Mount Hood

Outdoor track has national success

By: Burke De Boer
Sports Editor

For the second time this year, junior David Ribich is a national champion.

After anchoring the indoor distance medley relay team that won the indoor national championship, Ribich added more hardware to the trophy room with an outdoor 1,500-meter title.

It was the first outdoor track title in Western Oregon history.
On May 27, the finals were held at the NCAA Division II outdoor track and field championships IMG Academy in Bradentown, Florida. Ribich ran the race alongside sophomore Dustin Nading. Sophomore Olivia Woods also ran the championship race of the women’s 800-meter.

All three earned All-American honors.

The first day of competition was Thursday May 25. Nading and Ribich qualified for the championship race with times of 3:50.76 and 3:51.85, respectively.

The second day featured the final contest of the triple jump, with senior Wesley Gray taking his last leap for the Wolves. His distance of 14.93 meters earned him 17th place.

The middle distance trio of sophomore Olivia Woods and juniors Megan Rose and Suzanne Van De Grift have represented Western Oregon consistently in the 800-meter this season. The 800-meter preliminary was also held on the second day of the meet.

Woods broke her own school record, as she finished in first place of the third heat with a time of 2:07.82. Her previous record was 2:08.46.

Rose and Van De Grift ran the first heat of the race but failed to qualify for the championship race. Rose’s time of 2:09.94 took her to 13th place. Van De Grift soon followed her across the finish line with a time of 2:10.64 for 16th place.

Sophomore Sheila Limas De La Cruz was the first of the Wolves team to compete on championship Saturday, representing in the javelin contest. She threw for a distance of 38.4 meters, coming in 21st place.

Olivia Woods came in third to make it to the podium for the 800-meter race.

She had fallen to seventh place at the 400-meter mark, but after passing the halfway point she dialed up the intensity and passed four runners in front of her.

Her final time was 2:07.38, and for the second day in a row she broke her own school record.

Ribich and Nading then competed in the men’s 1,500-meter.

Ribich took the lead halfway through and held on to finish 0.22 of a second ahead of the second-place runner. To seal the victory, Ribich finished in 3:49.64.

Nading came in sixth place with a 3:51.50 finish.

The only two runners competing for the Wolves men’s team on title day, Ribich and Nading picked up a total of 13 total points to earn Western Oregon men the 17th place finish on the day. Woods’ solo effort earned 6 points for the women’s team to earn 37th place overall.

Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu

Crunk at the crossroads

By: Burke De Boer
Sports Editor

“It takes you forever to find a good walk-up song,” said the designated hitter. “It’s a very big deal. I actually didn’t decide until like the last week before our first spring games, when I had to make a decision.”

The man who agonized over his soundtrack is Joey Crunkilton, who played his final season in 2017. He walked up to the stadium country song “People Back Home” by Florida Georgia Line.
His music in 2016 was a hard reggae track: “Vampire” by Tribal Seeds.

It’s easy to understand why Crunkilton would pay special attention to his music. In addition to playing Wolves baseball, he has played cymbals for the Western drumline.

“I saw a poster, ‘Western Oregon drumline: If you know how to read music call this number, we need people.’ And I was like, ‘Well, s—, I play the drums,’” he laughs. “So I called them and ended up playing football games and stuff. That was kicka–.”

This is the can-do spirit that Crunkilton brings to his game. His positive attitude reverberated through the team this year.

“Crunk is a great guy to be around,” said Nyles Nygaard, junior third baseman. “He always has the biggest smile on his face and is a guy people can go to for anything.”

Roll back the clock a year and we would be talking about a different Crunk.

Western Oregon is his third college team, after a successful run at Western Nevada College and a less successful run at UC Santa Barbara.

“Baseball was the thing, and my ticket to get my way through school,” he says. “Because I’m a good student, but not a great student.”

Western Nevada was happy to punch the not-great-student’s ticket. For two years, Crunkilton took a scholarship to play ball in the desert mountains. Both years he earned all-conference honors. But a junior college is only a launching pad.

“I had offers from random schools,” said Crunkilton. “And I wasn’t sure, I wasn’t getting a gut feeling on where I wanted to go. So I ended up sending my own info out to WOU, and they were like ‘Yeah, we want you.’”

Then UC Santa Barbara called. “I wanted to go to a Division I school more than anything.”

Santa Barbara, however, did not go according to plan.

“Division I was much more cutthroat. I kind of got chewed up and spit out by the team. It was an eye-opening year. It’s very competitive, and if you don’t stand up and prove yourself then you get forgotten about quickly. Then they redshirted me.”
After a year of practicing and not playing, Joey Crunkilton was in a funk.

“I was talking to the coach and he was like ‘You’re probably gonna be a backup if you come back. Probably in a similar spot to where you are right now. Not a ton of playing time.’”

So he packed his bags. He had left Western waiting, but the howling of the Wolves would wait no longer.

Crunk announced himself with a home run in his debut game, a two-run smash that would prove the game winner over Azusa Pacific on Feb. 4, 2016.

Unfortunately, it would be his only homer all season. In the 13 games he played in April, he went hitless in nine. He finished the season with a .245 average, one of the worst on the team.

“I didn’t play much towards the end,” he took a pause. “I got a little nihilistic last year. It was kind of a ‘Whatever’ attitude as I stopped playing.”

As a fifth-year senior, that all changed.

“I had the thought, this is my last year. If I only play one game I’m still gonna go for it and do my best.”

For his efforts, he helped the team earn a conference championship and sweep the playoffs.

The semi-final rally against Central Washington is what Crunkilton says he’ll take away most from the season.

He recalls watching the Wildcats bat from the dugout. “I was freakin’ out. They go base hit, score a run. ‘All right, 1-1.’ Home run, 3-1. ‘S—.’ Another home run, 5-1, hit, hit, 7-1. I just got this sense of calm. We were like, ‘Screw it, let’s break some hearts.’”

Which is what they did, scoring 12 runs in the final three innings. Crunkilton scored two and added an RBI.

“And you could see Central was like ‘What the hell just happened?’” He laughed. “That game was the coolest. That was the best way to cap off the season.”

With the season done and graduation imminent, Joey faces uncertainty once more.

“I want to get out of the house, dude. Just quick as possible. Find a job first and then you can get a career later.”

What would this career be? He spitballs a few ideal career paths, from a fitness business to an online marketing company.
“I want to do something more with music. I want to really learn how to play the drumset well, and then I want to join a band. Absolute dream job: being in a rock band. That would be very fun, I think,” he nodded as he thought it over. “I also really want to learn how to fight, like boxing or jiu jitsu. I was a wrestler growing up and that was always fun. It was so much just brute effort.”

Maybe one day, Joey Crunkilton will be picking music to come out of the tunnel for a fight. Or maybe some future baseball player will walk up to the batter’s box while a Crunkilton drum solo plays.

Or maybe neither of these things. Whatever happens, you get the sense when you talk to Crunk, it’s going to be fun.

“I guess my dream would be to just make something, create a business or a product or something, that just makes people’s lives better and makes me money. Pretty simple,” and he laughed again.

Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu

Turbulence and triumph

By: Burke De Boer
Sports Editor

In 1982, Wolves volleyball won only one game.

For their final home game, they hosted the Hawaii-Hilo Vulcans, who had won the 1981 national championship. The Vulcans trashed the Wolves 2-15, 2-15, 1-15.

Despite the margins, head coach Joe Caligure said after the game, “They didn’t impress me as being number one.”

1983 saw the program hire its third new coach in three years. The team needed a solution, and Gene Krieger was chosen to solve it.
He brought in a number of high profile recruits and transfer students.

His high rate of recruitment helped the Wolves boom from a 1-22 record in 1982 to 20-15.

Joining the ranks in 1984 was all-state high school recruit setter Jody Sunde.

To test their mettle, the Wolves traveled to Hawaii to open the season. Foremost among their competitors were third-time national champions Hawaii-Hilo. The Wolves held their own and split matches, and Krieger said they should be considered among the top 10 in the nation.

Such notoriety was slow to come. To get the attention of the NAIA polls, they had to earn it. And so they did.

By Oct. 11 they had strung together a series of blowouts: 17 wins, including an eight game streak where they didn’t lose a single set.

At the end of the year they won the conference title. Krieger was voted coach of the year and the Wolves were ranked eighth in the nation.

They opened the District 2 playoffs with finesse, taking down Pacific University, 15-8, 15-7, 15-1. They further bullied their second opponents, beating George Fox 15-7, 15-10, 15-4. For the semi-final they beat second-seed Portland 15-5, 15-12, 15-7.

The playoffs were double elimination, and Portland was still alive to face the Wolves again. This time Western fell, 6-15, 11-15, 10-15.

A sudden-death final match would decide the district title.

The Wolves pulled out a tight win, 15-13, to become champions. The road to their first ever national tournament now lay in front of them: a tri-district regional playoff.

First they faced Gonzaga, and the Wolves were easily favorited over the unranked Bulldogs. The real test would be Hawaii-Hilo, who awaited the Western Oregon-Gonzaga winner.

That test would never come. The Wolves dropped the game to Gonzaga over five sets, 14-16, 15-10, 8-15, 15-3, 8-15.

There was still great pride in what the program had accomplished in such a short amount of time: from heavy underdogs to heavy favorites in two years.

In Feb. 1985, it was revealed that coach Krieger had given money to recruits. The Wolfpack Athletic Club was forming as a way to give athletes financial aid. The money its sponsors were donating had been an important part of Krieger’s recruiting, but the club was not yet active.

“I told the kids there would be money,” Krieger said in a statement. “What was I to do? Wait for the club to get together and not give the kids the money I had promised, or give it out myself? Everything was documented. I didn’t try to hide anything.”

Above board or not, the NAIA forbade “the provision of money to players by coaches.” Krieger resigned.

He was tapped by Nevada Reno to take over their coaching job, and Jody Sunde and the all-league Sue Denison intended to transfer to Reno with him. Ultimately, Reno passed on Krieger and Sunde stayed in Monmouth. Denison still left.

The 1985 Wolves, under new head coach Jim Callender, repeated their district championship and again faced Gonzaga. This time it was a bi-district playoff. This time the Wolves only had to win once to make nationals.

This time they did.

They traveled to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the first Western Oregon volleyball team to play in the national tournament.

Come 1987, Jim Callender took a new job at Division I Memphis and the Western Oregon coaching door continued to revolve. A local was selected this time: Judy Lovre, who had coached Corvallis High to four state titles.

Lovre inherited an experienced team. Only one player was lost to graduation, and she was replaced by Washington Huskies transfer Lori Sappington.

At the end of the 1987 regular season, Judy Lovre’s Wolves were ranked fourth in the nation, the first Western team to crack the top five. They won the conference and district tournaments. And they went all the way to the national championship game.

Though they lost to BYU-Hawaii, who picked up their second consecutive national title, the Wolves returned to Monmouth with another kind of victory. At second in the nation, no Western Oregon team in any sport had ever accomplished so much.

Jody Sunde and Lori Sappington were named All-Americans. They returned, for their senior year, the veterans on a team that lost many to graduation.
Despite a high turnover in players, the Wolves didn’t backslide. In fact, when they made it to the national tournament in 1988, they did even better, and won every single set in their group stage.

They advanced through the double-elimination bracket with ease until they faced Hawaii-Hilo. The Wolves lost to the Vulcans, 7-15, 11-15. They rebounded with a three-set win over Hawaii Pacific and met Hawaii-Hilo for the national title.

For the second year in a row, the Wolves earned second place. Jody Sunde was even named the Reebok player of the year.

Lovre remained head coach of Wolves volleyball until 2004. Over that time she amassed 489 victories, becoming the winningest coach in Western Oregon history. Lovre’s Wolves were the country’s most fearsome mainland team – the 41 NAIA tournament wins that Western Oregon recorded were third only to BYU-Hawaii and Hawaii-Hilo.

Gene Krieger made his coaching rebound at Westmont College in 1987, and since then has helmed many teams. In March, 2017, he landed a new gig. Beginning this fall, he will be the head coach of the Hawaii-Hilo Vulcans.

Contact the author at journal sports@wou.edu

Stealing Victory

By: Burke De Boer
Sports Editor

The Victory Bell rises over the Werner University Center. It hangs dormant in its tower above Allegro Cafe as an audio file plays to announce each hour.

But there was a time when the bell rang regularly. The bell was so named because it was rang in celebration after every home win. Old college newspapers, collected in the archives at Hamersly Library, called it the “Queen of Victory.” On Jan. 16, 1953, the Queen was kidnapped.

The men’s basketball team hosted the Portland State Vikings that night. Portland State was playing their first-ever year of competitive basketball and the Wolves were happy to whip the inaugural Vikings, 77-60. A dance was held in Maple Hall after the game. Maple Hall, where the Victory Bell was then kept.

After the Oregon Collegiate Conference was founded in 1950, the bell rang often.

The 1952-1953 year accounted for the football team’s fourth consecutive conference championship, including a 40-7 victory over Portland State. Wolves volleyball won their third straight title as well.

Evidently, the Portland State kids were sick of it.

While students from the two schools mixed at the Maple Hall dance, a crew of Vikings made the bell their plunder and vanished into the wintery night.

The alumni newspaper reported, “Rumors were many and varied at the dance … But there was no trace of the bell.”

Dr. Roy E. Lieuallen, for whom the administration building is named, was registrar at the time. He received a phone call from Portland State on Monday morning, Jan. 19. It was Dr. Stephen Epler. Both men had served as officers in the Navy in World War II, and the message was passed from one old sailor to the other: we have your bell.

It was returned on Feb. 11. The Portland State students returning it brought with them a small replica to serve as a trophy between the schools, changing hands with every victory.

That night the Wolves beat the Vikings 69-55. On Feb. 24, the Wolves beat them again, 63-61.

After the final game, the Vikings pillaged their hosts once more. This time Portland State upstarts made off with the Victory Bell’s clapper, muting the bell until it too, was returned.

Men’s basketball backslid for a few years. Seasons ranged from mediocre to abysmal. The low point was 1957-1958, when the Wolves went 1-20. The only win, a 58-43 walloping of Portland State.

No matter the results, the Victory Bell remained safe in Monmouth. Today, above the corner of Church Street and Monmouth Avenue, the Queen of Victory still reigns.

Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu

Baseball crowned GNAC champions

By: Burke De Boer
Sports Editor

After playing a total of four games on home field this year, baseball returned to Monmouth conference champions.

The Wolves swept their way through the GNAC tournament, winning three games to take the trophy. Having earned the title of regular season GNAC champions a week prior, the Wolves used the May 10 through 12 playoffs to reaffirm their dominance. They outscored their opponents by a collective 26-10.

The first game was the tightest of the tournament as the Wolves pulled out the win over Montana State Billings, 4-2.

Junior pitcher Cam Walker threw a complete game for the Wolves, striking out 10 batters to set a new single game record for the GNAC tournament.

Senior Joey Crunkilton scored the first run of the day in the second inning. He was walked at the start of the inning and advanced the bases before being batted in by junior Garrett Anderson.

Then, in the fourth inning, with junior Jacob Martinez on base, Crunkilton hit a home run over right field.

The low-scoring game was the product of clean defensive play and a lethal pitching performance. Eleven straight Billings players were retired to open the game before picking up their first hit.

In a Facebook live interview broadcast by the GNAC after the game, Cam Walker said “I just felt good. Established the strike zone, up and down in and out. Just throwing everything for strikes.”

The second game was against the Central Washington Wildcats, the number two seed in the tournament. The Wolves found themselves in a bind as they trailed 1-7 going into the sixth inning. They mounted a comeback, amassing 12 runs over the last three innings to secure the win and their place in the championship game.

The rally began when Crunkilton was batted in by first-year student Torreahno Sweet with a leadoff double in the sixth inning. Sweet was later batted in for his own run by Garrett Anderson, but after six the Wolves still trailed 3-7.

They picked up two more runs in the eighth, as Sweet crossed home plate again and so did junior Nyles Nygaard. The Wolves were in shouting distance.

“Our team never gives up,” said Nygaard. “We knew what we had to do and what we have worked so hard for.”

The eighth inning would prove the explosive decider, as the Wolves put up eight runs.

Nygaard picked up his second run while Sweet scored a third time and earned a second RBI. Sophomore Justin Wakem hit a two RBI single to bat in Crunkilton’s second run and also score junior Jacob Martinez.
The final score was 13-7, Wolves.

“We took one pitch at a time and started to get big hits when we needed them,” said Nygaard. “Our pitchers did a nice job of minimizing runs late in the game and it gave us a chance to score and have a chance to win the game. It was great to be a part of.”

The championship game was against the Northwest Nazarene Crusaders.

Junior Brady Miller was the starting pitcher and struck out nine in his seven innings, while Wolves bats opened up to power the team to a 9-1 win.

Seven of the runs came in the second inning.

A single from senior Brock Pradere batted in two, as Anderson and senior Boog Leach both crossed home plate. With Pradere on base, junior Jay Leverett hammered the first pitch he faced and they rounded the bases for an inside-the-park home run.

“We had great energy from the dugout and our batters were able to slow the game down and take it one pitch at a time,” said Pradere.

First-year student Connor McCord picked up two RBIs from two singles in the third and seventh inning as the Wolves rolled to victory.

For his 10-strikeout performance, Walker was named tournament MVP.

The Wolves finish the year with a 31-15 record, the best record they’ve posted under coach Kellen Walker’s tenure.

Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu

Track tournament held in Monmouth

By: Burke De Boer 
Sports Editor

The conference’s best came to Monmouth for the GNAC Outdoor Track and Field Championship.

The two days of competition on May 12 and 13 featured many Wolves wins, and a conference record was broken.

Senior Wesley Gray set a conference record in the triple jump competition, when he hopped, stepped and jumped to a distance of 15.5 meters, or 50’10.25”. No one had cleared 50 feet in conference history, and a new tape had to be fetched from the storage area to record the distance.

The event win earned the men’s team 10 points and replaced a 13-year-old conference record.

Senior Aaron Whitaker won his 400-meter race, crossing the finish line in 47.59 seconds, breaking his own school record time of 47.96 seconds that he had set earlier this year.

Junior David Ribich earned 20 points for the men’s team on his own, winning two events.

Ribich won the men’s 800-meter with a time of 1:52.71. He was soon followed by senior Michael Chin, whose 1:54.94 finish earned him fourth place.

Ribich also claimed the title for the 1500-meter race, finishing in 3:47.37. Sophomore Dustin Nading came in second in this event, with a time of 3:47.63, while junior Thomas Normandeau completed the race in 3:58.04 for eighth place to grab the final available point. Wolves men picked up 19 points from the 1500-meter, alone.

Nading also scored a fifth place finish in the 5000-meter, with a time of 15:34.79.

First-year student Alani Troutman won the long jump contest, leaping to a distance of 7.08 meters, or 23’2.75”. The first conference championship of Troutman’s career, it speaks to a promising future for the Western Oregon competitor.

The men’s team picked up another ten points when it won the 4×100-meter relay. Seniors Gray, Devonte Woods and Whitaker and junior Codi Blodgett made up the victory team. They finished the event in 41.62 seconds.

In the sprints, junior Cody Warner took second in the 200-meter with a time of 22.33. Blodgett finished behind him, taking fifth place in 22.81 seconds. Blodgett also claimed fifth in the 100-meter with a time of 11.15.

The women’s throwing team did well, as senior Rachael Huffman earned a second place distance in the discus, with a throw of 42.92 meters, or 140’10”. First-year student Halie Korff came in eighth in the contest, with a throw of 38.67 meters, or 124’8.25”. First-year Mariah Gronbach came in 10th with a 38-meter throw, or 124’8.25”.

Huffman claimed a fourth place finish in the shot put, throwing it a distance of 13.16, or 43’2.5,” which advances her place in the school record book from fourth to fifth.

Korff also placed eighth in the javelin, with a throw of 41.01 meters, or 134’6.75”.

The women’s team picked up a total of 12 points on the 800-meter race, with fourth, fifth and sixth place finishers. Junior Megan Rose came in fourth place with a time of 2:11.65. Junior Suzanne Van De Grift placed fifth with a time of 2:12.53 and sophomore Olivia Woods rounded out the Wolves finishers with a sixth-place time of 2:13.14.

The men’s team amassed a total of 107 points, finishing fourth overall in the two days of competition. The women’s team picked up 36 points to finish ninth out of the 10 teams. Alaska Anchorage took the conference championships, both men’s and women’s teams.

The NCAA Division II Outdoor National Championship will be held in Bradenton, Florida May 25 through 27. Multiple Wolves have posted qualifying and provisional marks over the season and now await the announcement of official selections.

Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu

End of the road for the Road Warriors

By: Burke De Boer
Sports Editor

On April 7, Wolves softball was bottom of the GNAC, with only one win in conference play. On May 7, they played in the conference championship game.

Because they were the fourth and final seed in the playoffs, the Wolves were slated to face the Central Washington Wildcats in the first round on Thursday, May 4.

The Wildcats were the top ranked team in the conference and the regular season champions. They were also the team that defeated Western Oregon in the 2016 championship game to win the GNAC crown.

But they were also the team that the Wolves swept in a doubleheader on April 30 to claim their playoff spot. And, after not playing a home game all year, the team that call themselves the Road Warriors were undaunted by the trip to Lacey, Washington.

That confidence helped the Wolves pull the 4-3 upset.

The game started on May 4 but wouldn’t be finished until May 5, as severe thunderstorms swept across Lacey force a delay.

After nearly 26 hours, the winning run was scored by sophomore Ryanne Huffman in the sixth inning. Huffman hit a single and was able to advance to second and third on two wild pitches before senior Ashlee Lynch batted her in on a sacrifice fly.

Sophomore pitcher Haley Fabian picked up the win, advancing to 13-8 on the season with five strikeouts.

The double-elimination tournament meant that Central Washington would keep playing, but through the loser’s bracket. Western Oregon advanced to face the Western Washington Vikings.

The Vikings were the number two team in the tournament and, much like the Wolves, were on a hot streak. They had won nine games in a row. Their last loss was on April 22, when the Wolves beat them 1-0.

The tournament meeting turned out to be a pitcher’s duel between Fabian and Vikings ace Anna Kasner. The game went into extra innings before the Wolves fell 1-2. Kasner recorded 13 strikeouts in the game.

The Wolves had one more shot to make the championship game, but they had to take on the Wildcats again to get there. This game was much more explosive, and the Wolves won 8-6.

Senior Destiny Kuehl and first-year student Chandler Bishop each slugged home runs in the fourth inning. Senior Kelsie Gardner scored three runs on the day as the Wolves topped Central Washington for a fourth consecutive game and returned to face Western Washington.

Again Kasner took the mound for the Vikings, while junior Lizzet Dominguez started for the Wolves.

The game began as tight as the first game, with three up and three down for both sides in the first inning.

In the second inning, things fell apart. Western Washington scored two runs on Dominguez, who was pulled for senior Sammi Cadwallader, before the Vikings scored three more.

“Walks were our downfall,” said Ku’ulei Siolo, senior catcher. “I was feeling the pressure and knew we couldn’t let them score more than a few runs to stay in the game because our hitting hadn’t been strong against Kasner.”

Dominguez was pulled after giving up a walk with bases loaded, which gave the Vikings their second run.

Cadwallader inherited the loaded bases with two outs but wasn’t able to shut the Vikings down. Two of the runners had been walked and one hit by a pitch to reach base. All three would cross home plate before Cadwallader forced the final out.

The rest of the day was a pitcher’s affair with little offensive action. The Wolves ultimately lost 0-5.

“Of course I’m sad it’s over,” Siolo said. “I never really thought it would end, but here I am. But I think this season will be a great example for future WOU softball players, that no matter the circumstances, we can overcome the worst situations. I’ll miss this sport, but I think this program will make a name for itself.”

Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu

Alpha Wolves are top dogs once more

By: Burke De Boer
Sports Editor

For the 14th time in the past 17 years, Wolves baseball are the regular season GNAC champions.

The 2017 title was secured over the course of two days of action in Monmouth – the only baseball played on Western Oregon’s campus all year.

In two days of double headers against Northwest Nazarene, the Wolves won one and lost one on each day.

The first split came on May 4. The Wolves lost the home opener 2-5, then came thundering back to win the afternoon game 11-3.

That victory secured at least a share of the conference title.

The Wolves went into the third inning trailing 0-1 when they were able to open up scoring. First-year student Connor McCord hit a single with junior Garrett Anderson on base. A throwing error by the Northwest Nazarene infield brought Anderson across home plate.

The Wolves picked up five total runs in that inning alone, the start of a three-inning burst from the Wolves. They held an 11-2 lead in the fifth when the game was put on pause.

After a season full of games being canceled and relocated due to weather, it was only fitting that a game finally played in Monmouth would get a weather delay. The May 4 thunderstorm that swept across the Northwest sent a few bolts into the Monmouth-Corvallis area. Fans in the aluminum bleachers were encouraged to find shelter as the game was halted for 30 minutes.

When the game continued, the Wolves were able to coast on their huge lead to the victory.

In the second day of action, the Wolves put up an even bigger win, at 20-2. This game made the Wolves the outright regular season champions.

Seniors Joey Crunkilton and Brock Pradere and junior Jacob Martinez each scored three runs. Martinez recorded two doubles and three RBIs.

15 runs came in the first two innings.

“Going into every game we have the mentality of applying pressure first,” said Nyles Nygaard, junior third baseman, who had two runs and three RBIs in the win. “The first two innings were huge for us, we applied a ton of pressure which made us slow the game down and take quality at bats. It was a great team effort.”

Though this was the 14th time the Wolves accomplished this in the past 17 years, it was the first one in two years. After a 13-year streak, the last two seasons were dry ones for Western Oregon baseball.

First-year student Torreahno Sweet joined the team just in time to skip the two-year title gap. “Sweet T,” as his teammates call him, has made a quick impact, posting a batting average of .345 over the season. Only the veteran catchers, redshirt sophomore Justin Wakem and senior Boog Leach, had better averages.

“It was great to play with this group of guys,” Sweet said. “We are one big family and we play the game hard.”

The Wolves are the number one seed and will face Montana State Billings in the first round of the playoffs. In the regular season, Western Oregon went 7-1 in their eight games against the Yellowjackets, where they scored a total of 62 runs to average 7.75 runs a game.

“We are all excited,” Nygaard said. “We have practiced and prepared so much for big situations so we are ready to get after it.”

Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu

Springing into action

By: Burke De Boer
Sports Editor

Under blue skies and bright sun, the football team hosted the 2017 spring game.

The May 6 game was held at McArthur Field and gave Wolves fans a look at the work the team has put in over spring practice.

Last year’s two quarterbacks, Philip Fenumiai and Nick Duckworth, are seniors in the fall and competed against one another as Western Oregon players divided into a red team and white team. Underclassmen Ty Currie, Wyatt Hutchinson and Blake Walker were also tested.

“I honestly think it’s a group effort,” said Trey Shimabukuro, quarterback coach for the Wolves. “Offensively we simplified things for our guys which allowed them to play fast and understand the ‘why’ behind the playcall. We still have a long way to go as a position, but I am excited to see the progress we have made.”

Last year’s defensive leader was Bo Highburger, who will be a junior in the fall.

“Took some big steps as a team today,” Highburger said. “Two players that stood out to me, although I’m pretty preoccupied with playing the game myself, were linebackers Andrew Weber and Nate Proctor.”

Highburger also had praise for wide receiver Harrison White, who was redshirted last season.

“It was cool to see our young guys progress and make plays on both sides of the ball,” said wide receiver Zack Suarez, who will be a senior. “As a whole I think it went really well. It was nice to be in that environment after the last few weeks of spring ball.”

Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu

Track and field finds success in two meets

By: Burke De Boer
Sports Editor

Western Oregon track and field competed in Eugene and McMinnville, as they took on the Oregon Twilight and the Linfield Open.

Junior David Ribich won the men’s 1,500-meter at the University of Oregon on May 5. His winning time was 3:45.01.

Sophomore Dustin Nading won his event in the 1,500-meter as well. The Oregon Twilight hosted a B Section of the 1,500-meter, giving Nading the opportunity to take the victory with a time of 3:50.24.

Women sprinters also did well for the Wolves, as first-year student Grayson Burke claimed second place in the 400-meter, crossing the finish line in 58.67 seconds. The women’s 4×100 relay team took another second place finish. The team, composed of Burke, senior Laura Patrick, junior Sara Madden and sophomore Madeline Bernard, finished in 49.68 seconds.

Success continued for the Wolves on May 6, when some competed in the Linfield Open.

Two event wins were recorded, as sophomore Olivia Woods took the women’s 400-meter with a time of 57.19. Junior Megan Rose came in right behind her with a second-place time of 57.89.

The other event win was claimed by first-year student Sawyer Heckard in the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase, finishing in 10:05.24.

Grayson Burke claimed another second-place finish, running the 800-meter in 2:21.21.

The Wolves track and field team now focuses on the GNAC outdoor championships, which will be hosted in Monmouth on May 12 and 13.

Contact the author tat journalsports@wou.edu

Closing in on the conference title

By: Burke De Boer
sports editor


Wolves baseball swept St. Martin’s and then split a pair of doubleheaders with Central Washington, remaining top of the GNAC after the week’s six games.

The April 26 games against St. Martin’s were played on neutral ground in Portland’s Porter Park, where the Wolves won 5-3 and 5-1.

In bottom of the first game’s eighth inning, the game was tied at 3-3. Junior Nyles Nygaard hit a double to score senior Joey Crunkilton, for Crunkilton’s second score of the game. Nygaard was shortly batted in by sophomore Justin Wakem for the two point lead.

St. Martin’s never threatened in the second game, as junior pitcher Brady Miller recorded eight strikeouts and gave up only one run while pitching a complete game.

On April 28, the Wolves faced the Central Washington Wildcats in Ellensburg, Washington. The number two team in the conference, the Wildcats had a lot to gain from defeating the Wolves. On the first day of competition, the Wolves were able to prove why they’re top in the standings, winning 6-4 and 11-7.

Wakem and junior Garrett Anderson each recorded three hits and two RBIs in the first game, and Crunkilton hit his second home run of the season.

The second game featured four lead changes as the offenses went back and forth in the later innings. Junior Cody Dykstra scored on a wild pitch for the lead in the eighth inning. Nygaard then singled to bat in junior Jacob Martinez.

Nygaard went on to steal second and third base before being batted in, along with first-year student Torreahno Sweet, off a Wakem single.

The second day of action in Ellensburg was tougher on the Wolves, who lost 11-13 and 6-8.

The two games were massive scoring affairs. In the last two frames of the first game, a total of 12 runs were scored.

At the start of the eighth inning, the Wolves trailed 5-7, with the game still in reach, when Central Washington put up six runs on first-year pitcher Justin Doleful.

The Wolves answered with six runs of their own, including a three-run homer from junior Jay Leverett. But it wasn’t enough. Justin Wakem, who had previously scored two runs and an RBI, struck out swinging to end the game.

Late-inning drama again unfolded in the day’s second game; the Wolves went up 6-2 only to give up six more runs and fall again.

The Wolves maintain their top spot in the conference, with four games left to play before the playoffs begin on May 10.

Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu

Westbrook makes his closing argument

By: Burke De Boer
sports editor


After the first round of the NBA playoffs, Russell Westbrook is now home watching the remaining teams compete.

The frontrunner for the NBA Most Valuable Player award, Westbrook is reduced to a civilian. His only MVP competitor is James Harden.

Unlike Westbrook, Harden has advanced to the second round of the playoffs. His Houston Rockets team took down Westbrook’s Oklahoma City Thunder in four games.

The series put the two teams head-to-head, and was predicted to be the indicator for which player truly is the most valuable.

Harden edged Westbrook out of the playoffs. The question now is if he will take the award as well.

Cameras caught Houston fans taunting Westbrook in the Rockets-Thunder series, by holding a sign reading, “The real MVP is over there.” Westbrook is seen looking at the sign, which has an arrow pointing toward Harden.

It was good-natured, competitive ribbing that we can expect from organized sports and fan bases. It was funny because there was some truth to it. After all, wouldn’t the real MVP be able to get his team to advance in the playoffs?

Though he bowed out of the big dance early, Westbrook still leads the MVP voting by an ever-increasing margin, because the head-to-head matchup of the two teams seemed to have the opposite effect from their outcome.

Westbrook, in his first season without Kevin Durant, averaged a triple-double on the season. Only one other player had ever done that, and that was 55 years ago.

The Thunder finished sixth place this season, which is well below the finish of a typical MVP candidate. First round exits aren’t typical MVP fodder either, but these games against the Rockets served to show how much Westbrook is truly doing.

Harden had the most points and assists on his team in most of the games of the series. The fourth game was a poor showing from Harden, but he still led his team in assists.

Westbrook had the most points, assists and rebounds on the Thunder every game, and was often the overall leader of these numbers.

He outscored Harden in three out of five games, he out-assisted Harden in four out of five games and he outrebounded Harden in every single game.

Westbrook put the Thunder on his back and took them as far as he could. If this translates to an MVP award remains to be seen, but it would be a surprise to see him surpassed.

Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu

Road wins take Wolves to the playoffs

By: Burke De Boer
sports editor

The 2017 Wolves softball team call themselves the Road Warriors.

After 49 regular games, with every home game being canceled and relocated due to weather and field conditions, they traveled 14,655 miles to play ball. The Road Warriors will travel again come May 4. This time to Lacey, Washington, to compete in the GNAC championships.

One month earlier, the Wolves were dead last in the conference.

“This whole season has been a string of bad luck, with injuries and ineligibilities,” said Ku’ulei Siolo, senior catcher. “But now that everyone is back together, I think we’re really finding our groove.”

Corvallis is as close as Western Oregon Softball would get to playing on the Western Oregon Softball Field in 2017. They “hosted” two double headers at Oregon State, facing St. Martin’s on April 29 and Central Washington on April 30.

The Wolves split their first day of competition, first beating the Saints 9-5 then losing 4-5.

After the split series, the Wolves needed to win only one game against Central Washington to secure a playoff spot. They came out and took both legs of the doubleheader, 5-1 and 4-0.
The game was tied 1-1 when sophomore pitcher Haley Fabian took the mound in the first game. She threw four shutout innings on the way to the playoff-clinching victory.

“We had nothing to lose,” Fabian said. “We needed to secure our spot in the GNAC. I just had to trust my stuff and my team.”

Even after clinching their playoff berth, the Wolves didn’t slow down.

“It was such a relief to get the first win and a huge confidence booster to win the second game,” Siolo said. “When we first p
layed Central, we played phenomenal and barely lost on a couple ill-timed errors. So being able to shut down Central and show them we won’t be rolling over any time soon was amazing.”

Central Washington are the top seed this year, so the Wolves meet them again in the first round. Last year the Wildcats defeated Western Oregon in the GNAC championship game. But the Road Warriors feel confident heading into the matchup.

“Coming off that sweep is huge for us and really fired us up,” said Hailee Watilo, senior right fielder, who hit a home run in the 4-0 win. “We know it’s going to be a battle and that’s what our team’s always looking for.”

“I think Central will need to rearrange their strategy a lot if they plan on winning on Thursday,” Siolo said. “We’re peaking at the perfect time right now.”

Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu

Track and field shines in Corvallis contest

By: Burke De Boer
sports editor

As they prepared for the GNAC championships, the Western Oregon track and field team traveled to Corvallis to compete in the Oregon State High Performance, a two-day meet on April 28 and 29.

Senior Aaron Whitaker set a new school record in the men’s 400-meter dash. His time of 47.96 was enough for a second place finish at the meet, and places him third in the GNAC this year. He was named the GNAC player of the week for his accomplishment.

Junior David Ribich took first place in the men’s 1500-meter. His time of 3:41.45 was the quickest in a field that featured runners from Division I schools, such as Colorado and Washington. It was also a new personal record for Ribich.

Sophomore Dustin Nading took the 11th spot in the race, with a time of 3:47.17, which was a lifetime personal best for him. Junior Thomas Normandeau took 30th place and first-year student Justin Crosswhite took 36th. Normandeau’s time of 3:56.15 was also a personal best.

Junior Alan Ekanger ran the men’s 3000-meter steeplechase for an 11th place finish. His time of 9:30.90 set his new personal record, improving by 20 seconds.

Another personal best was set by sophomore Tyler Jones in the men’s 5000-meter. His time of 14:54.95 took him to a 24th place finish.

In the women’s 800-meter, sophomore Olivia Woods became the first Division II runner across the finish line, for a 14th place finish overall. She finished the race in 2:08.65. Juniors Megan Rose and Suzanne Van De Grift were close behind, finishing in 2:09.05 for 16th place and 2:09.47 for 18th place, respectively.

The men’s 800-meter saw another Division II-leading finish, as senior Michael Chin came in 12th place with a time of 1:52.76. First-year student Curt Knott won his heat of the 800-meter. His time of 1:56.28 was a personal best, and earned him a 25th place finish overall.
Sara Madden set a lifetime best in the 400-meter hurdles, with an eighth-place time of 1:03.84.

Wolves continued to excel in throwing competitions. Junior Sheila Limas De La Cruz improved on her earlier NCAA provisional distance in the javelin contest. With her throw of 44.14 meters, De La Cruz is now ranked number 11 in the nation.

Junior Kegan Allen set a new personal record in the hammer throw, adding two meters to his previous distance with a throw of 51.30. The throw earned him a third place finish, and saw him finish top among Division II throwers.

Wolves also had strong finishes in jumps. Senior Wesley Gray took second in the men’s triple jump contest, with a distance of 14.69 meters. First-year student Alani Troutman came in fourth among the men’s long jump, with a distance of 7.03 meters.

The Wolves continue to prepare for the GNAC outdoor championships, which will be hosted in Monmouth on May 12 and 13.

Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu

Baseball splits series with Concordia

By: Burke De Boer 
Sports Editor

The Wolves went 2-2 across a pair of doubleheaders over the weekend facing Concordia.

The matchup positioned the top of the GNAC Wolves against the conference’s bottom ranked team for a surprisingly even two days of competition. In the first day of games, Concordia cleaned house, as the Wolves lost 2-9 and 3-5 on April 21. They got back on track the second day, winning 5-1 and 6-0.

Concordia opened up scoring early in the first game, putting up two runs in the first inning on the starting pitcher, first-year student Connor McCord.

McCord would give up a total of five runs before being pulled. But even after pitching changed, Concordia runs kept coming in. Sophomore Jacob Fricke, first-year student Justin Dolezal and senior Alex Emerson would all serve time on the mound, giving up four more runs.

On offense, McCord was able to bat in the only two runs for the Wolves.

The second game of the day was much closer, and went into extra innings to reach a decision. Senior Justin Spinner and first-year student Hunter Johnson scored runs in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game. But two runs in the ninth secured the win for Concordia.

The Wolves regrouped and swept Concordia on April 22.

Junior Craig Grubbe pitched the first game, striking out seven on the way to the 5-1 victory.

“Two losses in a day is pretty strong fuel for a team,” said senior Joey Crunkilton. “We took those losses to heart and were able to use it to our advantage.”

Crunkilton had three runs over the two games. He also hit in two RBIs, batting in McCord and junior Jacob Martinez with a fourth inning double in the 6-0 second game victory.

Junior Nyles Nygaard helped lead the way in scoring, and batted in Crunkilton on a triple after Crunkilton’s fourth inning double. He also opened the scoring of the game with a solo home run.

With eight games left to play, the Wolves remain on the top of the GNAC standings. Their remaining games all come against second-place Central Washington and third-place Northwest Nazarene.

Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu

Wolves on the cusp

By: Burke De Boer 
Sports Editor

Sophomore pitcher Haley Fabian led Wolves softball to three victories over the weekend. The Wolves traveled north for a long weekend, playing four games against Western Washington and two against Simon Fraser, beginning on April 21.

The Wolves experienced a stop-and-start weekend, going 3-3, with each of their wins coming from complete games pitched by Fabian.

“My catchers and I were able to find the batters’ strengths and weaknesses after their at bats and then adjust to it,” Fabian said.

In the first day of double headers, the Wolves fell to the Western Washington Vikings 1-13 then beat them 6-1.

Western Washington opened the game with immediate scoring. They would not relent, as they put up runs in every inning on first-year pitcher Chandler Bishop.

Game two was another story; Fabian locked the Vikings batters down, allowing only three hits and striking out six.

The Wolves offense scored all six of their runs in the second inning.

Seniors Kelsie Gardner and Hailee Watilo each picked up an RBI while they got on base, and were themselves batted in by a double from sophomore Cheyanne Rimer.

In their second day of battle with the Vikings, the Wolves lost by a narrow 5-6 and won by a narrow 1-0.

Western Oregon picked up the lead in the second inning of the first game, when senior Mercedes Green slugged a two-run home run. They held onto this lead until the bottom of the final inning.

Senior Sammi Cadwallader hit the Vikings batter with a pitch with bases loaded. The floodgates were then opened, and Western Washington put up enough runs to snag the victory.

Fabian pitched the second game for a shutout performance.

Senior Emma Alfonso scored the only run of the day to lead the Wolves to the win.

The Wolves went further north, to Burnaby, Canada, to face Simon Fraser.

An error in game one’s first inning allowed Simon Fraser to score their first two runs, and they would hold onto this lead as the Wolves took the 0-4 loss.

The Wolves regrouped for an 8-7 victory in the afternoon.

Fabian had five strikeouts over the first five innings, while Green, Rimer and sophomore Jenna Kelly all hit home runs. The Wolves took an 8-0 lead going into the sixth, when the Clan came back resurgent.

The Wolves defense was able to stop another comeback victory. With two outs, Simon Fraser hit a grand slam and followed it with a solo home run in the seventh to come within one.

Gardner, playing at shortstop, then snared a grounder to end the game.

“We need to come out and win every game we can,” Gardner said afterwards, looking ahead to this week’s fixtures.

With six games left, the Wolves remain on the cusp of qualifying for the GNAC tournament, two games behind the number four team. It will be a gauntlet just to qualify, as their final six games are against the top two teams in the conference.

Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu

Track and field competes in California

By: Burke De Boer
Sports Editor

Western Oregon track and field traveled to Southern California, where the team continued to find success in the face of Division I and II competition.

Most Wolves competed in the Bryan Clay Invitational in Azusa, where junior David Ribich broke his own school record and senior Wesley Gray grabbed Western Oregon’s one event win. A smaller group of Wolves attended the Beach Invitational hosted by Long Beach State.

In Azusa on April 14, Ribich proved the fastest of all Division II competitors in the men’s 1,500-meter. His time of 3:42.21 set a new record for himself. His old time of 3:43.41 was the fastest in both Western Oregon and GNAC history.

The stacked race against Division I schools put Ribich in a 17th place finish, and automatically qualified him for the NCAA championship competition.

Wesley Gray won the men’s triple jump, going a distance of 14.85 meters. The distance was a Division II provisional qualifier, one of five from the meet.

The women’s 800-meter race had three Wolves post NCAA provisional marks, as sophomore Olivia Woods and juniors Suzanne Van De Grift and Megan Rose all finished in the top 10 of Division II runners.

Junior AJ Holmberg posted a provisional time in the men’s 800-meter, finishing in 18th place.

The following day, nearby in Long Beach, two more provisional marks were set.

Olivia Woods grabbed her second of the weekend, as she ran the 800-meter in 2:12.70.

First-year student Alani Troutman made the other provisional qualifier, with a long jump mark of 7.28 meters to a 15th place finish, the best of all Wolves in Long Beach.

Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu

Wolves go big on the road

By: Burke De Boer
Sports Editor

The baseball team went 6-1 on the week, facing Saint Martin’s and then taking a long road trip to play Montana State Billings.

Western Oregon met the Saint Martin’s Saints on neutral ground in Newberg after the Monmouth home opener was once again postponed due to weather conditions.

The Wolves took both games, with scores of 4-3 and 3-2.

Junior Nyles Nygaard hit a homerun in the fourth inning to open Western scoring. Nygaard dinged five fouls in a row before sending the ball out of the park.

Later in the inning, junior Garrett Anderson hit a single that picked up two RBIs.

The Saints made a comeback in the seventh inning, but the Wolves were able to pull ahead and secure the victory in the bottom half of the inning. After he stole third base, senior Brock Pradere was batted in for the go ahead run by first-year student Connor McCord.

McCord then opened up the scoring in the second game, when he hit a two-RBI double in the third inning.

Saint Martin’s went on to tie the game with a home run, but Western took the lead and the win when junior Jacob Martinez scored on a throwing error in the eighth inning.

With the two wins early in the week, the Wolves traveled to Montana State Billings to face the Yellowjackets. The first order of business on April 14 was finishing the March 6 game that had been halted due to weather.

The Wolves held a 7-0 lead from March. First-year student Torreahno Sweet hit a two RBI double and then was batted in himself by senior Boog Leach to ensure the 10-0 win.

The games against Montana State Billings continued in a similarly high scoring fashion. The Wolves won both halves of the first day of play, with scores of 14-7 and 8-7.

Going into the eighth inning of the first game, the Wolves trailed 6-7. Sweet batted in McCord to tie the game up, and a three-RBI double from Nyles Nygaard took the commanding victory.

“They brought in a new pitcher and I was in the box just trying to get a good pitch to hit,” said Nygaard. “The pitcher threw two straight balls to me to bring the count to 2-0 so I knew he had to come after me. I was looking for a pitch over the plate and he gave it to me so I put my best swing on it.”

Nygaard picked up another RBI in the ninth, when he batted in senior Joey Crunkilton.

The second game didn’t start as planned. The Wolves went into the sixth inning trailing 2-6, but Nygaard and Crunkilton picked up two RBIs a piece in the inning, helping to jump-start the offense and ultimately win the game.

The first game of the second day belonged to the Yellowjackets, who destroyed the Wolves by a score of 2-18. But they seemed to get all their run scoring out of their system in one go and the Wolves were back to winning ways to finish the series.

The final game ended 8-3 in favor of the Wolves, who surged to the lead with two runs in the first inning.

Senior Trey Smith pitched a complete game, striking out four on the way to his third win of the season.

The Wolves advance to 19-9 on the season and 18-6 in conference, and currently sit on top of the GNAC standings.

Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu

The next big step

By: Burke De Boer
Sports Editor

Mock drafts are often made into mockeries on draft day, which is now quickly approaching. The NFL draft begins on April 27, and college players from across the nation will look to make impacts on professional teams.

Since 2000, the only defensive players ever taken number one overall have been defensive ends. This year’s draft, according to scouts and projections across the sports media world, will continue this trend.

Conventional wisdom has Texas A&M phenom Myles Garrett being taken first overall. Which some consider a career death sentence, as the first overall pick belongs to the Cleveland Browns.

But Garrett’s not shying away from the challenge. He had an interview with “ESPN The Magazine” when his draft stock started blowing up where he issued a warning to the number one team in the draft.

“If you don’t draft me number one, I will punish your team for the next 10 or 12 years,” said Garrett.

It’s a threat that he can back up. Looking at the numbers, he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.64 seconds at the NFL Combine and he leapt to a 41-inch vertical. All this while weighing 272 pounds and standing 6 feet 4 inches tall.

But some people do have Garrett being passed by on the first pick, in favor of North Carolina quarterback Mitchell Trubisky. Trubisky’s stock has skyrocketed, which is interesting considering he only started for one year at North Carolina. He had an explosive year, but played in a spread offense that will require him to adapt if he’s expected to play in Cleveland’s system.

Two running backs are in consideration to be selected highly in the draft, which is something of a rare occurrence in this modern football era. The top of the draft tends to be reserved for the passing game, either getting it going offensively or getting after it on defense.
But Leonard Fournette and Christian McCaffrey are different beasts when it comes to rushers. Which is why some mock drafts have them going in the top 10. Both declared for the draft after only three years at their schools. Not only did they leave their old schools behind, they also left their teams hanging during bowl season and sat out their bowl games, as to not risk injury.

Fournette rushed for over 1000 yards as a first-year student at Louisiana State and turned in an even better sophomore performance. His junior year didn’t cross the thousand-yard threshold, but he’s still projected above McCaffery.

McCaffery led the nation in all-purpose yards in both of his last two years, notably breaking Barry Sanders’ record for most yards in a season. However, the Pac-12 athlete is evidently valued less than the SEC-raised Fournette, and McCaffery is projected lower all across the board.

Both players will prove assets to any team that takes them, but it’s unlikely that either would have breakout seasons like Ezekiel Elliott had with the Cowboys in 2016. The Cowboys had the best offensive lining in the country that they put Elliott behind.

Additionally, Dalvin Cook is being taken in the first round by many mock drafts. Unlike Fournette and McCaffery, Cook topped 1000 rushing yards in every season he played. His 145 rushing yards helped Florida State topple Michigan in last year’s Orange Bowl.

Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu

Softball sees success in Portland

By: Burke De Boer
Sports Editor

A trip to Portland saw Wolves softball win three of four games against Concordia to continue their climb up the conference ladder.
After an additional double header in Hillsboro, Western Oregon extended their win streak to the current longest in the GNAC.

The pair of doubleheaders opened on April 13, with a slow start for the Wolves as they lost the first matchup, 1-3. The lowest scoring match of the entire series saw Western take the lead immediately but fail to close the game.

The first run came in the first inning, after sophomore Ryanne Huffman advanced to a scoring position by stealing second base.
First-year student Chandler Bishop batted Huffman in to take the lead.

The Wolves led for five innings. Sophomore pitcher Haley Fabian had four strikeouts over this span, giving up only one walk and one hit.

All three of Concordia’s runs came in the sixth inning, on a back-to-back RBI double and home run.

The Wolves’ offense had plenty of opportunity to open scoring themselves, as eight hits in the game and led to six runners left stranded.

The second of the two Thursday games was more explosive offensively as the Wolves powered their way to a 6-4 victory.

Senior Destiny Kuehl had two hits for four RBIs. Seniors Kelsie Gardner and Ashlee Lynch each had three hits. Gardner had three runs from her hits.

The game was tied 1-1 after the first, when Emma Alfonso hit a single in the second to bat in junior Zoe Clark. Kuehl singled later in the inning to bat in both Alfonso and Gardner.

The Wolves picked up a pair of wins on the second day of competition, where they won the first game 6-1 and the second 10-1.

Kuehl opened scoring in the first game with a three-run home run in the third inning and went on to bat in Gardner in the fifth.

Clark hit a home run of her own in the sixth, also scoring sophomore Courtney Lau Hee.

Bishop served as pitcher, throwing twelve groundouts allowing only one run off of six hits.

“It felt great to get the full seven innings and get the win,” said Bishop. “I am not a strikeout pitcher and rely on my defense greatly, so it’s such a great feeling when I know they have my back before I even pitch the ball. My catcher, Mercedes [Green] also called a great game and I trusted her completely. It also helps when our offense was putting up runs to take a little pressure off of me.”

Kuehl picked up two more home runs in the landslide second victory.

Fabian pitched her eighth complete game of the year, allowing only five hits to improve to an 8-7 record.

After the weekend, on April 17, softball won both sides of a double header against Simon Fraser on neutral ground in Hillsboro. The Wolves found themselves trailing 0-7 in the second game after four innings but had a monster rally over the last three frames to pull off a 9-8 win. Senior Hailee Watilo had two runs, while Zoe Clark, senior Ku’ulei Siolo and first-year student Ashley Doyle each had two RBIs.

With the wins, the Wolves advance to a 8-8 conference record. Since the start of April, softball has improved from the bottom of the conference to being ranked fifth.

Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu

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