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

ELLENSBURG (Apr. 17) -- Junior Kelsey Haupert (Olympia/Black Hills HS) hit a walk-off two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to help the Central Washington University softball team defeat visiting Western Washington University, 5-3, in the opening game of a Great Northwest Athletic Conference doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at Gary & Bobbi Frederick Field. The Wildcats lost the nightcap, however, by a 5-2 score.

Central is now 23-12 overall and 18-7 in GNAC play, while Western is 18-18 overall and 14-11 in the conference. The Wildcats fell into a first-place tie with Western Oregon atop the GNAC standings following their split and the Wolves' home sweep of Saint Martin's.

The Wildcats built a 3-0 lead in the fifth inning of the opener thanks to a two-run double by junior Keilani Cruz (Tacoma/Curtis HS) and a two-out solo home run by junior Samantha Petrich (Chehalis/W.F. West HS). That margin appeared to be enough for junior Lauren Hadenfeld (Vancouver/Evergreen HS), who surrendered eight hits without a run through the first six innings. However, Hadenfeld and the Wildcats encountered some trouble in the top of the seventh, as Western Washington pieced together three hits to score three times and tie the game. Senior reliever Katriina Reime (Hoquiam) retired two of the three hitters she faced with the go-ahead run on third base in the seventh to escape with the score still tied.

After Central failed to score in the seventh, and Western was retired in order by Reime in the top of the eighth, Petrich led off the bottom of the eighth with a first-pitch single to center field. Haupert then launched the first pitch she saw over the right-field fence to give the Wildcats their first walk-off victory via a home run since Mar. 14, 2009.

CWU was outhit 11-10 by the visiting Vikings, and nine of the Wildcats' 10 hits came from the two four hitters in their lineup. Senior Danielle Monson (Marysville/Marysville-Pilchuck HS) had three hits in four at-bats, while Cruz, Petrich, and Haupert all had two hits apiece.

Meghan Flem had three hits in as many at-bats and walked once for Western, while fellow infielders Stephanie Fox and Kelsey Anderson each went 2 for 4.

In game two, control issues by the Wildcat pitching staff and a three-run third inning put Central in an early hole that they were never able to dig out of in the 5-2 loss.

Sophomore Lindy Baxter (Lacey/River Ridge HS) allowed four hits and three walks in her start that lasted just 2 1/3 innings, giving up four runs. Reime then relieved Baxter and surrendered just a seventh-inning run, but she herself walked four in 4 2/3 innings of relief. Neither pitcher struck out a Western hitter in the contest.

Offensively, the Wildcats were held scoreless until the seventh inning when they started a two-out rally. Cruz doubled and scored on a RBI single by Petrich, and Haupert then followed suit with a run-scoring double to bring home Petrich and make it a 5-2 count. Senior Ashley Fix (Puyallup) reached on an error to prolong the game and put runners on the corners, but a popout ended Central's late-game threat.

The Wildcats actually finished the game with a 9-8 hits advantage, led by a three-hit outing from Petrich and two hits from sophomore Meghan Kopczynski (Ellensburg). Monson extended her hitting streak to 34 games -- now the fifth-longest in NCAA Division II history and the 11th longest in NCAA history for all divisions -- with a first-inning single.

Anderson (2 for 4) was the only Western player with more than one hit in the nightcap. Erika Quint (8-6) earned the pitching win for the Vikings in game two after scattering nine hits over seven innings.

The two teams will wrap up their season series on Sunday with a doubleheader beginning at 11 a.m.