Sports – Page 80 – The Western Howl

By Jacob Mitchell
 Freelancer

Western’s baseball team played a 4-game series last weekend, April 3-4, against preseason front runner Central Washington University, coming out 2-0 on Friday, but finishing Saturday at 0-2. Senior Jesse Pratt was named GNAC Pitcher of the Week after he pitched a one hitter in Friday’s win.

Western took game one Friday, April 3, in Ellensburg, Washington (3-2) over division rival and preseason favorite CWU.

Junior Darrien Moran pitched the opening five innings, allowing two earned runs on eight hits, to be relieved by freshman Brady Miller and junior Jacob Storedahl. Western would go down 2-1 early in the game, only to battle back with two runs of their own to win 3-2.

Pratt tossed a season best one-hit game in the second game Friday, with Western’s blowout second win of the day (10-0) over Central Washington. The offense was spearheaded by juniors Nathan Etheridge and Cody Sullivan with a combined five hits each, as Etheridge went a perfect 4-for-4 in game two and Sullivan collected four RBIs and scored three runs by the end of the contest.

Day two of the series was a loss for the Wolves as they fell three runs to six in game one, and followed suit in game two by coming up short in a tough 4-9 loss to CWU.

The Wolves’ bullpen combined to allow two runs (one earned) on four hits over the final 6 innings with Domke registering a team-high two strikeouts; unfortunately, it was not enough for the W and the Wolves fell short.

Western will host Saint Martin’s University at home for a four-game series, starting Saturday at 1 p.m.

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SOFTBALL SPLITS

By HAUNANI TOMAS
 Editor-in-Chief

Undeterred by losing in their first game, the Wolves pulled out a victory in the second game of their double-header against Saint Martin’s University to split in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play on Friday, April 4 at Lacey, Washington.

Although Western (15-22 overall, 7-5 GNAC) lost 5-9 to SMU in game one, the Wolves fought to beat the Saints in their second game to win 6-1.

“We had a few crucial errors during the first game that got them on a roll. [SMU is] a hard team to stop when they get going,” said pitcher Jourdan Williams.

Western remained scoreless for the first two innings of game one, until outfielder Amanda Evola scored a single RBI at the top of the third inning. The Saints led at the top of the third 2-1 thanks to a two-run home run hit by infielder Alyssa Slate.

Catcher and infielder Elaine Sperry tied the game 2-2 at the top of the fourth inning by hitting a double RBI. However, the Saints extended their lead by five at the bottom of the fourth.

Although infielder and outfielder Lexi Jennings hit a home run that also brought Williams home, the Wolves were still chasing to catch the Saints, lagging by three points 4-7 at the top of the fifth.

At the top of the seventh inning, Williams scored a single RBI to conclude game one.

Evola attributed Western’s game one defeat to a hitting deficit.

“If we can’t produce at the plate, we won’t win games,” said Evola.

And produced they did.

The Wolves maintained a three point lead throughout the first and second innings thanks to a two-RBI single hit by catcher Ku’ulei Siolo in the first and a home run by Jennings in the second.

Western allowed SMU one point in all of game two. At the bottom of the fifth, pitcher and infielder Sam Munger would be the only scorer for the Saints, attributing a single RBI.

“Our hitting was off during game one,” Evola said. “Once we were able to string some things together, we pulled out the win in game two.”

At the top of the seventh inning, the Wolves increased their lead by two to win the game 6-1.

“We had great defense and kept the momentum pretty much the whole game,” Williams said.

Williams, who pitched for the entirety of game two, said that she “hadn’t pitched for about three weeks” prior to their match-up against the Saints.

After their split against the Saints, Western prepares to take on their next GNAC opponent: Western Washington University. In their last game against the Vikings, the Wolves split to win game one and lose in the latter.

Team leaders Evola and Williams, acknowledged the speed of WWU’s batters.

“We’ve been working on our defense and being quick [be]cause [WWU] have some fast players. We’ve done a lot of hitting and worked quite a bit on the outside pitch. After last weekend, [we] have improved quite a bit with that pitch,” said Williams.

Evola also mentioned the team’s increased focus on batting.

“After playing WWU for the first time, we know we have to hit to be able to win the game. Most of our practices have been geared toward hitting and overall making us all confident at the plate,” said Evola.

The Wolves will play the Vikings for the second time in GNAC play on Saturday, April 11 at Bellingham, Washington.

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Sultessa races into Western record books

By Rachel Shelley
Staff Writer

Three Wolves competed at the Indoor National Track meet in Birmingham, Alabama as Badane Sultessa raced towards becoming the third NCAA Division II Indoor All-American
in Western’s track and field history.

Sultessa finished the preliminary 800 meter as the top ranked runner finishing in 1 minute, 0.73 seconds Friday, March 13, setting himself up to join former Wolves Zeke Van Patten and Chris Olsen who became NCAA Division II All-Americans in the 800 in 2009 and 2013, respectively.

On Saturday, March 14, Sultessa finished fourth in 1:51.36, becoming an All-American and came within 0.66 seconds of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference record which he set during his preliminary performance, also a lifetime best in the event.

“It was a great experience and makes me want to work harder to become a better athlete,” Sultessa said. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to race at the National meet, and I attribute hard work to my success.”

Brady Beagley ended his last season as a Wolf racing the mile at nationals. In the preliminaries, Beagley finished 12th overall in 4:14.84 during the first heat, finishing fourth in his heat.

“The indoor national meet was where my eyes have been set for the last eight months,” Beagley said. “It is the only reason I decided to extend my schooling another two terms. I wanted to end my career at Western with a nationals experience in all three of the sports I have competed in at least once and with this final indoor season I accomplished just that. I am very happy with my career as a Western Oregon student athlete, and cannot wait to use what I have learned from this institution in my future endeavors starting with the assistant cross country/track and field coaching position I have been appointed,” Beagley said.

Stephanie Stuckey competed for the women in the mile. Coming off a personal record to qualify for the national meet, Stuckey finished ninth in 4:54.79, another personal record, and qualified her for finals the following day. In the finals, she raced towards a 5:00.85 finish in her first ever appearance at nationals.

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Quick off the blocks

By Rachel Shelley
 Freelancer

The outdoor track season wasted no time with four quick meets to start the season, the first three in Gresham and the Willamette Invitational hosted in Salem.

The Wolves brought home three individual titles the first meet, as Zach Holloway, Josh Hanna and Emmi Collier won their respective events.

Holloway won the steeplechase in 9 minutes, 32.71 seconds, edging the competition by over 30 seconds.

Hanna brought home the 800-meter title in 1:54.14, winning by 0.79 seconds.

Collier won the shot put with the fifth farthest toss in program history of 13.10 meters. She also placed second in the hammer throw in 42.88 meters.

The Wolves improved the following weekend, bringing home four individual titles from the Rose City Preview.

Cody Warner, David Ribich and Peter Zalk dominated their events. In the headwind, Warner raced to the 100 and 200 victories in 10.98 and 22.10, respectively. Ribich raced to
a time of 3:55.30, winning the 1,500 while Zalk cleared 4.05 meters in his first-ever pole vault performance for the Wolves, beating his competition by over four inches.

The women saw two second-place finishes when Bailey Beeson raced to a time of 2:15.84 in the 800 and Kylie Reinholdt finished behind an unattached competitor in the triple jump with 11.04 meters.

Sam Moore competed as the only Wolf at the Mt. Hood Multi-Events during the third weekend of the season. She finished with a total of 3,982 points in second place at her first-ever heptathlon.

The seven-event meet covered two days, leaving Moore 74 points ahead of second place after day one. The two days included the 100-meter hurdles, high jump, shot put, the 200, long jump, javelin and the 800.

Moore won Section 2 in the 100 hurdles in 16.23, and then earned a GNAC provisional mark in the high jump clearing 1.57 meters, placing second in that event.

“Multi-event athletes are so unique in the fact that they are so kind and “It was my first heptathlon and many of the girls helped me with my high jump steps or javelin, because I’ve literally never thrown it before. It’s like you’re surrounding by teammates and that’s a really unique experience,” Moore said.

During the Willamette Invitational, the Wolves finished with five individual titles. Rochelle Pappel, Badane Sultessa, Kaleb Dobson and Warner all took home title with Warner again sweeping in the 100 and 200.

Pappel won the 100 hurdles, beating five Alaska Anchorage runners in a time of 14.51. Dobson won his first-ever collegiate individual title in the 110 hurdles in 15.22 while Sultessa brought his success at Indoor Nationals to the outdoor track, winning the 800 in 1:52.65, the eighth fastest time in program history.

The Wolves will split up for their next meets on April 3-4 at four different locations along the West Coast including the Stanford Invite in Palo Alto, California, SF State Distance Carnival in San Francisco, Jenn Boyman Memorial Invitational in McMinnville and Spring Break Open in Portland.

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Swing into Spring

By Jacob Hansen
 Staff Writer

BASEBALL

Western’s baseball team continues a hot streak to begin spring term. The Wolves started the season 2-11 but have rallied to 14-16 and 10-15 in the Great
Northwest Athletic Conference.

For the first time during conference play, the Wolves claimed the win in a four-game series. During their last game, senior Garret Harpole cranked his team-leading fifth home run to keep the Wolves on top.

One of Western’s top athletes, pitcher Jesse Pratt, was named GNAC pitcher of the week. He has earned wins in all of his last three games. He scorched the Yellowjackets of Montana State Billings, the top-ranked offense in GNAC, not allowing a single earned run. He struck out six batters March 13 for an 8-1 win. Pratt is tied for the most wins
among pitchers in the GNAC and looks to take the lead soon.

Last Friday, the Wolves split a double header with Northwest Nazarene University, as they were lead by senior Matt Taylor who scored a run and recorded an RBI. Additionally, Pratt recorded five strikeouts in the game. It was a team effort as junior relief pitcher Jacob Storedahl came in and quickly got the final three outs, earning his second save of the season. The two teams would face each other again the next day in Nampa, Idaho.

In the first game, the Wolves relied on four pitchers to seal the deal but couldn’t quite get the job the done as they lost 3-1.

NNU had an impressive pitching squad that held Western to one run in the first seven innings.

In the final game the Wolves attempt at the win took five pitchers but again was not enough in their 10-6 loss. Western had tied the game at 6 in the top of the sixth but was quickly stopped in their tracks as the Crusaders scored four points in the bottom of the inning.

In non-game related news, senior third baseman Garret Harpole was featured as a guest on the GNAC Insider. Harpole ranks in the top five for runs scored, home runs and RBIs in the conference.

The next contest for the Wolves will be on Friday, April 3, against Central Washington University in Ellenburg, Washington. The two double headers will be all GNAC play as Western tries to topple the preseason favorite Wildcats.

SOFTBALL

Over spring break, Western’s softball team took home Consolation #1 title at the 14th annual Tournament of Champions in Turlock, California.

The Wolves were lead by pitcher Sammie Cadwallader as she not only closed out several games for Western, but also opened games throwing heat and backing down batters. The
team was lead offensively by sophomore Kelsie Gardner with a perfect 3-for-3 performance in final game to end the tournament with two straight wins.

The final game was a payback win after losing to Academy of Art University in extra inning game. Amanda Evola and Jourdan Williams both smacked two hits to help out with the
win, also going past regulation innings. The hero of the game, pinch-hitter Amy Anderson, registered a two-out RBI double in the top of the seventh inning. Sealing the deal, Evola hit home Emma Alfonso putting the Wolves 3-1.

During the tournament, Cadwallader was named Great Northwest Athletic Conference pitcher of the week. She allowed only five runs in 20.1 innings on the mound. Her arm has been notorious around the league for striking out many top hitters. So far, she has made six starts in 12 games, with a record of 2-5 in 36 innings.

Western returns to the field April 2, with a doubleheader against Western Washington University at home.

Western will be wearing all pink in their cancer awareness game, honoring people that have been affected by the illness.

The past few weeks, Western players and coaches have been collecting names of anyone that is currently battling cancer has survived cancer, or has passed away from cancer.

They will hang the names around the softball complex. All ticket purchases and donations will go towards a cancer support group on campus.

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Dancing with Wolves

By GUY PERRIN
Staff Writer

The men’s basketball team will make their debut in the NCAA Division II men’s basketball tournament when they take on number-one seed Azusa Pacific University Friday, March 13.

The Wolves, who made their first-ever appearance at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference tournament, earned an at-large bid from the selection committee thanks to an impressive 23-6 regular season record in the.

“I am looking forward to our first game, and that is all what’s in my mind,” said forward Andy Avgi, who was voted GNAC Player of the Year.

Despite the upset in the GNAC conference tournament semifinals to rival Western Washington, Western will play in the NCAA D II tournament.

The Wolves got 29 points from Avgi but couldn’t quite catch up after Western Washington used a 21-10 scoring run in the firsthalf to take a nine-point lead into halftime.

On a 10-game winning streak, the Vikings shot an incredible 61 percent from the field to hold off Western in the second half to claim the 88-79 victory and advance to the final.

“The motivation is always there but what the loss did was make us beg for a second chance,” said guard Devon Alexander. “Now that we got a second chance, every little detail is crucial. When we heard our name called, the whole team went bananas because we know how big this is for us as a team and university.”

Despite the loss, the NCAA tournament selection committee deemed the Wolves regular season performance worthy of a spot in the Big Dance. This will be Western’s second time facing Azusa Pacific this season. Previously, the Cougars prevailed 81-74 in a back and forth contest.

The Wolves have already shattered expectations this season.

In addition to their GNAC tournament debut and a berth to the NCAA tournament, the Wolves earned three post-season individual awards: Avgi, GNAC Player of the Year; guard Julian Nichols, Newcomer of the Year; and head coach Brady Bergeson Coach of Year.

“It’s been an amazing year so far,” Nichols said. “It’s an honor to have received the award, but I could not have gotten it without my teammates and coaches believing in me, and all the hard work that’s been put in.

First year here and making it to regionals — it’s always been a goal of ours. We’re looking to take it one game at a time and simply enjoying the moment.”

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Baseball takes series

By RACHEL SHELLEY
Sports Editor

Wolves’ baseball defended home plate this past weekend, hosting a four-game series against Great Northwest Athletic Conference Central Washington, only giving
up one game to improve their conference record to 6-2.

The first game of the series began Saturday, March 7, starting off in the second inning with two runs by the Wildcats. CWU scored again in the third, leaving the
Wolves scoreless until the fifth when infielder Marcus Hinkle singled to left field to bring in infielder Jake Whisler. The Wolves did not score for the rest of the game, giving the Wildcats a 4-1 advantage after nine innings.

Saturday’s loss “was a combination of not sticking to our plan offensively and then having some very timely hitting,” Whisler said. “They might not have hit balls
hard, but they got base hits with runners in scoring position, and that’s something that we couldn’t do from the offensive side of the ball.”

In game two of the double-header Saturday, CWU got on the board quickly with three runs in the second inning. Pitcher Jesse Pratt was on the mound for the Wolves and did not give up another run for the rest of the game.

The Wolves went into a seven-run inning in the bottom of the third with just seven hits, using CWU’s errors. Outfielder Matt Taylor brought home the first Wolf to score on his infield single.

Catcher Michael Sherwin tied the game 3-3 with a single before first baseman Nathan Etheridge ripped a two-run double. Infielder Garret Harpole added a RBI double, extending the lead to 6-3. CWU committed its third error of the inning, to bring home the Wolves’ final run. Pratt held CWU without a hit over the last
five innings, allowing just one runner to first in the fourth and sixth innings, respectively.

Sunday, March 8, the Wolves swept CWU in their double header, 17-6 and 5-3 with a combined 5-for-7 performance at the plate with seven runs batted in by Harpole.

“Offensively we committed to our approach at the plate,” said head coach Kellen Walker. “Even when we weren’t rewarded with results, our guys didn’t waiver from our plan. We got some quality outing from our pitchers as well that gave our hitters a chance to settle in.”

Western put 17 runs on the board during game one Sunday, starting the bottom of the first with eight – the second time this season the Wolves have scored 17 runs. Outfielder Cody Sullivan went 4-for-8 with four other Wolves, infielder Austin Hamilton, Taylor, Etheridge and outfielder Cody Poznanski, all adding three hits during the two victories of the day.

“Guys are starting to understand the importance of every pitch and also the ability to move on to the next pitch no matter the previous result,” said Walker.

“We are getting closer to putting together complete competitive weekends, which is challenging when you are playing four games in two days against quality opponents.”

The Hamilton and Poznanski duo drove in nine of the 22 runs on the day. The pair, along with Harpole also accounted for 73 percent of the RBIs during both victories.

“We all really worked on staying committed and bought into the plan; when we did that, good things happened,” Harpole said. “I was just thinking about seeing the
ball and trusting all the work we put in during the week.”

The Wolves will welcome Montana State University Billings March 13 at 1 p.m. for a double header and continue the series through Sunday, March 14 at 12 p.m.

Western Oregon University’s Land Acknowledgement
Western Oregon University in Monmouth, OR is located within the traditional homelands of the Luckiamute Band of Kalapuya. Following the Willamette Valley Treaty of 1855 (Kalapuya etc. Treaty), Kalapuya people were forcibly removed to reservations in Western Oregon. Today, living descendants of these people are a part of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Community of Oregon and the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Indians.

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Baseball matches rival

SOFTBALL SPLITS

Sultessa races into Western record books

Quick off the blocks

Swing into Spring

Dancing with Wolves

Baseball takes series

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