BILLINGS, Mont.- The Central Washington University Wildcat baseball team (21-27 [15-17]) is hitting the road to Billings Montana to compete in the 2024 GNAC Championship Tournament on Friday and Saturday. The Wildcats were named the #3 seed and will first take on the #2 seed Western Oregon Wolves (27-19 [21-11]) and then the #1 seed Northwest Nazarene Nighthawks (33-12-1 [23-9]). The Wildcats are coming into the tournament being led by a strong core offense that leads the conference with a team .305 AVG, as well has seeing the 'Cats claim 5 spots in individual hitting. 
 
GAME INFORMATION
TIMES ARE PST
Date: Friday May 10th
Game Times: G1: 11:00 a.m. G2: 2:30 p.m.
Opponent: G1: Western Oregon University Wolves G2: Northwest Nazarene University Nighthawks
Location: Pirtz Field | Billings, MT. 

Date: Saturday, May 11th
Game Times: G4: 11:00 am  G5: 2:30
Opponent: Pirtz Field | Billings, MT.

STREAM LINK: HERE

LIVE STATS LINK: HERE

TICKETS LINK: HERE 
 

QUOTING HEAD COACH DESI STOREY
"Excited to get on the road to Billings, looking to come out and get a couple of wins on day one and advance to day two. Need to get back to playing our brand of baseball with strong hitting and pitching, we've got a good team here and we're looking to make a strong run like we're capable of."  
 
#1 SEED NNU NIGHTHAWKS
The Nighthawks are the 2023-2024 GNAC  regular season Champions and are the number one seed in the GNAC Tournament. NNU finished the season ranked at 24 nationally and 5 regionally at the NCAA DII level. They sit in the middle of the conference statistically as a team in hitting and pitching. The Nighthawks lost their season series with WOU 3-5, swept their series with MSUB 8-0, won their series with SMU 6-2, and won their series with CWU 6-2. 
HITTERS
The Nighthawks are hitting .290 as a team with a .435 SLG%. They are led by Gavin Brubaker who is batting .342 on the year in 114 ABs. Trevor Tishenkel is another hitter to watch for, he's batting .339 in 165 ABs, having 9 home runs and 16 doubles. Duke Pahukoa is another power hitter to watch for, batting .300 on the year Duke has 8 home runs and 8 doubles. Carter Walsh has some speed on the bases with 24 stolen bases on the year. The top 4 conference leaders in stolen bases is the Nighthawks. 
PITCHING
NNU has a team 4.53 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 265 strikeouts, and have opponents hitting .265. The Nighthawks are led by Kyle Ethridge off the rubber, he has a 3.63 ERA in 11 appearances, 0.92 WHIP, and a 5-3 record. Kailer Saunders is another starting pitcher for NNU, he's got a 5.33 ERA and a 5-2 record. Other likely starting pitchers for the Nighthawks are Jonathan Zayas and Bryan Rojas. 
Out of the 'pen expect to see pitchers Wade Duncan, Blake Hammond, Josh Brown, and Josh Bishopp. Duncan has 19 appearances on the season, all coming in relief, he has a 1.95 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, and 29 strikeouts. 

#2 SEED WOU WOLVES
The Wolves are the #2 seed going into the GNAC Tournament and came up short in the regular season placing second overall. They sit right under the middle of conference statistics in hitting but lead the conference in pitching. The Wolves won their season series 6-2 against MSUB, clenched the series with NNU 5-3, defeated SMU 6-2, and spilt 4-4 with CWU.
HITTERS
The Wolves are hitting .249 as a team with a .405 SLG%. They are led by Curran Mitzel who is batting .310 on the year and has been at bat 187 times. John Oleson is another huge hitter for WOU, he is batting .310 average, .435 SLG%, and has 168 ABs. AJ Cortese is up in the .300 club batting .310 on the year. Cortese has a .465 SLG%, bringing in 21 runs for the Wolves, and leads the team in doubles with 17.
PITCHING
The Wolves leads the GNAC in pitching with an ERA of 4.31 combined. As a team they also have a 1.30 WHIP, 308 strikeouts, and have opponents hitting .249. Dylan Chalmers is the mound leader for WOU with an ERA of 3.48 with 11 appearances. He has a 1.47 WHIP and a 5-2 record. Jacob Memmott is another starter for WOU with an ERA of 3.93. Memmott has a 1.22 WHIP, appeared and started in 11 games, and has a 5-2 record.
You can also expect to see Arturo Alvarez and Owen Murdock out of the 'pen. Alvarez has a 4.00 ERA and has appeared in 11 games and has struck out 42 batters. Murdock is also one to look for with a 4.97 ERA has had 11 appearances and has struck out 41 batters this year.
 
#3 SEED CWU WILDCATS
CWU has been led by hot hitting and strong pitching in 2024, with 5 of the top 7 hitters in the conference being Wildcats. Central is 21-27 on the season going 15-17 in conference play, winning the series 6-2 against SMU, splitting the series 4-4 with WOU, lost the series 2-6 to NNU, and ultimetly falling short in the series 3-5 with MSUB. The Wildcats placed third in the GNAC, behind the Nighthawks and Wolves.
HITTERS
The Wildcats are hitting .305 as a team with a slugging percentage of .412, being led by Ben Leid who is batting .428 on the year with a team leading 8 home runs, .665 SLG%, and 44 RBI's. Benny leads the conference in AVG., hits, OBP, and SLG%. Kevin "Baba" Varner Jr. is also swinging a hot stick sitting in 3rd in the GNAC for AVG. with a .360, Baba has 16 doubles this season, 3 triples, and 3 home runs. Marcus Manzardo is another hot hitting Wildcat with a .342 AVG., he leads the conference in runs scored at 44, and has a .409 OBP. Austin Ohland is having another monster year with a .348 AVG., 6 home runs, a .537 SLG%, and he is your all-time home run leader at CWU. Andrew Sharp is having a phenomenal first season in the 'Burg hitting .343 with 4 home runs, 39 RBI's, and 14 doubles.
PITCHING
Central has a strong pitching staff that sits right in the middle amongst the GNAC with a team 5.03 ERA, 1.56 WHIP, 281 strikeouts, and leave opponents hitting .297. The 'Cats are led by Jonathan Garza II  he has a 3.74 ERA, and has held opponents in check all year with a .224 AVG., 1.34 WHIP, has thrown 2 complete games and leads the conference with 74 strikeouts. Daniel Charron, is another top starter to watch toe the rubber, he's got a 4.08 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, has thrown 5 complete games, and has a shutout on the season. Freshman Logan Pierce has been a rockstar off the mound for the Wildcats, stepping up into the starting role, Logan has 13 appearances toeing the rubber and starting in 7 of those with a 5.37 ERA and 1.73 WHIP. Senior Alex Brady has been a key starting pitcher for the 'Cats, Brady has a 5.57 ERA, 1.59 WHIP, and has a conference second best 62 strikeouts in 12 games started.
Out of the 'pen expect to see pitchers Nolan Milliman, Aaron Robertson, Drew Richardson, Gabe Bustamnte, and Beau Kearsey. Milli has kept it frozen out of the bullpen, in 14 appearances he has a 2.95 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 20 strikeouts, and has held opponents to a .218 AVG.. Richardson has 3 saves on the season, Robertson has 23 strikeouts, and Kearsey has the most appearances out of the 'pen.