Box Score (Game 1)
Box Score (Game 2)

ELLENSBURG (Mar. 12) -- Senior Kevin Schneider (Spokane/Mead HS) finished 4 for 6 with a pair of home runs, and junior right-hander Bryce Hjellum (Kennewick/Kamiakin HS) tossed a complete-game victory in the opener as Central Washington University split its Great Northwest Athletic Conference baseball openers with Northwest Nazarene on Friday afternoon. The Wildcats won the opener, 7-4, before falling 9-4 in the nightcap.

The Wildcats are now 3-11 on the season and 1-1 in GNAC play. Northwest Nazarene is 8-11 overall and 2-4 in conference action.

Schneider homered to lead off the second inning in the opener, which opened the gates for a four-run second inning as the Wildcats took a 4-0 lead and chased NNU starter Zeb Sneed (1-4). Junior Keola Rubin (Spanaway/Bethel HS) had a two-run triple in the inning that extended the margin to 3-0, and sophomore Brett Bielec (Port Orchard/North Mason HS) added a RBI single in the inning.

Each team scored twice in the sixth and Central added an insurance run in the seventh on a run-scoring single by Schneider. Hjellum contained the Crusaders with the exception of the sixth and ninth innings, when NNU combined for five of its six hits. In the ninth, Joel Oliver hit a two-run home run to make it a three-run game, but Hjellum induced a first-pitch groundout from Ryan VanBeek to end the game.

Central had a 10-6 hits advantage in the opener, led by a 3 for 3 outing from Rubin. Bielec and Schneider each had two hits.

On the mound, Hjellum struck out five and scattered those six hits, including five singles, in earning his first win as a Wildcat in four decisions as Central snapped an eight-game losing streak.

In game two, a four-run first inning by Northwest Nazarene -- highlighted by a two-run single from Oliver -- put Central in an early hole that they were never able to overcome.

Schneider hit his second solo home run of the day, again leading off the bottom of the second inning, to get the Wildcats on the scoreboard at 4-1, but neither team scored again until the fifth inning. In the fifth, NNU added three insurance runs with run-scoring doubles by Cameron Louie (two-run double) and Sean McDonald (RBI double). Central scored its two runs on a RBI single by Bielec and a fielder's choice by senior Jake Hammons (Snohomish).

Each team scored once in the sixth and NNU capped the scoring with one more run in the seventh inning.

Northwest Nazarene pounded out 16 hits against three Central pitchers in the seven-inning contest, as Oliver, Conner Rankin, and Jon Keller each had three hits. Louie and Kramer Uvila added two safeties apiece, while Schneider (2 for 3) was Central's lone player with more than one hit. The Wildcats finished with just six hits against two NNU hurlers, including starter Jesse Gwaltney (2-2).

The two teams continue their four-game conference series with another doubleheader on Saturday beginning at noon.