Box Score vs. Cal State Stanislaus
Box Score vs. Western Washington

TURLOCK, Calif. (Apr. 1) -- Senior CARRINA WAGNER (Tacoma/Spanaway Lake HS) homered in each game, and junior ELENA CARTER (Olympia/Black Hills HS) drove home the eventual game-winning run in the bottom of the sixth inning in the final game of the day as the Central Washington University softball team won the consolation bracket title at the Tournament of Champions, presented by Mizuno, on Sunday afternoon. The Wildcats defeated tournament host California State University, Stanislaus, 4-2, and then edged past rival Western Washington University, 4-3.

The Wildcats, who improved to 12-19 overall with Sunday's two victories, claimed the consolation bracket title at the tournament for the second straight year.

Wagner hit solo home runs in the second inning of both games on Sunday. In the opener against Cal State Stanislaus (14-31), played at Abe Rojas Ballfield on the campus of Pitman High School, Wagner's solo blast to right-center field gave the Wildcats a 2-0 lead. CWU had manufactured its first run of the game in the first inning, as senior BRE THOMAS (Vancouver/Columbia River HS) led off with a bunt single, stole second, advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt, and then scored on a sacrifice fly.

Central Washington pushed its lead to 3-0 in the third inning with another run in the third inning, as Carter hit a RBI single up the middle to score Thomas. Wagner then added her second RBI of the game with a run-scoring double in the fifth inning. Meanwhile, sophomore pitcher MARIA GAU (Woodinville) cruised through the CSU Stanislaus lineup, holding the Warriors to one hit through six innings. The right-hander got into some trouble in the top of the seventh inning when the first three hitters reached base and an error allowed a run to score, and CSUS had the tying run on first base with just one out, but a strikeout and a groundout sealed the Wildcats' victory.

CWU finished the game with an 8-4 edge in hits, posting its second-highest hit total in seven tournament games. Thomas and Wagner were both 2 for 3, and Thomas stole two bases. Gau (7-10) finished with six strikeouts and allowed just one earned run in the victory.

In the consolation final against Western Washington, played at Warrior Field on the CSUS campus, the Wildcats scored single runs in the first and second innings, as Thomas helped Central Washington manufacture its first run and Wagner then added a one-out home run to left-center field in the second. WWU had tied the game in the top of the second inning on Krista Bickar's towering home run to left field.

Gau started in the circle for the second straight game, but lasted just three innings before giving way to redshirt freshman TARYN SMITH (Olympia/Timberline HS) to start the fourth. Western Washington proceeded to tie the game in Smith's first inning of work, and the score remained tied until the bottom of the sixth inning. Thomas led off with a four-pitch walk, and senior JEN SCHWARTZ (Spokane/Shadle Park HS) then came in and had a pinch-hit bunt single to put two runners on with nobody out. Senior LIZ JUSKO (Snohomish) then sacrificed the two runners into scoring position, and freshman HEIDY WELLS (Tacoma/Stadium HS) scored Thomas with a sacrifice fly for a 3-2 lead. Carter then hit a double just inside the third-base bag to make it a two-run lead, providing some insurance that the Wildcats would need after Western Washington got its first two hitters on base to start the seventh and then closed to within 4-3 on a sacrifice fly. However, Smith, who earned her first collegiate win (1-1) with four innings of relief, then struck out Bickar on three pitches to preserve the victory.

Central Washington, which earned its fourth win in five meetings this season against Western Washington (8-25), managed just three hits in the game, but made them all count while also taking advantage of four walks. Thomas scored two more runs and stole two more bases in the victory.

Western Washington had eight hits spread out among seven players, as Rachelle Berry was the lone player on either side with more than one hit as she went 2 for 3.

Central Washington returns to Great Northwest Athletic Conference play for the remainder of the 2012 season, beginning with a scheduled four-game series at Montana State University Billings next weekend (Apr. 6-7).