Simson Garcia | Sports Editor
With the GNAC Baseball playoffs quickly approaching, four more in-season games were played on April 28-29. The Wolves secured a playoff spot after splitting the first two games against the Central Washington Wildcats, 14-6 and 5-3. Both teams, having already clinched a playoff seed, continued to jockey for GNAC tournament positioning, but it was the Wolves that defeated the Wildcats two more times: 8-5 and 4-3, with the latter score coming off a walk-off home run.
The hits came and plenty of contribution was divided among the Wolves roster in their first win against the Wildcats. Six players hit more than once in the 14-6 route.
Outfielder Griffey Halle, first-year, was the first on the attack as he put it past the fences for the first two runs of the second inning. Senior Jacob Martinez, outfielder, also provided contribution, running in three that helped add to a 8-1 lead in the fourth inning.
The Wolves ran up the score from then on and the ‘Cats could not make up ground.
Sophomore pitcher Alex Roth earned his fifth win in his five strikeout performance and has not lost a game throwing.
Unable to follow up on the hitting performance, Western had only one player, senior infielder Jay Leverett, hit twice in the rematch. The game was knotted, 3-3, by the sixth, but Central — having led the GNAC in total plate appearances — had just a few more at bats and base runners to earn the victory.
Central kept the appearances on home plate and bases in tact for game three. The Wolves planned to do the same. In the fourth, they ran eight players on bases to bring the game within one, 3-2. Both teams played through the pouring rain and, after a rain stoppage of 48 minutes, the Wolves came back.
Three infield throwing errors in a row from Washington produced three straight runs for a 7-5 Wolf lead. In the seventh, the Wolves scored one more after an unearned Martinez run in from third base.
One more game was played between the two. After having already hit two walks offs for wins within the last 16 days, first-year outfielder Spencer Bennion made sure his third would come again when it was needed in the extra eighth inning. With two outs and the score at 3-3, Bennion hit the ball clear over right center field for the final decider.
The Wolves will face the Northwest Nazarene Nighthawks for their final four in two doubleheaders. Each doubleheader is set for 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. times.
Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu
Photo by: wouwolves.com
