Coming Up – Western Oregon (March 2, Salem, Oregon, 3:00 p.m.), Western Oregon (March 4, Lynnwood, Washington, 3:30 p.m.).
 
Live Stats/Live Video – Live Stats SMU's Baseball Games will be available with links found on smusaints.com. Live Video is TBA on a game-to-game basis. Live stats and video will be produced by the Host School.
 
Social Media – Follow the Saints on Twitter (@SMUSaintsBSB) and follow SMU Athletics on Facebook (Saint Martin's Saints), Twitter (SMUAthletics), Instagram (saints_athletics) and YouTube (SMU Athletics).
 
Saints return from Hawaii - Hawaii Hilo sat down 24 straight Saints' hitters after a double in the first inning to squander Saint Martin's opening day as UHH defeated SMU 3-0. Bryant Nakagawa in the Saints' (0-1) second at-bat of the game, doubled to center field; however, Hawaii Hilo (1-4) retired 24 straight batters to quiet the bats and go on to a 3-0 victory.
 
In a tale of two games, the Saints broke out for 16 runs in the first game of the doubleheader, before being shutout in the second half, as Saint Martin's fell in both games, 17-16 and 5-0, to Hawaii Hilo on Monday. Saint Martin's (0-3) rattled off five runs in the ninth inning, but fell one run short in the offensive slugfest before being blanked in the second game by Hawaii Hilo (3-4).
 
The Saints led 9-3 in the seventh inning; however, the bullpen was unable to hold down the victory and Hawaii Hilo scored 12 runs in the final two innings to complete the series sweep. The Vulcans struck first, the third time in the series, scoring two runs in the bottom of the fist on RBI singles to the outfield.
 
Backed by 18 hits and 12 runs, along with a strong outing by Tanner Inouye, the Saints picked up their first win of the season, splitting a doubleheader with Hawaii Pacific, 12-6 and 6-1, on Friday. The final out of the doubleheader came at 2:31 a.m. PST after a long 18-innings of baseball; however, the Saints (1-5) were able to piece together their best performance of the season in the 12-6 win before Hawaii Pacific (4-2) carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning of the second game.
 
Aaron Shoup and Ryan Dorney, along with a near perfect performance by the bullpen, limited Hawaii Pacific to three runs over both games; however, it was all the Sharks needed as they walked away with 2-1 and 1-0 victories over the Saints on Saturday. The Saints' (1-7) starters combined for 11 innings pitched, allowing only two runs while striking out 10, and the bullpen put together 3.2 innings of work, with only one run allowed. Saint Martin's bats failed to come up with the timely hits, collecting one run on nine hits over the doubleheader, falling to Hawaii Pacific (5-2) to conclude their 8-game road trip in Hawaii.
 
2018 Season Preview – The Saints finished the 2017 season with a record of 17-30 overall, the most since 2014, and a 14-25 record in the GNAC, but return a strong core of players, with five All-Conference leading the way.
 
Aaron Shoup, developed into the leader of the Saints' pitching staff over the course of the 2017 season, leading in the team in innings pitched (76.1), games started (12), Wins (5), and strike outs (60). He dominated down the stretch, winning his last three games against Montana State Billings, Western Oregon and Concordia University over a combined 23 innings, 19 strike outs and only allowed six earned runs. Steven Sordahl joined Shoup as a member of the second team All-Conference after a terrific start to his Saints' career. The junior played in 42 games and lead the team with 55 hits while ranking second in: batting average (.348), runs scored (25), on-base percentage (.426), walks (19) and stolen bases (7) while maintaining a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage.
 
Returning selections to the Honorable Mention team were Adam Eskil and Austin Feist. Eskil finished the season hitting .292 at the plate with a team leading eight home runs and 37 RBIs, while pitching in 12 games and recording 19 strike outs in only 12.1 innings of work with three saves. Feist was the only Saint to play in all 47 games and managed a .306 batting average with four home runs and 36 RBIs to go along with a team leading 15 doubles and 10 stolen bases.
 
Pitcher Luke Hare earned All-Conference honors after a lights out 1.96 ERA in 36.2 innings of work. He appeared in 19 games and collected four saves while only allowing eight earned runs all season. Hare had a stretch of 12 straight innings without an earned run allowed. Hare was also named to the 2018 NCBWA Preseason West Region second team.
 
Other key impact returns include Shaan Kothari, the sophomore infielder, who hit .288 last season in 44 games, while making 39 starts. Kothari scored 14 runs and drove in nine runs. Looking to build on their 2017 campaigns, Micah McNicoll, Trevor Hirano, and Ryan Colvin could get significant innings for Saint Martin's.
 
Adding to the Saints depth on the mound is Ryan Dorney, who despite a 1-6 record, posted the lowest ERA of any starter at 3.73 in 50.2 innings of work. Making 10 starts and one relief appearance, Dorney struck out 38 batters and went the distance twice.  Benjamin Wadowski and Zach Stevenson will be important arms for the Saints, after combining for 56.1 innings last season and going 3-0 and 0-2 respectively. The 2016 GNAC Freshman of the Year, Mickey Walker, looks to rebound from a 6.51 ERA sophomore year. Walker still managed 44 strike outs in 47 innings pitched, both marks second and third best on the team.
 
New additions to the program include 14 high school players and four transfers. 10 of the 14 new players come from out of state, with a majority heading over from the islands of Hawaii.
 
The GNAC looks to remain one of the toughest conferences in the NCAA D-II level with Western Oregon favored to claim yet another conference title. The reigning GNAC Champion, Western Oregon, captured the top spot once again with two first place votes and 30 total points. Following closely behind was Montana State Billings with one first place and 29 points. Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene each received one first place and finished third and fourth in the poll at 24 and 21 points respectively. Rounding out the conference is Saint Martin's and Concordia at 16 and 7 points respectively.
 

2018 GNAC PRESEASON BASEBALL COACHES POLL
Pos.	Team (1st Place Votes)	Overall Record	GNAC Record (Place)	Pts.
1.	Western Oregon (2)	31-15	27-12 (1st)	30
2.	Montana State Billings (1)	23-29	21-19 (T3rd)	29
3.	Central Washington (1)	30-23	23-17 (2nd)	24
4.	Northwest Nazarene (1)	25-29	21-19 (T3rd)	21
5.	Saint Martin's	17-30	14-25 (5th)	16
6.	Concordia	15-35	13-27 (6th)	7