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ELLENSBURG (Mar. 16) -- Junior outfielders Joe Castro (Union City, Calif./James Logan HS) and Ethan Sterkel (Ellensburg) each had a three-hit game, and the Central Washington University baseball team combined for 19 hits in sweeping visiting Saint Martin's University, 8-2 and 5-1, in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action on Saturday afternoon.

The Wildcats extended their current winning streak to five games and, at 10-9 overall (5-1 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play), they have won eight of their last 11 games. Saint Martin's fell to 3-17 overall and 1-5 in the GNAC. The two teams will wrap up their four-game weekend series with another doubleheader on Sunday at noon.

GAME ONE: CWU 8, Saint Martin's 2
Junior shortstop Joel Johnson (Olympia) drove in the first four runs of the game, and CWU used three multi-run innings to defeat Saint Martin's, 8-2.

Johnson had a two-run triple in the second inning and a two-run single in the fourth as the Wildcats built a 5-1 lead. Senior third baseman Marc Garza (Othello) had a sacrifice fly to cap a three-run fourth inning for CWU.

The Wildcats also scored a pair of unearned runs in the sixth and a single tally in the seventh. The final run came home on junior Scott Stone's (Corvallis, Ore./Crescent Valley HS) first home run of the season.

Junior left-hander Skye Adams (Vancouver/Columbia River HS) ran his record to 4-0 on the season after scattering eight hits in six innings of work. He struck out six and walked two while throwing 94 pitches, giving way to senior right-hander Randy Button (Allyn/North Mason HS). Button went the final three frames to earn his first save of the year, surrendering just two hits including a solo home run to Chandler Tracy in the eighth.

Castro, the Wildcats' leadoff hitter, was 3 for 4 in the opener. Johnson, freshman Kramer Ferrell (Ellensburg), and senior Justin Peterson (Tacoma/Life Christian Academy) all had two-hit games, with Ferrell and Peterson scoring twice each.

GAME TWO: CWU 5, Saint Martin's 1
Sterkel was 3 for 3 with three runs scored, and senior pitcher Tyler Roberts (Kennewick/Southridge HS) allowed just three hits over 5 2/3 innings as the Wildcats completed the doubleheader sweep with a 5-1 win.

Sterkel had a two-out triple in the first inning, scoring the game's first run on a RBI double by senior Kyle Sani (Kennewick/Southridge HS). He then collected a bad-hop infield single in the fourth and a single to right-center field in the sixth, also scoring following each of those hits.

Roberts, meanwhile, struck out four and earned his first win of the season (1-2). He didn't allow a hit until Tracy's leadoff double in the fourth, which was part of a two-hit inning for the Saints. SMU didn't score until the sixth inning, when Roberts escaped without any further damage after the bases had been loaded with one out.

CWU scored single runs in the first, fourth, and fifth, and then put the game away in the bottom of the sixth with a pair of tallies.

The Wildcats finished with an 8-3 edge in hits, as five other players had one hit apiece to complement Sterkel's three-hit game. Peterson and sophomore Kasey Bielec (Port Orchard/North Mason HS) had doubles in the contest for CWU.