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

LACEY (Apr. 11) -- Junior Kelsey Haupert (Olympia/Black Hills HS) broke the Central Washington University single-season record for runs batted in and gave the Wildcats the lead all in one hit, helping CWU defeat Saint Martin's University 7-5 in game one of Sunday's softball doubleheader in Lacey. The Wildcats then completed the doubleheader sweep with a 10-1 victory in six innings in game two.

Central won three of four games in the series to improve to 22-11 on the season. The Wildcats also maintain a one-game lead in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference standings at 17-6, an advantage they will take into their four-game home series against Western Washington University next weekend. Saint Martin's is now 14-26 overall and 10-18 in the GNAC.

Haupert, who drove in four runs in Sunday's opener, delivered a three-run home run to center field that helped the Wildcats complete their comeback from an early 5-2 deficit. The round-tripper -- her league-leading 12th of the season -- pushed her RBI total to 45. The previous school record had been 44, set by all-conference catcher (and fellow Black Hills High School alum) Holly Rossman last season. CWU still has 17 games remaining in the 2010 regular season.

After Saint Martin's took an early 2-0 lead, Central tied the score with a pair of bases-loaded walks in the third inning. However, the Saints regained the lead on Brandi Klemm's three-run home run in the bottom of the third. Neither team scored in the fourth, leaving the contest at a 5-2 Wildcat deficit until the fifth. In that inning, senior Danielle Monson (Marysville/Marysville-Pilchuck HS) reached on an infield single, and scored two batters later on a RBI single from junior Samantha Petrich (Chehalis/W.F. West HS). Petrich and Keilani Cruz (Tacoma/Curtis HS), who had walked prior to Petrich's single, then all came home on Haupert's home run that put Central ahead by one.

The Wildcats added an insurance run in the top of the seventh on a fielder's choice groundout by senior Ashley Fix (Puyallup).

Junior Lauren Hadenfeld (Vancouver/Evergreen HS) overcame a rocky beginning to the game to earn her 13th win against just four losses. She struck out eight and walked just one but surrendered 11 hits -- although just three of those were in the final four innings.

Monson, Petrich, and Haupert combined for six of Central's eight hits in the opener. Morgan Klemm led all players with three hits in four at-bats in the game for Saint Martin's.

In game two, the Wildcats scored three runs in each of the first two innings to provide plenty of offensive support for senior pitcher Katriina Reime (Hoquiam), who improved to 4-0 on the season with the 10-1 six-inning victory.

Central scored its first three runs without the benefit of a hit, taking advantage of two Saint errors and a pair of walks for the early lead. Saint Martin's did score in the bottom of the inning on Morgan Klemm's groundout, but the Wildcats responded with three more tallies in the second thanks to consecutive home runs from Cruz (two-run home run) and Petrich (solo). After a scoreless third, CWU scored single tallies in the fourth and fifth and capped the game with two in the sixth. The Wildcats scored on a two-out double-steal play in the fourth and on a RBI single from sophomore Molly Coppinger (Belfair/North Mason HS) in the fifth before Petrich belted her second home run of the game -- and ninth of the season -- in the top of the sixth to extend the lead to nine runs.

The Wildcats totaled 10 hits in the game, including six from the top third of their order. That trio of Monson, Cruz, and Petrich also scored eight of the team's 10 runs.

In the circle, Reime tossed her first complete game of the season and induced 16 groundball outs. The only outs not recorded via a groundout were on a line-drive double play to end the game.

Central now returns home for nine consecutive games over the next two weekends at Gary & Bobbi Frederick Field in Ellensburg. Following the Wildcats' aforementioned series with Western Washington next Saturday and Sunday (Apr. 17-18), they will play five games over three days against Northwest Nazarene University (Apr. 22-24).