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

LACEY (Apr. 9) -- Pitchers Lauren Hadenfeld (Vancouver/Evergreen HS) and Jessica Harris (Ellensburg) combined on a three-hit shutout in the opener, and freshman Maria Gau (Woodinville) scattered six hits in a complete-game victory in game two as the Central Washington University softball team returned to Great Northwest Athletic Conference play with an 8-0, 3-1 sweep of host Saint Martin's University on Saturday afternoon.

The wins propelled the regionally 10th-ranked Wildcats to four games above the .500 mark at 15-11 overall and 9-5 in GNAC play. CWU has also won its last five games and six of its last seven. Saint Martin's fell to 3-16 overall and 2-12 in the GNAC with Saturday's losses.

In game one, the Central offense spotted Hadenfeld a 2-0 lead before the senior right-hander even took the pitching circle, as senior Kelsey Haupert (Olympia/Black Hills HS) blasted her seventh home run of the season -- and the 25th of her two-year career -- to the opposite field. The Wildcats' lead grew to 6-0 two innings later, as they pieced together four unearned runs on three hits and were aided by two Saint Martin's errors in the inning.

Hadenfeld, who improved to 10-6 on the season (and 34-12 for her career), allowed hits in each of the even-numbered innings -- the second, fourth, and sixth -- but had multiple runners on base just once. Harris then entered in relief for the seventh inning, retiring the Saints in order.

Offensively, senior Samantha Petrich (Chehalis/W.F. West HS) capped the game's scoring with a solo home run -- her fourth of the year and the 20th of her career -- in the seventh. Senior Keilani Cruz (Tacoma/Curtis HS) doubled twice and finished 3 for 4, while junior Liz Jusko (Snohomish) was 2 for 4 with a double and two RBI. All eight of the Wildcats' hits in the opener came from places two through six in the lineup.

Joslyn Eugenio, who took the pitching loss for Saint Martin's in game one, also had two of the Saints' three hits against Hadenfeld.

In the nightcap, Gau escaped some first-inning troubles and allowed just one run in earning her second consecutive win to improve to 4-5 on the season.

Saint Martin's had runners on the corners with one out in the first inning, but a non-scoring groundout and a strikeout enabled Gau to preserve the early scoreless tie. Central then responded in the second inning by manufacturing their first run, as Jusko singled and pinch-runner Jordan Zurfluh (Adna) advanced to third base on consecutive sacrifice bunts that followed. Zurfluh then scored on an error that gave the Wildcats a 1-0 lead.

CWU added to its lead in the third, as Haupert drove in junior Kristina Sherriff (Marysville/Marysville-Pilchuck HS) with a RBI double and later scored on an error for a 3-0 lead. All three of the Wildcats' runs in game two were unearned, as Saint Martin's committed three errors.

The Saints scored their lone run of the day in the bottom of the fourth inning, as Kelsey McGladrey plated Morgan Klemm with a run-scoring double, but Gau avoided further damage in the fourth with a pair of strikeouts with two runners in scoring position, and then allowed just two baserunners over the final three innings to earn the victory.

Central managed just four hits in the finale, matching its lowest hit total in a victory this season. Haupert had two of those, lifting her season average to .416 and moving into the top spot in the GNAC in batting average in the process. Petrich and Jusko also had hits for the Wildcats.

Eugenio had two more hits for Saint Martin's in game two, accounting for one-third of the Saints' hits off of Gau.

The two teams will wrap up their four-game series with another doubleheader in Lacey on Sunday. First pitch for the opener is scheduled for noon.