NAMPA, Idaho --- It wasn't long ago the Western Oregon baseball team didn't look like it would even make the GNAC postseason after being 4.5 games back of the final spot with seven days left in the season.
Now the Wolves are a win away from winning the GNAC Championships.
WOU opened Thursday's GNAC Championships with a 9-3 win over Montana State Billings before scoring 12 unanswered runs to rally from a four-run deficit to beat GNAC regular season champion 14-8 at Vail Field.
The Wolves will take on either MSUB or NNU (they play late Thursday) at 3 p.m. Friday with a chance to win the conference tournament title. If WOU loses that game, the two teams will play again in a winner-take-all matchup.
Game 1 – Western Oregon 9, Montana State Billings 3
Logan Larrance went the distance, tossing all nine innings to earn the win as WOU opened the GNAC Championships with a 9-3 win over MSUB.
Larrance allowed three runs on seven hits, walking four and striking out seven in a 125-pitch complete game effort to improve to 5-2 on the season.
The Wolves trailed 3-0 heading into the fourth inning before erupting for five runs. Collin Irwin plated the first run on a sacrifice fly, Baldwin followed with an RBI double, Zane Garvey then hit an RBI single and Chris Arce capped the frame with a two-run triple to put WOU ahead for good.
Jayger Baldwin delivered the knockout blow in the ninth, launching a three-run home run to left field to push the lead to 9-3. He finished 2-for-3 with four RBI and a double to go along with the homer. Arce went 4-for-6 with three RBI and a triple to pace the offense, while Irwin added three hits and a run scored.
Game 2 – Western Oregon 14, Northwest Nazarene 8
The Wolves kept rolling in game two, erupting for 14 runs on 12 hits to down NNU 14-8.
Devin Bettencourt earned the win in relief, tossing 3.2 innings and allowing two runs to improve to 1-1. Wyatt Rosales closed it out with three scoreless frames to secure the win – punching out four Nighthawks and not walking a batter.
Trailing 6-2 heading into the fifth, the Wolves sent 10 batters to the plate and scored five times to take the lead for good. WOU added two more in the sixth and five in the seventh to pull away.
Arce was the offensive catalyst, going 1-for-3 with a grand slam in the seventh inning and five RBI on the day. Benny Nazario homered and finished with four RBI, while Baldwin added a solo shot. Garvey reached base four times, scoring four runs, and Jason Olsen and Tyler Mohler each contributed two hits.
The win broke a 15-game losing streak to NNU and gives the Wolves a chance for a conference-record seventh GNAC Championships title – last winning one in 2023.
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