IRVINE, Calif. -- The NCAA West Region this year consists of only two conferences, and three teams will earn berths into the NCAA West Regional. One spot will go to the GNAC Automatic Qualifier, another spot will go to the PacWest Automatic Qualifier, and the final spot will be determined by an NCAA committee that will award an at-large berth to the most deserving of the 12 remaining teams.
Up until last week, there had been no games held between PacWest and GNAC teams, but that ended when flew to Nampa, Idaho, to take on Northwest Nazarene. While Biola took third place out of four teams in the PacWest’s SoCal Pod, Northwest Nazarene has been the GNAC’s best team all year. Despite playing away from home, Biola won two of the four games to earn a split, giving the only objective measure available so far of the relative strength of the two conferences.
Concordia and Azusa Pacific are the only two PacWest teams that are currently listed as being under consideration from the NCAA selection committee. The Cougars will compete in the AQ Pod Series to try to earn the PacWest’s automatic bid. Concordia, on the other hand, finished a 6-4 win against Biola last week and won three of four games against PacWest NorCal Pod Champion Academy of Art. The Eagles now hold a 6-2 season series advantage over the NorCal Pod Champion, boosting the Eagles case to earn the lone at-large bid for the NCAA West Regional.
Weekly awards for the week of May 3-9
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Aaron Roose, Azusa Pacific
C, Jr., 5-10 -- Lancaster, Calif.
Roose blasted four home runs in as many games last week as he led Azusa Pacific to a sweep against Holy Names to improve to 29-8 on the season with a six-game winning streak. All five of his hits in the series went for extra bases. After he hit his third home run of the series, the Hawks began to pitch around Roose, who walked three times. He finished the week 5 for 12 with eight RBIs and five runs scored. He now has 11 home runs on the season, which is tied for second most in the PacWest.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Larson Kindreich, Biola
LHP, So., 6-4 -- Central Point, Ore.
Biola took on the top team in the GNAC last week, and in the first game of the series, Kindreich threw seven shutout innings with 11 strikeouts to lead Biola to the victory. Kindreich issued only one walk and scattered six hits in the combined shutout. It was Kindreich’s second-highest strikeout total this season, giving him a league-best 68 strikeouts this year as he brought his ERA down to 3.83 with a 4-2 record. Kindreich struck out eight of the last 14 batters he faced in the victory, including striking out the side in the fourth inning.
FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
Omar, Lopez, Azusa Pacific
SS, Fr., 6-0 -- Chula Vista, Calif.
Lopez led the conference in batting average last week after he went 5 for 10 in Azusa Pacific’s sweep of Holy Names. He had two hits in each game of the first doubleheader, including two doubles in the series opener. In the third game of the series, he hit a three-run home run. Lopez is now batting .365 on the season with eight home runs and 26 RBIs through 33 games this season. The freshman has recorded a hit in each of his last five starts.