Box Score (Game 1)
Box Score (Game 2)
ELLENSBURG (Mar. 27) -- Sophomore Carrina Wagner (Tacoma/Spanaway Lake HS) had three hits in two games, but the Central Washington University softball team managed just 11 hits and four runs in Sunday's softball doubleheader, falling twice to visiting Western Washington University, 3-0 and 5-4, at Gary & Bobbi Frederick Field.
The losses drop Central's record to 9-8 overall and 7-5 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play. The Wildcats remain second in the GNAC, but now trail the number nine nationally-ranked Vikings (19-2, 14-2 GNAC) by five games in the standings.
Central had troubles with Western pitcher Erika Quint in both games of Sunday's twinbill, managing just eight hits and no runs in 13 2/3 innings against the Vikings' ace. The Wildcats' four runs in the doubleheader all came in the first inning of game two versus WWU starter Jenna DeRosier, who threw two illegal pitches and committed a two-run throwing error to aid the Wildcats in building their early lead.
CWU pitchers Lauren Hadenfeld (Vancouver/Evergreen HS) and Maria Gau (Woodinville) both turned in promising starts to their respective games, but each came away with a loss. In game one, Hadenfeld (7-5) surrendered three runs (just one earned) in the first three innings and threw 99 pitches in the first four frames before settling down, but her teammates were never able to piece any scoring innings together. The Wildcats had at least one baserunner in all but one inning, but only once -- in the second inning -- did they have more than one hitter reach base.
Western Washington scored its first run in the second on a solo home run by Samantha Rutherford, and the Vikings later added two runs in the third on a RBI single by Rutherford and on an infield error -- one of two CWU errors in the top of the third inning.
In game two, Gau had a two-hit shutout going through five innings of work and took a 4-0 lead into the sixth before Western Washington rallied.
Central had four hits and took advantage of the game's lone error, a throwing miscue by DeRosier with two runners on base, to go in front 4-0. After Quint entered, however, the Wildcats managed just two hits in the final six innings -- a second-inning single by senior Keilani Cruz (Tacoma/Curtis HS) and a sixth-inning hit by Wagner.
Western rattled the bats for five runs on as many hits in the top of the sixth inning. A bases-loaded, two-run double by Caitlin Dotlich with two out started the Vikings' scoring rally, which continues with a two-run, seeing-eye single by Jordan Emmil, and Stephanie Fox drove in the go-ahead run with a single to center field.
The Wildcats' lone comeback effort in the final two innings consisted of Wagner's leadoff single in the sixth, but pinch-runner Jordan Zurfluh (Adna) was stranded at second base after a sacrifice bunt, strike out, and foul out in order to conclude the sixth. Central was retired in order in the seventh.
Central was outhit again in game two, 9-6. Each of the top five hitters in the Wildcat lineup had one hit each, while sophomore Elena Carter (Olympia/Black Hills HS), the team's seventh-place hitter, had a RBI double in the contest.
Jackie Rothenberger had three hits to lead Western, while Dotlich and Jessica Carey added two hits each.
Quint, who threw 192 pitches combined in her 13 2/3 innings of work, earned the pitching victory in both games to improve to 13-0 on the season.
Central Washington will now head to Turlock, Calif., to compete in the Tournament of Champions, presented by Mizuno, next weekend. The Wildcats, who finished as the tournament runners-up last year, will face San Francisco State and Sonoma State on Friday (Apr. 1) before taking on Cal State East Bay, Humboldt State, and Cal State Dominguez Hills on Saturday (Apr. 2). Central's next scheduled home games are not until Apr. 15 against Northwest Nazarene University.
NOTE: The games from Saturday, which were postponed due to rain, will now be made up as part of a doubleheader in Ellensburg later in the season. That make-up date is to be determined.
