Box Score: Dixie State 4, CWU 1
Box Score: CWU 11, Humboldt State 10

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (Feb. 11) -- Junior Jennifer Schwartz (Spokane/Shadle Park HS) scored the game-winning run on an illegal pitch with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning, helping the 25th-ranked Central Washington University softball team defeat Humboldt State University, 11-10, at the Second Annual MSUB Desert Stinger at Majestic Park on Friday evening.

The Wildcats finished the opening day of the tournament with a 1-1 record, falling to Dixie State, 4-1, in their first game of the day. The win over Humboldt State snapped a 21-game series losing streak to the Lumberjacks, dating back to their last series win during the 2004 season. The victory was also the first head coaching win for Mallory Holtman, who made her debut as Central's head coach on Friday.

Against Humboldt State, Central Washington jumped out to a 9-0 lead after three innings of play. Eight of those tallies came in the bottom of the third inning, when the Wildcats capitalized on four Lumberjack errors and managed just three hits. Two of those safeties were two-run homers by seniors Kelsey Haupert (Olympia/Black Hills HS) and Samantha Petrich (Chehalis/W.F. West HS). Junior Natasha Wood (Graham/Graham-Kapowsin HS) also had a two-run single to highlight the outburst.

The Wildcats' nine-run lead quickly began to evaporate, however. In the fourth inning, Humboldt State scored five runs and chased CWU freshman Maria Gau (Woodinville) from her first collegiate start. The Lumberjacks collected three singles and two walks against Gau, who had allowed just two baserunners -- and just one hit -- over her first three innings of work. A bases-clearing triple by Ally Blenis trimmed the Wildcat lead from seven runs to four.

Humboldt State scored three runs in the fifth to make it a one-run game, and then actually took a 10-9 lead in the top of the seventh. CWU senior Lauren Hadenfeld (Vancouver/Evergreen HS), the reigning Great Northwest Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Year, surrendered a two-run home run to Kirsten Nouzovsky with one out in the seventh, capping a string of 10 unanswered runs by the Lumberjacks.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Wildcats rallied back. Redshirt freshman Lacey Reed (Orting) collected her second hit of the game to lead off the frame, and after a fly out, Schwartz walked to put a pair of runners on base. Petrich then doubled to score pinch-runner Taylor Trautmann (Renton/John F. Kennedy HS) with the game-tying run, sending Schwartz to third. Then, with both Schwartz and Petrich in scoring position and just one out, HSU pitcher Jessica George was called for an illegal pitch when one of the Lumberjack infielders was outside the foul line as the pitch was thrown, allowing Schwartz to score from third.

Central Washington finished the game with 13 hits and the Wildcats did not commit an error. Wood led five CWU players with more than one hit, going 3 for 4, while Petrich, Haupert, Reed, and sophomore Carrina Wagner (Tacoma/Spanaway Lake HS) all had two hits. Petrich reached base in four of her five plate appearances, adding two walks to her double and home run.

Humboldt State, which fell to 2-1 following the loss to the Wildcats, was led by two-hit outings from Nouzovsky, Sarah Fox, and Nikki Ketteringham, all of whom homered in the game. The Lumberjacks finished with nine total hits, of which five were for extra bases.

In the Wildcats' opening game on Friday against Dixie State, Central junior Liz Jusko (Snohomish) hit a solo home run in the second inning, accounting for one of her team's two hits, in a 4-1 loss to the Red Storm.

Haupert's sixth-inning infield single was the only other hit in the game for CWU against Dixie State's Brittnie Miller. The Red Storm, picked as the pre-season favorite to win the Pacific West Conference title, scored single runs in the first and fourth before tacking on two insurance tallies in the top of the seventh against Hadenfeld and the Wildcats.

Central's best scoring chance after Jusko's home run came in the third inning, when an error and a walk gave the Wildcats two runners on base with just one out. However, consecutive outs on the infield kept the game tied for the time being, only to have Dixie State take the lead in the next half-inning.

Central Washington will continue its three-day stay at the 24-team tournament with two more games on Saturday. The Wildcats face Notre Dame de Namur University at noon and the University of Hawai'i at Hilo at 2:30 p.m.