 win sending WOU to the GNAC Championship title.
NNU ended up holding the 8-6 edge in hits while the teams combined for four errors, three on the Nighthawks. Jacob Maiben led the way with two hits, while Derek Maiben, Jacob Maiben, Weston and Cummings each drove in a run. On the mound, Kuykendall went the first 4.2 innings to end up with the no decision, allowing just two earned runs. Bond collected the win (3-1) going the next 2.1 innings allowing no runs with two strikeouts. Dunaway picked up his fourth save of the season working two scoreless innings.
Bond was named the GNAC Championships MVP after throwing 6.2 shutout innings in three relief appearances. He allowed just one walk on four hits, adding seven strikeouts and a win, holding opponents to a .174 batting average.
"I like coming out there late in the game as I know I can go 100 percent for two innings, rather than having to go at a steady rate for seven or eight innings," Bond said of transitioning from being a starter to a reliever this year. "I think that's one of the great things about pitching in this spot and being able to come with energy and fire my team up when I get the last out of the inning."
Tyler Best and Grant Kerry each tallied two hits for NNU, with Best and Kyle Payne each driving in a run. On the mound, Brock Moffitt started and went the first 1.1 innings to take the loss (4-3) allowing five runs (two earned). The bullpen of three pitchers went the final 6.2 innings allowing no runs the rest of the way.
WOU will now advance to the NCAA Regionals with the bracket being released on ncaa.com at 7 p.m. on Sunday night.
