LACEY, Wash. --- The Western Oregon baseball team kept its GNAC postseason hopes alive into the final day of the regular season for the third and final spot into tournament by beating Saint Martin's 7-4 and 19-0 on Thursday at Saints Field along with Central Washington dropping both games at Northwest Nazarene.
The wins for the Wolves move them to 12-15 in GNAC play, a .444 winning percentage - good for fourth place in the GNAC. CWU after losing both games falls to 15-15 - .500 on the season.
For WOU to get in, it has to win both of Friday's games at SMU (1 p.m. start time) and CWU has to lose both games at NNU (WOU at 14-15 would have a .483 winning percentage and CWU at 15-17 would have a .468 winning percentage).
Game 1 - Western Oregon 7, Saint Martin's 4
In the first game, WOU scored five runs combined in the third and fourth inning to pull away for the win.
Robby Shepherd paced the Wolves at the plate, going 2-for-5 with two RBI and a stolen base.
Jason Olsen drove in two runs while
Chris Arce was 1-for-4 with an RBI, two runs and two stolen bases.
Ayden Holker got the win, going six innings and giving up two runs on five hits with three strikeouts and three walks.
Game 2 - Western Oregon 19, Saint Martin's 0
The Wolves tied a school record for the largest margin of victory in a shutout in during their NCAA era (starting in 2002) while
Logan Larrance and
Michael Fitzgerald combined on a one-hitter in the Wolves' 19-0 win in game two.
The win tied a 19-0 win May 5, 2012, at Saint Martin's for the largest shutout win in the Wolves' NCAA era and is the largest since beating Central Washington 25-0 in 2001. The 19-run margin of victory is the largest since beating Montana State Billings 22-2 on the road on April 16, 2010, it's is the most runs in a road game for the Wolves since a 28-13 win at MSUB on April 30, 2021 and it's the most runs in a game since a 25-8 win over MSUB on April 28, 2023.
WOU scored a run in each of the seven innings - including multiple runs in six of the innings. Eight Wolves drove in a run while 10 Wolves scored a run.
Benny Nazario led WOU at the plate, going 3-for-3 with two RBI, four runs, two walks and a stolen base.
Collin Irwin went 2-for-2 with a double, stolen base, two runs, an RBI and three walks,
Jason Olsen drove in three runs to lead WOU,
Gunnar Shiotani went 2-for-5 with two RBI, two runs and two stolen bases. While the Wolves had just 13 hits, they took advantage of 10 walks, four hit batters and five SMU errors.
Larrance got the win, going six scoreless innings and giving up just a lone single in the first inning while striking out four and walking two. He retired the final eight batters he faced and faced the minimum over his final four innings of work.
