ELLENSBURG, WASH. – The Central Washington University baseball team (14-17-1, 11-13) will travel west of the mountains for a four-game Great Northwest Athletic Conference matchup with the Saint Martin's Saints (12-21, 8-16). This will be the two team's final series of the season.
GAME INFORMATION
Friday, April 12
DH starting at 1:00 p.m.
Lacey, WA | Saints Field
LIVE STATS |
LIVE VIDEO
Sunday, April 14
DH starting at 12:00 p.m.
Lacey, WA | Saints Field
LIVE STATS |
LIVE VIDEO
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"Last weekend was huge for us both mentally and in the standings," CWU Head Coach
Desi Storey said. "We really needed those three games to get back on track and to give us some games up in the standings. This weekend is going to be another big weekend for us. We have to keep the momentum going and make sure that we are playing good baseball. Going to need to execute and get those timely hits like we can. The one big thing we need this weekend, however, is for our pitchers to get back to themselves. We are going to need our starters to give us some good outings in order to be successful."
SCOUTING SAINT MARTIN'S UNIVERSITY
The two team's first meeting was the first GNAC matchup for both teams. The Wildcats took three out of the four games on the weekend. SMU was able to take the third game in the series by score of 8-4. The Saints were able to jump out to a quick 2-0 lead after an inning of play and then added another four runs in the third inning.
Dakota Hill lead the offense in that game. He brought in three runs on a two for four day with a. double in the third inning. Clark Streby dominated on the mound and threw seven innings allowing just two earned runs on eight hits. He struck out eight Wildcat batters and didn't record a walk on the day.
Fast forward a month and seven days, Aaron Renaud now leads the team in hitting with a .302 batting average racking up 29 hits, including a team high six doubles. Renaud has also brought in a team high 18 RBIs. Colton Peha will be the one bringing the power to the plate for the Saints. The senior has already hit three homeruns on the season and has five doubles to account for his team high .438 slugging percentage.
Aaron Shoup will be leading the charge on the mound for SMU. The senior leads all starters in ERA with an impressive 3.88 ERA through 48.2 innings. Shoup's best outing came two weeks ago when he threw six innings and gave up just two hits to a powerful Western Oregon lineup. Shoup has struck out 47 hitters on the year and walked just 17 of the 174 at-bats that he's pitched.
Another pitcher to keep an eye out for is Tanner Inouye. The junior has a 4.05 ERA through his 46.2 innings of work and has given up just 11 extra base hits after seeing 178 batters. Inouye leads the team in strikeouts with 55 on the year and has walked just 15. His impressive pitching performance has resulted in just a 2-4 record on the year.
LAST TIME OUT
The Wildcats are coming into the weekend fresh off a three-win weekend against Concordia. Central took both games on Sunday due to the explosion of the Wildcat bats. Central racked up 32 hits on the weekend which accounted for 34 runs.
The final game of the series was dominated by
James Brooks. The red-shirt senior snagged his first win of the season after a superb outing. Brooks went six innings and gave up just one earned run through five hits. He struck out four batters and walked four batters but used just 102 pitches to go six.
The big surprise of the weekend for the Wildcats was the emergence of junior transfer
Colton Turner. Turner was originally brought in as a pitcher but has emerged as a great weapon at the plate. The junior tallied six hits on the weekend including a double and he scored seven runs on the weekend. Turner has been a great addition to the top of the Wildcat lineup to supplement both
Mitch Lesmeister (.345 BA, 39 hits, 3 doubles, 3 HRs, and 17 RBIs) and
Justin Hampson (.310 BA, 35 hits, 9 2Bs, 4 HRs, and 13 RBIs).
The Wildcat pitchers stumbled a little bit on the weekend but are looking to get back to their old ways.
Tyler Hoefer is looking to match his last outing against the Saints. The junior went 5.1 innings giving up just four runs on eight hits and striking out three.
Connor Stevenson is also looking to duplicate his outing against the Saints going six innings allowing one run on two hits and struck out four.
