ELLENSBURG, Wash. – Central Washington University baseball is back on the diamond this weekend for another four-game home series as conference play rolls into week two.
SERIES INFORMATION
vs. Western Oregon
Saturday, March 7 (DH)
12:00 & 3:00 p.m. PT
CWU Baseball Field
Ellensburg, Wash.
vs. Western Oregon
Sunday, March 8 (DH)
12:00 & 3:00 p.m. PT
CWU Baseball Field
Ellensburg, Wash.
QUOTABLE
"We are going to work on putting together a consistent series this weekend," CWU Head Coach
Desi Storey said. "If we can do that, we feel that the outcomes will be good against Western Oregon. We just have to continue to improve and be competitive."
SCOUTING WESTERN OREGON | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | 2020 STATS
The Wolves enter the weekend series with an even 4-4 record and are 2-2 in conference play. They are coming off a split against Montana State Billings in their home opener.
Four players are batting over .300 including a .583 average from Connor McCord. He has eight RBI on the year and is slugging right at 1.000 in eight starts. He also leads the team in doubles with eight.
Jacob Maiben is second batting .345 and is tied with three players for third in RBI with three. He has scored a team best nine runs and is a clean 3-3 in stolen base attempts.
Joshua McIntyre is tied with McCord for second in runs scored with six. He is fourth in batting with a .310 average. Derek Maiben is batting .313 to sit at third and has four runs scored entering the weekend.
McCord has also appeared on the mound in two games this season and worked four complete innings. He is third in strikeouts with eight and allowed just two hits. Michael Moore and Justin Dolezal have the most game appearances with three, respectively, as relievers.
Alan Vasquez has started a pair of contests on the bump for WOU and is the team leader in strikeouts with 14 in 7.0 innings worked. His ERA of 3.86 is second best amongst the starting group. Mike Peterson has the lowest ERA of the starting pitchers at 2.13.
Moore is second in strikeouts with 10 as a relief pitcher. He has pitched 6.0 innings in three game appearances and is holding batters to a .105 average going into the weekend. As a unit, the Wolves team ERA of 4.04 currently leads the GNAC.
BATTER UP!
Entering the weekend, senior outfielder
Justin Hampson leads the conference in total hits with 21 in 14 starts. He averages 1.5 per game and is second on the team in batting average with a .396 average. His .508 on base percentage is fourth in the GNAC.
Michael Copeland is the team leader with a .414 batting average. He has played 11 games this season and has started seven. Has six RBI on the year and is one of three Wildcats that has hit a homerun.
Jaden Hassell third batting at .340.
Mitch Lesmeister is the team leader in RBI with 11 and his total is tied for third in the GNAC going into the weekend. Lesmeister's seven stolen bases is also tied for the GNAC lead. Hassell is ranked seventh in total hits with 16. He is also tie for fifth in doubles hit with four.
DOING WORK ON THE MOUND
Nine pitchers have appeared in a total of four games for the Wildcats but just two have started four in
Dillon Larsen and
Brayde Hirai. Hirai leads the way in innings pitched with 20.1, while Larsen has worked 19.1 innings.
Larsen is the team leader in strikeouts with 26. He is holding the opposition to a .154 batting average. Hirai is second in strikeouts with 17 followed by
Tyler Hoefer with 16. Hoefer has pitched 17.0 innings which is third as well. Both
Hunter French and
JJ Asinas have thrown 10 strikeout each as relievers.
LAST TIME OUT
The Wildcats fell 3-1 in their home opening series against the Northwest Nazarene Nighthawks to start Great Northwest Athletic Conference play.
The Wildcats took game three from NNU 10-9 with a walkoff walk. The Nighthawks ultimately secured the series to drop Central's record to 4-10 overall and a 1-3 start in conference play.
The Nighthawks scored 28 runs and limited to the Wildcats to 19 to secure the series. The 3-1 loss put CWU at a 98-84 series lead all-time against NNU.
CWU vs. WOU HISTORY
The Wildcats and Wolves first squared off in the 1968 season. They played twice and Wildcats secured the season sweep, 2-0.
All-time, CWU is just 58-131-1 against WOU. The Wolves have won each of the last four games against the Wildcats. In 2019, CWU went 2-7 against WOU in nine meetings. CWU last defeated on March 10, 2019 in an 807 victory.
