Another great weekend of college baseball is here and there are some matchups that should be good ones this weekend.
NWAC
Mt Hood vs Linn Benton – Matching up for a four game series this weekend Mt Hood (7-1) will host Linn Benton (10-2) for two games on Friday, then both teams will match up again on Sunday for a double header at Linn Benton.
Both teams have been dominating so far this season. Linn Benton has scored 74 runs while only allowing 34 runs. As for Mt Hood they have scored 78 runs, only giving up 21 runs. Offensively Mt Hood will need to stay hot at the plate and will be led by Ezra Samperi who is hitting .533 with a home run and 13 runs scored.
For Linn Benton their pitching will be key in determining the teams success for the weekend. Eric Hill (2-0) and Taylor Ott (1-1) will need to keep up their strong starts to the season. Hill currently has a 1.00 ERA while Ott has a 1.50 ERA and is sporting a 10/3 K/BB ratio.
This matchup will go a long way to see who the top team in the South is.
Tacoma vs Lower Columbia – Moving to the West Region one of the best rivalries in the NWAC matchups up this weekend for a double header. These two teams have had some of the hardest fought games I’ve ever had the privilege of covering.
Pitching will be important for this series but historically it is the offense for these two teams that has made the difference. For Tacoma Will Mulflur (.500) and Josh Trujillo (.438) will need to keep up their hot starts if the Titans want to go into Story Field and win the double header.
For Lower Columbia to defend their home field Drew Steelhammer (.625) will need to continue to anchor the heart of the Red Devils lineup.
If either team is able to sweep the double header it will put them fully in the driver’s seat to win the West this year.
GNAC
Western Oregon vs Central Washington – In a battle for the second spot in the GNAC standings Central Washington travels to Monmouth, OR to face off with Western Oregon in a four game series.
Offensively Connor McCord (.362) and Derek Maiben (.379) will be leaned on by Western Oregon. McCord will need to add more RBI’s to his current team leading 17, while Maiben needs to keep crossing the plate to help WOU in the matchup.
For Central Washington, Justin Hampson (.465) and Zach Berryman (.464) will need to keep up their hot starts to the season to keep the runs coming in for CWU.
In an earlier matchup this year both teams walked away with a split of the 4 game series and this weekend could be more of the same.
Northwest Conference
Whitman vs Willamette – Whitman, 10-6 in conference, travels to Salem, OR to face off against Willamette, 13-7 in conference. This matchup will go a long way to determining each teams ranking going into the conference championship.
For Willamette they are going to lean into their hot offense as they currently have three players hitting over .400. Sean Little (.422), Luke Werkmeister-Martin (.406), and Samuel Daly (.400) have been hot all season long. Werkmeister-Martin and Daly have also added power to the lineup as they have hit 8 and 9 home runs respectively.
For Whitman their pitching will need to step up to slow down Willamette’s offense. Team work horses Dexter Aichele (3-2) and Julien Hernandez (3-2) will need to be on their game to slow down Willamette. If both pitchers can limit their walks they will have the chance to limit damage and give Whitman’s offense the chance to come up big.