Box Score (Game 1)
Box Score (Game 2)
MONMOUTH, Ore. (Mar. 19) -- The Central Washington University softball team managed just eight hits in 14 innings combined on Saturday, as the Wildcats lost a pair of Great Northwest Athletic Conference games to host Western Oregon University by scores of 4-2 and 7-0.
The Wildcats are now 5-6 on the season and 3-3 in GNAC play, while Western Oregon improved to 9-11 overall and 6-8 in conference action.
Central struggled offensively against WOU pitchers Jessica Wood and Alex Hillmick on Saturday, managing just four hits in each game off the Wolves' hurlers. Two of the Wildcats' hits against Wood in the opener came in the seventh and final inning, and CWU didn't score its first run until the top of the sixth inning after facing a 3-0 deficit.
Senior
Lauren Hadenfeld (Vancouver/Evergreen HS) allowed eight hits and struck out just four in five innings of work, and junior
Lindy Baxter (Lacey/River Ridge HS) threw the final inning, walking two and surrendering an unearned run.
The Wildcat offense scored its runs on an infield groundout by sophomore
Carrina Wagner (Tacoma/Spanaway Lake HS) in the sixth and on an infield error in the seventh. Senior
Kelsey Haupert (Olympia/Black Hills HS) had two of Central's four hits in game one, while senior
Samantha Petrich (Chehalis/W.F. West HS) and junior Jennifer Schwartz (Spokane/Shadle Park HS) also singled in the two-run defeat.
In the nightcap, CWU freshman
Maria Gau (Woodinville) also allowed eight hits in five innings of work, and the Wildcats were unable to scratch across a run offensively and again managed just four hits. Four different players -- Petrich, Haupert, Wagner, and senior
Keilani Cruz (Tacoma/Curtis HS) -- all had singles in the loss.
The top three hitters in the Western Oregon lineup combined for seven hits, five runs, and all six of the Wolves' RBI in the nightcap. Ashley Worthey was 3 for 4 with four runs batted in for the hosts, while Hillmick threw her first career shutout.
The two teams will resume their four-game series on Sunday beginning at 11 a.m.
