Box Score

KANEOHE, Hawaii (May 14) -- One of the hottest hitting teams in the NCAA Division II West Region was slowed by one of the top pitchers in the region as the Central Washington University softball team was held to three hits by Hawaii Pacific University senior Sherise Musquiz in the Wildcats' 6-1 loss to the third-ranked Sea Warriors in the opening game of the 2010 NCAA Division II Softball Championship on Friday afternoon at Howard A. Okita Field.

The loss sends Central Washington (37-14) into the loser's bracket and an elimination game against Hawaii Hilo on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. Hawaiian Standard Time (4:30 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time) and also snaps the Wildcats' 13-game winning streak. Hawaii Pacific (42-6) will take on Cal State Monterey Bay in a championship semifinal game at 11 a.m. HST (2 p.m. PDT).

Central, making its first-ever postseason appearance, fell behind 1-0 after the first inning and trailed 3-0 after three. The Wildcats had some early offensive struggles, not getting their first hit until consecutive hits by senior Ashley Fix (Puyallup) and sophomore Meghan Kopczynski (Ellensburg) to start the fifth. Kopczynski's was a double into the right-field corner that scored Fix from first, but one run is all CWU was able to muster in the inning.

Hawaii Pacific opened the scoring on a RBI single from Maile Kim in the first, and the Sea Warriors' designated player then blasted a two-run home run down the left-field line in the third to give HPU the early cushion. Those three runs were more than enough support for Musquiz, the Pacific West Conference Pitcher of the Year who improved to 26-1 on the season.

"We made good contact lots of times, but they were just right at people," said CWU head coach Gary Frederick. "We just weren't able to find too many holes with our contact."

In the circle for Central, Great Northwest Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Year Lauren Hadenfeld (Vancouver/Evergreen HS) had a rough outing, allowing nine hits and all six runs over 5 2/3 innings. The GNAC leader in strikeouts on the year, she fanned just two hitters while seeing a personal nine-game winning streak snapped (21-5).

Kim, Ciera Senas, and Puyallup native Nicole Morrow were the biggest offensive thorns in Central's side on Friday, combined for five hits and four RBI.

Junior Keilani Cruz (Tacoma/Curtis HS) had the only other hit for Central, which entered the game with a .348 team batting average.

For the Wildcats to advance and claim the regional, they must now win four consecutive games beginning with their contest against UH Hilo on Saturday afternoon. If CWU wins that contest, they would play the loser of the Hawaii Pacific versus Cal State Monterey Bay at 4 p.m. HST.