SERIES HISTORY
vs. CENTRAL WASHINGTON (1 GNAC CHAMPIONSHIPS TITLE)

• ALL-TIME: 153-72
• STREAK: Lost 1
• 2024 Record vs. CWU: 4-4 (2-2 at home, 2-2 at CWU)
• GNAC CHAMPIONSHIPS vs. CWU: 4-3

vs. NORTHWEST NAZARENE (1 GNAC CHAMPIONSHIPS TITLE)

• ALL-TIME: 158-68
• STREAK: Won 2
• 2024 Record vs. CWU: 5-3 (3-1 at home, 2-2 at NNU)
• GNAC CHAMPIONSHIPS vs. NNU: 10-3

WOLVES NOTES
THE WOLVES (6 GNAC CHAMPIONSHIPS TITLES)

• LAST WEEK: 3-1 at MSU Billings
• STREAK: Won 2
• SPLITS: Home 15-6 | Road 12-11 | Neutral 0-2

WOU TEAM STATS (GNAC Ranking: Out of 5 Teams):

• RUNS PER GAME: 5.89 (4th)
• AVG: .278 (4th)
• ERA: 4.31 (1st)
• FLD %: .973 (2nd)

GOING FOR LUCKY 7
The Western Oregon baseball team is looking to claim its GNAC-best seventh GNAC Championships title in what is the 10th edition of the event (started in 2013, but wasn't played in 2020 or 2021). NNU, CWU and MSU Billings each have one GNAC Championships title.

WOU RANKED 8TH IN REGION, SEARCHING FOR 4TH-STRAIGHT NCAA REGIONAL APPEARANCE
The Wolves are looking to qualify for a fourth-straight NCAA Regional appearance - but likely will need to win the GNAC Championships or get some help after being ranked eighth in the latest NCAA Regional Rankings (six teams make the regional). If the Wolves do qualify for the NCAAs, it would be the 11th time since joining the NCAA in 2002.

WOU has 10 of the conference's 13 NCAA postseason baseball bids since the conference started in 2002.

THE TRADITION CONTINUES ... 31-STRAIGHT WINNING SEASONS
The W on WOU's baseball hat can stand for Western or Wolves - but also for winning with the success of the program over the last three-plus decades.

With a 27-19 record heading into the postseason, the Wolves have guaranteed themselves a 31st-straight winning season (not counting the COVID-shortened season of 2020). The last time the Wolves suffered a losing season was 1992.

What was going on in 1992?

• There were approximately 25 websites on the Internet (now more than 2 billion)
• Cost of gas: $1.13
• Aladdin, A Few Good Men, A League of their Own and Wayne's World were released
• "End of the Road" by Boyz II Men was the top single of 1992 according to Billboard ... No. 2? ... "Baby Got Back" by Sir-Mix-A-Lot 
• The first smartphone was developed by IBM

PITCHING & DEFENSE ...
The Wolves' backbone this season has been pitching and defense as WOU ranks in the top 25 nationally in ERA (4.31 - 20th in D-II) and fielding percentage (.973 - 25th). WOU pitching also ranks in the top 20 nationally in WHIP (1.30 - 10th), hits allowed per nine (8.36 - 16th) and walks allowed per nine (3.36 - 18th). WOU also leads the conference in strikeouts per nine (7.30).

AWARD-WINNING ROTATION ...
WOU's starting rotation features three GNAC Pitcher of the Year awards as Arturo Alvarez has claimed two after being named co-pitcher of the year this season and winning it individually in 2022. Dylan Chalmers won the award in 2023 for WOU as the Wolves have won the award in each of the last six seasons it was given out. Both were named All-GNAC First Team and in the past have earned all-region honors while junior Jacob Memmott earned All-GNAC Second Team as a starter this season.

Chalmers leads the rotation with a 3.48 ERA (second in the GNAC) while Memmott is fifth (3.93) and Alvarez is sixth (4.00) - though in GNAC play he boasts a 3.46 ERA and opposing hitters are batting .238 against him.

TWO FOR CORTESE, PLEASE ...
Two-time All-GNAC first-team designated hitter AJ Cortese leads the GNAC with 17 doubles - which is 10th on the single-season all-time list. In just two seasons with the Wolves, the senior has 31 doubles which is 12th on the all-time list and only Bo Folkinga (2011-12) with 37 is ahead of him on the list having played just two seasons.

BALL MAGNETS ...
The Wolves aren't shy to stand in there when a pitch is tight, proven by WOU being hit by a GNAC-high 79 pitches this season (49th in D-II). WOU features four of the top 10 in being hit by a pitch in the conference in Justyn Herzog (18 - 1st in GNAC), John Oleson (15 - 2nd), AJ Cortese (nine - T-6th) and Collin Irwin (eight - T-9th).

FRESHMAN ARM STEPPING UP LATE IN THE SEASON ...
Freshman right-hander Ayden Holker since the start of April has stepped up for the Wolves - including taking a starting spot in the rotation the last two series of the season. Since his April 10 start against George Fox, Holker boasts a 1.42 ERA with 16 strikeouts, eight hits allowed (only two extra-base hits) and five walks in 12.2 innings pitched. In his two GNAC starts (against Saint Martin's and MSU Billings) he has a 1.04 ERA (1 ER in 8.2 IP) with nine strikeouts, six hits and four walks.

HERZOG CONTINUES TO MOVE UP ALL-TIME WOU LISTS ...
WOU senior Justyn Herzog enters the GNAC Championships in the top 20 in Wolves history in several categories:

• 7th in RBI (102)
• 8th in at-bats (556)
• 10th in runs (118)
• 11th in home runs (16)
• 12th in hits (139) and triples (6)
• 17th in doubles (26)

Another stat for Herzog is his two home runs in a home game against Eastern Oregon on Feb. 18 was the first multi-homer game by a WOU player at home since Michael Sherwin against Northwest Nazarene on May 2, 2015. There had been 14 multi-homer games by WOU players during that stretch - all on the road.

MORE WOLVES IN THE RECORD BOOKS ...
There are other Wolves that are putting their names in the career record books ...

• Bryce Bond: 9 saves (5th), 50 pitching appearances (10th)
• Devin Bell: 8 saves (T-6th)
• Arturo Alvarez: 19 wins (T-8th)
• Curran Mitzel: 7 triples (T-9th)
• Owen Bischoff: 6 triples (T-12th)
• Ryan Shipley: 6 saves (T-12th)

MITZEL'S 2 TRIPLES IN A GAME A FIRST IN 10 YEARS
Curran Mitzel's two triples at Oregon Tech on Feb. 25 was the 10th time a WOU player has hit two triples in a game (the most in WOU history) and the first time in 10 years (Parker Miles at Concordia, 2014) and only the second time since 2003 (Bryce Gardinier vs. Saint Martin's).