Baseball | 5/9/2017 9:09:00 PM

PORTLAND, Ore. (May 9) – The Central Washington University baseball team enters the 2017 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Tournament as the No. 2 seed following the conclusion of the regular season. 
 
"We've worked hard to get back into the conference tournament," CWU Head Coach Desi Storey said.  "Our guys are excited to be here."
 
Central Washington matches up well with all of the other three teams in the tournament, having split with all three teams during the regular season for a combined record of 12-12. The Wildcats also have a pitching staff that is built for tournament play.
 
The team leader in innings pitched is Jake Levin, who has recorded wins in five of his last six decisions and averages six innings per start. Throughout most of the GNAC season, left-hander Mackenzie Gaul got the start in the second game of each series. He hurled three complete-game shutouts and struck out a league-best 68 batters with a 6-2 record and 3.06 ERA. After that, head coach Desi Storey can turn to his 6-foot-3 right-hander Griffin Davis or freshman JJ Asinas to take the start on the mound.
 
The Wildcats take on Northwest Nazarene University in their first game of the tournament.  The Wildcats and Crusaders split the season series, with each team taking three games on the road.
 
"Both sides have seen each other," Storey noted.  "We came away pretty even in the regular season.  We need to be consistent and play clean baseball."
 
Billy King was named the GNAC's Player of the Year leading the GNAC with 14 home runs this season, helping NNU (23-27 overall, 21-19 GNAC) set a new single-season record with 62 home runs as a team. King also hit .319 in 49 games, with 37 RBIs, a team-high 44 runs scored, cracked 10 doubles and stolen seven bases for NNU.
 
Central Washington will likely see left-hander Jaramy Jacobs on the hill.  Jacobs, a senior left-handed starting pitcher with a 6-3 record and a 4.74 ERA, was second in the GNAC with his six wins, and second in total strikeouts with 67 strikeouts in 62.2 innings.
 
The GNAC Championships open with Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene playing each other at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday followed by Western Oregon and MSU Billings meeting at 7 p.m. This is the first year that the tournament has been expanded to four teams. The tournament is in its fifth year of existence with Western Oregon winning the tournament in 2013 and 2015 while Central Washington took home the trophy in 2014. Northwest Nazarene won on its home field in 2016.
 
First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. at Porter Park.  Live stats and video are available through the GNAC's Stretch portal.