Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content
Logo Loader

Central Washington University Athletics

Bryce Hjellum
Amanda Umberger '11/CWU Sports Information

Baseball by Jonathan Gordon (Assistant Athletic Director)

Wildcats' Comeback Falls Short against Lewis-Clark State

Six-Run Inning Hurts Central in 6-4 Loss to Warriors

Junior Bryce Hjellum went the distance on the mound in Central's 6-4 loss at Lewis-Clark State on Saturday.
Box Score

LEWISTON, Idaho (Mar. 6) -- The Central Washington University baseball team scored two runs in the top of the ninth inning, and had the tying run at the plate, but was unable to rally back in a 6-4 loss to Lewis-Clark State in a non-conference baseball game on Saturday afternoon at Harris Field.

The Wildcats lost their seventh straight game to fall to 2-9 on the season. Lewis-Clark State, ranked sixth in the NAIA pre-season poll, won its 12th straight contest and is now 13-1 on the year.

Senior Kevin Walkenhauer (Yakima/West Valley HS) hit a two-run home run in the top of the ninth inning to cut Central's four-run deficit (6-2) in half, and junior Eric Sorensen (Ellensburg/Kittitas HS) singled to bring the tying run to the plate, but a double play ended the Wildcats' late threat against the Warriors.

The game was scoreless until the fourth inning, when Lewis-Clark State scored all of its runs against Central right-hander Bryce Hjellum (Kennewick/Kamiakin HS). Hjellum, who threw the complete game but suffered his third loss in as many pitching decisions this year, surrendered eight of the Warriors' 10 hits in the six-run fourth, but allowed just one hit in the final four innings.

The Wildcats matched Lewis-Clark State with 10 total hits but suffered their second consecutive 6-4 loss at Harris Field after falling to Western Oregon by an identical score two weeks ago. Central had two-hit outings from Chance Plutt (Dillon, Mont./Beaverhead County HS), Jake Hammons (Snohomish), and Kevin Schneider (Spokane/Mead HS), with Schneider driving home the Wildcats' first two runs of the game with a two-run double in the sixth.

LCSC also had three players with two hits each, and Kawika Emsley-Pai was the only Warrior with more than one RBI, collecting a two-run double.

The two teams will play another nine-inning game on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. before Central Washington returns home to open Great Northwest Athletic Conference play against Northwest Nazarene with a four-game series next weekend (Friday & Saturday, Mar. 12-13).








Print Friendly Version