Box Score (Game 1)
Box Score (Game 2)
ELLENSBURG (Mar. 12) -- Junior
Brady Kincannon (Federal Way/Decatur HS) sparked a late-inning rally with a three-run home run in game two of the Central Washington University baseball team's doubleheader against Northwest Nazarene University, but the Crusaders came away with a sweep of the host Wildcats, 5-4 and 8-6, on Saturday afternoon.
Central Washington's record now stands at 5-11, including 1-7 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play after claiming just one win in the four-game series. The Crusaders improved to 15-5, 4-4 in the GNAC.
NNU took an early 2-0 lead in game one, scoring on two sacrifice flies in the second inning. Central tied the game in the bottom of the fourth inning on RBI singles by
Chaz Ocbina (Tacoma/Wilson HS) and
Brett Bielec (Port Orchard/North Mason HS).
The Crusaders scored one run in top of the seventh inning, and the Wildcats responded by adding a run of their own in the bottom half of the inning on a passed ball scoring freshman pinch-runner
Chris Womac (Olympia) to tie the score at 3-3. Each team added another run in the eighth inning, with Bielec driving in his second run of the contest to force extra innings.
The Crusaders loaded the bases with two outs in the 10th inning, and scored on a wild pitch to steal the 5-4 win.
CWU senior starting pitcher
Jake Millbauer (Kennewick/Kamiakin HS) threw just 104 pitches over nine innings, surrendering just five hits and four runs -- three of which were earned -- while striking out four. Bielec, Ocbina,
Kelly Gau (Woodinville), and
Glen Reser (Spokane/Mead HS) all had two hits, which accounted for eight of the Wildcats' nine hits in the opener.
The Crusaders' leadoff batter, Sean McDonald, went 4 for 4 with two runs scored, while the remainder of the NNU lineup was a combined 2 for 28 in game one.
Central Washington fell behind 8-1 after four innings in game two, but a five-run fifth inning narrowed the deficit to two runs. In the fifth, freshman
Clifton Coulter (Camas/Union HS) scored on a passed ball, and two batters later, Ocbina added another run with a RBI double to score Gau. Kincannon then followed with his first home run of the season on the very next pitch to make it an 8-6 count, but the Wildcats were unable to tie the game over the final two innings en route to their eighth loss in the last nine games following a 4-3 start.
Wade Marmesh (Vancouver/Columbia River HS) threw 3 2/3 innings of relief for the Wildcats and struck out four, allowing one run on three hits.
Northwest Nazarene totaled 10 hits in game two, with Derek Bettinson and Josh Hatfield combining for four of them (in seven at-bats) with five RBI between them.
The Wildcats return to the road for their next two contests, facing longtime baseball rival Lewis-Clark State for a pair of games in Lewiston, Idaho, next weekend. CWU faces the Warriors at 6 p.m. on Friday (Mar. 18) and at 1 p.m. on Saturday (Mar. 19).
