Box Score (Game 1)
Box Score (Game 2)

BELLINGHAM (Apr. 22) -- The Central Washington University offense continued its torrid hitting pace, and senior Lauren Hadenfeld (Vancouver/Evergreen HS) picked up two more pitching victories as the Wildcat softball team extended its win streak to a school-record 15 games with a 6-0, 9-4 sweep of host Western Washington University on Friday afternoon.

The wins moved the Wildcats into sole possession of first place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference at 19-5 in league play. Central is now 25-11 overall, including a 16-3 mark in the month of April, and leads Western Washington by three games in the loss column. The Vikings, who were ranked 21st in this week's National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division II poll, fell to 30-11 overall and 18-8 in conference action.

In the opener, Hadenfeld (18-6) threw a two-hit shutout and the Wildcat offense scored five runs in the top of the fifth inning to turn a 1-0 nail-biter into a 6-0 rout.

Senior Samantha Petrich (Chehalis/W.F. West HS) started the day's scoring with a RBI single in the first inning, and the score remained a one-run game for the next four innings. In the fifth, junior Molly Coppinger (Belfair/North Mason HS) opened the scoring with a RBI single, and later scored on a muffed relay throw. Then, senior Kelsey Haupert (Olympia/Black Hills HS) doubled the lead with a three-run home run -- her 12th of the season -- to put the game out of reach.

Meanwhile, Hadenfeld stymied Viking hitters, striking out seven while walking just two. The only hits she allowed were singles in the fourth and sixth innings to Meghan Carrillo and Rachelle Berry, respectively, and only one baserunner -- Berry -- reached second base in the contest.

Offensively, Central had eight hits in game one, with seven of those coming from the trio of Petrich  (3 for 4), Haupert (2 for 4), and junior Jennifer Schwartz (Spokane/Shadle Park HS; 2 for 3). The Wildcats overcame 10 strikeouts by Western Washington ace Erika Quint, but touched up the Viking senior for six earned runs and coaxed four walks in the contest.

In game two, Hadenfeld allowed just one runner over 3 2/3 innings of hitless relief and the CWU offense chalked up four home runs and 13 total hits en route to the 9-4 victory.

The Wildcats again scored first, with Petrich blasting the first of two home runs for the game to center field for a 2-0 lead. Western Washington scored three runs of its own in the bottom of the second inning, first tying the game on a two-run home run by Krista Bickar and then taking the lead on an infield single by Michelle Wrigley, but Central's deficit was short-lived.

Petrich tied the game with one out in the third, and then Haupert went back-to-back with her fellow infielder, as the Wildcats regained the lead at 4-3. The margin reached 6-3 after two more runs in the fourth, as sophomore Elena Carter (Olympia/Black Hills HS) hit Central's fourth homer of the game -- and the school-record-tying 50th of the season -- with one out in the fourth. Schwartz then drove home Coppinger three batters later with a RBI single.

Western Washington scored for the final time in the bottom of the fourth on a bases-loaded groundout, but Hadenfeld, who was summoned from the bullpen and inherited the bases-loaded situation, allowed just one runner the rest of the way -- on a one-out error in the fifth.

The Wildcats added three insurance runs in the fifth inning, as sophomore pinch-hitter Kyleen Sweepe (North Bend/Mount Si HS) had a run-scoring single and Coppinger added a two-run double.

Central's offense, which has flourished during its current record-setting win streak including at least six runs scored in each of its last 10 games, was keyed by another three-hit outing from Petrich. Schwartz, Haupert, Coppinger, and senior Keilani Cruz (Tacoma/Curtis HS) all had two-hit games in the nightcap. Petrich is now batting .500 on the season, highlighted by a .577 average during the Wildcats' current win streak.

Hadenfeld was credited with her 11th consecutive pitching victory in relief, while Quint (23-4) suffered her second loss of the day after surrendering four runs and five hits in 2 1/3 innings.

Central Washington, which was ranked 10th in the NCAA Division II West Region poll this past week prior to four wins over the past two days, will play 10 of its final 12 games of the season at home. The Wildcats, who are bidding for a second consecutive appearance in the NCAA tournament, will begin that home stretch with a doubleheader on Monday (Apr. 25) at 1 p.m. versus Simon Fraser University at Gary & Bobbi Frederick Field.