ELLENSBURG, Wash. – Central Washington baseball gets set for the GNAC Baseball Championships in Lacey, Washington on Thursday, May 11^th , and Friday, May 12^th. The 'Cats are the third seed and play twice on Thursday facing Northwest Nazarene in game one and Western Oregon in game two. If the 'Cats get a win, and one team goes 0-2 the Wildcats will advance to the Championship game on Friday.

GAME INFORMATION
Thursday, May 11^th
# 3 Central Washington vs #2 Northwest Nazarene
10:00 a.m.
Saint Martin's Baseball Field
Lacey, Washington

Friday, May 12^th
#3 Central Washington vs #1 Western Oregon
1:00 p.m.
Saint Martin's Baseball Field
Lacey, Washington

QUOTING HEAD COACH DESI STOREY
"We worked hard down the stretch, improved, and did the things we needed to do to get into the tournament. Our attitude is let's go over and win this thing. We understand we have to go out there and win it and the guys are looking forward to the challenge."

YOUR WILDCATS
Central Washington picked up two wins last weekend 12-7 and 5-1 over Montana State Billings to secure a spot in the GNAC Playoffs.

The 'Cats face Northwest Nazarene in game one. This season CWU is 5-3 against the Nighthawks which includes a four-game sweep in April. Then the Crimson and Black will play Western Oregon in the afternoon. The Wildcats went 1-7 against WOU this season.

Austin Ohland, Sam Lauderdale, and Ben Leid propel the 'Cats on the offensive side of the ball. Ohland has 42 hits, 10 doubles, a triple, and is third in the league with eight home runs. Lauderdale has 32 hits, six doubles, two triples, and six home runs. Ben Leid has the most effective batting average on the team hitting .343 and is second in the league with 61 hits, a team-leading 14 doubles, two triples, and three home runs to pair with 32 RBIs.

Trevor Tripoli has had a great season batting in the nine spot. He has a .321 average, 45 hits, with nine doubles and two triples. The designated hitter Travis Helm has a .417 on-base percentage and leads the team with 37 RBIs which is the fourth best in the league.

Brayde Hirai, Daniel Charron, and Alex Brady are dominant on the mound for the Crimson and Black. Hirai went 4-5, fanned 30 batters, and thrown two shutouts this season. Daniel Charron is 3-4 with 37 strikeouts. Both Charron and Hirai have pitched over 60 innings this season.

Alex Brady has thrown 42 innings, is 4-3 with a 5.14 ERA, and leads the team recording 38 strikeouts.

SCOUTING THE 2 SEED NORTHWEST NAZARENE
The Nighthawks ended their regular season 23-27 overall and 17-15 in conference play. NNU went 3-5 against Central Washington in the regular season and 5-3 versus Western Oregon.

Mason Leavitt leads NNU hitting .363 with 57 hits and two doubles and is second in the league with a .475 on-base percentage. Kaleb Karpstein has 37 hits, 8 doubles, and 22 RBIs.  Shane Jamison is averaging .298 at the plate and leads the team with 38 RBIs.

Brock Moffitt is the Nighthawks ace. He is 4-4 with a 5.28 ERA and is second in the league in strikeouts per game with 9.47.

Shane Martin and Jonathan Zayas have both thrown over 40 innings this season. Martin is 3-4 with a .315 ERA and has struck out 39 batters. Zayas is 3-4 with a 3.52 ERA and has tied up 43 batters.

Ty Pohlmann leads the Nighthawks recording 57 strikeouts in 31.2 innings. Joseph Ihli is Northwest Nazarene's closer. He has recorded eight saves this season coupled with a 3-2 record.

SCOUTING THE 1 SEED WESTERN OREGON
The Wolves ended their regular season atop the GNAC standings going 27-13 overall and 20-9 in conference play. Western Oregon went 7-1 against Central Washington and 3-5 versus Northwest Nazarene.

Brothers Derek and Jacob Maiben are the core of Western Oregon's offense. Derek is hitting .421 with 67 hits, 10 doubles, and a home run. Jacob is averaging .405 at the dish and has 60 hits, eight doubles, two triples, and two homers. Derek Maiben leads the GNAC averaging 1.68 hits per game Jacob is second with 1.62.

AJ Cortese and Justyn Herzog each have 30 RBIs and Curran Mitzel leads the team in home runs hitting five this season.

Dylan Chalmers and Bryce Bond are forces on the mound. Chalmers is a perfect 6-0 with a 2.63 ERA and has recorded 30 strikeouts over 51.1 innings pitched. Bond is 2-2 with a 3.51 ERA and has tied up 48 batters this season.

Chris Hardin and Arturo Alvarez are the other main starters for the Wolves. Hardin is 6-3 with a 4.43 ERA and Alvarez is 4-3 with a 4.86 ERA.

Ryan Shipley and Devin Bell are the closers for Western Oregon. Shipley pitched 25.1 innings and recorded four saves and Bell has five saves over 17 innings.

Western Oregon is the favorite going into the GNAC Championships, but the 'Cats are hungry and good pitching and timely hitting will put them in the hunt for a championship on Friday.