Box Score (Game 1)
Box Score (Game 2)
ELLENSBURG (Apr. 2) -- Central Washington University junior Chaz Ocbina (Tacoma/Wilson HS) had three hits and three RBI in an 8-3 victory against Montana State University Billings in game one Saturday afternoon, snapping a six-game losing streak for the Wildcat baseball team. The Wildcats lost the nightcap 11-5.
With the split, Central holds a 7-19 record, 2-14 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play. The Yellowjackets stand at 12-13 on the season, including 5-7 in the GNAC, after winning this weekend's series, three games to one.
The Wildcats scored first in game one, producing four runs in the fifth inning. Senior Kelly Gau (Woodinville) scored pinch-runner Jimmy Ryerson (Seattle/Roosevelt HS) on a squeeze play to drive in the first run of the inning. Junior Derrick Webb (Ephrata) added a run-scoring double, followed by a two-run single by Ocbina. Central tacked on another run in the sixth inning on a RBI double by Ryerson that scored junior Glen Reser (Spokane/Mead HS) to take a 5-0 advantage.
MSUB scored three runs in the top half of the seventh inning, but the Wildcats answered by scoring three runs of their own in the eighth inning, with Gau, Webb, and Ocbina each driving in a single run in the frame.
Senior starter Jake Millbauer (Kennewick/Kamiakin HS) earned his first victory of the season, throwing 6 1/3 innings allowing five hits, two earned runs while striking out four batters. Senior Palmer Brown (Sacramento, Calif./Rio Americano HS) came in relief for the third straight game and was credited for his first save of the 2011 season.
The Wildcats took a 2-1 advantage in the first inning of game two, as Gau scored on a single by Webb, who later crossed home on a base hit by Reser. The lead was short-lived, though, as the Yellowjackets erupted for nine runs on eight hits with three Wildcat errors in the second inning to take a 10-2 lead.
CWU added three more runs in the contest as junior Brandon Wang (Mill Creek/Henry M. Jackson HS) had a RBI single in the third inning and a two-run single in the fifth to narrow the Yellowjacket advantage to the final 11-5 count.
Montana State Billings had six players with at least two hits in game two, led by Dillon Ness who was 3 for 5 with three RBI.
Ocbina and Webb both had three RBI on the day, and Gau was 5 for 9 (4 for 4 in game two) with two RBI and five runs scored.
Central Washington next travels to Nampa, Idaho, for a four-game series against Northwest Nazarene starting on Friday, Apr. 8. The Wildcats will play their next eight games on the road before returning home to face Saint Martin's on Apr. 22.
