ELLENSBURG, Wash. – Central Washington Wildcats Baseball is home for the first time in 2020 this upcoming weekend. The Crimson and Black play host to GNAC foe Northwest Nazarene in their home opening series.
 
SERIES INFORMATION
vs. Northwest Nazarene
Friday, Feb. 27 (DH)
12:30 p.m. & 3:30 p.m. PT
CWU Baseball Field
Ellensburg, Wash.
 
vs. Northwest Nazarene
Saturday, Feb. 28 (DH)
12:00 p.m. & 3:00 p.m. PT
CWU Baseball Field
Ellensburg, Wash.
 
QUOTABLE
"The goal this weekend is to put together a solid four game set and get off to a good start in the conference race," Head Coach Desi Storey said. "We're excited to have a chance to open up at home after speninf the first three weeks of the season on the road."
 
SCOUTING NORTHWEST NAZARENE | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | 2020 STATS
The Nighthawks enter the weekend series with a 2-6 overall record. They are coming off a 4-1 series loss at Colorado Mesa. NNU won the final game of the series, 10-2, but had six of their first seven games.
 
NNU boasts just a .233 batting average as a team and have two players hitting over .300 going into the conference opener. On the mound, the Nighthawks have surrendered a 7.09 ERA in their first eight contests. They have hit just two homers and surrendered 18 to opponents.
 
Ryan Dearing has been the top hitter in eight starts in the early going of the 2020 campaign. He is batting .333 and scored three runs, but has yet to tack on an RBI. He's drawn seven walks and has been struck out six times.
 
Quentin Ayers is the only other NNU player batting over .300 with a batting average of .308. He's the team leader in RBI with six in seven games played. He's also scored six runs to go along with one homerun. His seven runs scored is currently third on the team.
 
John Gonzales and Shawn Grandmont are tied for the team lead in runs scored with seven apiece. Gonzales is third in hitting with a .286 batting average, while Grandmont is fourth at .281.
 
Kyle Etheridge has not only been the top pitcher for the Nighthawks but also for the entire GNAC. He has two starts on the year, is 2-0, and sports a 0.00 ERA in 12.0 innings of work. He's allowed just seven hits and fanned five batters. Opposing hitters are batting just .163 against him.
 
Out of the bullpen, Brennan Patterson has the most strikeouts for NUU with eight in 9.0 innings pitched. Starter Blake McFadden is second in strikeouts with seven but is 0-2 in two starts and has a 11.74 ERA.
 
Nick Irwin has also made two appearances out of the bullpen and has fanned six batters in 4.1 innings of work. He sports a 2.08 ERA going into the weekend series.
 
The Nighthawks sport a .963 fielding percentage, which ranks second in the GNAC. Their 10 committed errors are third least in the conference.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Central Washington University baseball team captured a rain-soaked victory over Corban University, 9-5. After six innings of play, the game was halted due to rain.
 
The Wildcats (3-7) sent Tyler Hoefer (2-0) to the bump.  He went three innings, allowed six hits, five earned runs, and four strikeouts.
 
Austin Ohland finished 3-4 on the day with three RBI and two runs scored to go along with a homerun. Derek Lohr also went 3-4 hitting a homerun and racking up two RBI and two runs scored.
 
Both Michael Copeland and Mitch Lesmeister finished 2-4, respectively. Lesmeister scored two runs and one RBI, whole Copeland had a run scored.
 
CWU vs. NNU HISTORY
The Wildcats and Nighthawks have met on the diamond 178 times. The first ever meeting between the two squads was on March 12, 1988 with CWU winning 11-0.
 
Central holds a 97-81 all-time series lead against NNU, but the Nighthawks have won six of the last eight against the Wildcats. The 2018 season was the last time CWU won the series against NNU with a 4-0 sweep on the road and 3-1 series win at home.
 
NNU won both four-game series last season against CWU, 3-1. Of the 178 meetings overall, Head Coach Desi Storey has been the bench boss for 177 since first taking over ahead of the 1992 season. He is 96-81 against the Nighthawks.