Baseball | 4/27/2017 1:20:00 PM
ELLENSBURG, Wash. (Apr. 27) – The Central Washington University baseball team the 2017 home schedule with a four-game stint against the Great Northwest Athletic Conference leading Western Oregon Wolves on Friday (Apr. 28) and Saturday (Apr. 29).
The Wolves hold a 22-8 record in GNAC play, while the Wildcats sit at 20-12 after taking three of four from Northwest Nazarene last weekend. Northwest Nazarene fell to 18-14 in GNAC play. Montana State Billings sits in the final playoff spot with a record of 18-14.
"I told our guys it's as important as it will ever be," CWU Head Coach
Desi Storey said. "Not just this weekend, but next weekend as well when we head down to Billings. I don't want them to press and get anxious. We've played these guys before. We need to continue to play our game."
Kyle Stahl netted the Wildcats their second consecutive GNAC Player of the Week. Stahl went .600 in the series victory over Northwest Nazarene, going 9 for 15 with three doubles, a home run, five runs, three RBIs and a 1.000 slugging percentage. He went 2 for 4 in Friday's opening 7-4 win, went 2 for 4 and scored the winning run in Saturday's 6-5 opening win. Stahl then went 3 for 3 as the Wildcats won 8-7 in the nightcap.
Western Oregon split its four-game series against Concordia University last weekend, before sweeping a doubleheader against Saint Martin's on Wednesday.
Jay Leverett leads the Wolves' offense with a .324 batting average. In 34 games, Leverett has posted three homeruns, 19 runs batted in, and an on-base percentage of .411. As a team, Western Oregon is hitting nearly .300. The Wolves have hit just six homeruns on the season, but have driven in 164 runs. They clubbed 59 doubles and eight triples en route to their .292 batting average. Six lineup mainstays for WOU have an average over .300 on the season.
On the mound, Brady Miller and Trey Smith lead the Wolves. Smith is 4-1 with an earned run average of 2.19 in seven appearances. He started six of those games and tossed three complete games. Over 37 innings, Smith has struck out 25 hitters and allowed opposing hitters to hit at a clip of .210.
Miller has appeared in nine starts, with a 4-2 record, an ERA of 3.83, 48 strikeouts, an opposing average against of .226, and just one homerun allowed, all in 47 innings of work.
The Wolves have a team ERA of 4.13. They hold opposing hitters to an average of .253, but they've allowed 18 homeruns in 34 games.
First pitch is scheduled for noon on both Friday and Saturday. Live stats and stream are available through wildcatsports.com.
