LACEY, Wash. --- The Western Oregon baseball team finds itself in the driver's seat to win back-to-back GNAC Championships title after beating Central Washington 5-4 and Northwest Nazarene 4-1 Thursday at Saints Field.

The Wolves (29-13) take on NNU (24-28) noon Saturday with a chance to win the conference tournament and earn an automatic berth into the NCAA Regionals. In this double elimination event, WOU can lose and has another chance to beat NNU in a winner-take-all game 30 minutes after the first game.

In Thursday's first game, WOU scored a single run in each of its last four innings to beat the Wildcats 5-4. Levi Cummings went 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI, Jacob Maiben drove in two runs and Cedric Gatter finished 2-for-4. Chris Hardin got the start, going six innings and giving up two runs on three hits with two strikeouts. Sebasten Boivin got the win in relief, going an inning and giving up an unearned run on two hits with two strikeouts before Ryan Shipley picked up his fifth save - going two innings and giving up a run on a hit with two strikeouts.

In the second game, WOU took a 3-0 lead after three innings - capped by a Cummings solo homer in the third - and held on from there thanks to a strong outing by the WOU pitching staff. Dylan Chalmers moved to 7-0 by going six innings and giving up an unearned run on five hits with two strikeouts and two walks. Bryce Bond picked up his first save - giving up no runs an a hit in two innings of work. At the plate, AJ Cortese finished 2-for-4 for WOU with two doubles and an RBI to lead the way.