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HTML Box Scores: vs. CSUMB / vs. AAU

TURLOCK, Calif. (Apr. 6) -- Junior Maikala Galusha (Battle Ground) hit a game-winning two-run home run in the opening game, and then followed with two doubles and three RBI in the nightcap as the Central Washington University softball team earned two more wins at the Tournament of Champions, presented by Mizuno, at the Pedretti Sports Complex on Saturday night.

CWU defeated Cal State Monterey Bay, 2-1, and Academy of Art University, 4-3, to finish pool play with a 4-1 record. The Wildcats are 16-12 overall on the season, with wins in 16 of their last 20 games. CWU will open Silver Bracket play at the tournament against the University of Hawai'i at Hilo at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

GAME ONE: CWU 2, Cal State Monterey Bay 1
Galusha's two-run home run in the top of the fourth inning proved to be the difference as the Wildcats defeated Cal State Monterey Bay, 2-1.

CWU fell behind in the first inning as the Otters (24-18) scratched out a run after a leadoff single, sacrifice bunt, and RBI single by Cori Reinhardt. After that point, however, Wildcat junior Maria Gau (Woodinville) shut down CSUMB by allowing four hits over the final six innings.

Galusha's round-tripper -- her fourth of the season -- came after a two-out, four-pitch walk to junior Jill McDaniels (Walla Walla). She took a 0-1 offering from Reinhardt and hit it over the right-center field fence for a 2-1 lead that the Wildcats maintained for the duration.

Gau escaped a bases-loaded jam in the sixth inning without allowing a run, earning a strikeout and inducing a first-pitch pop out to preserve the one-run lead. The right-hander finished with six strikeouts.

Six different CWU players had one hit, while two players -- Reinhardt and Lauren Ermitano -- had two hits each for CSUMB.

GAME TWO: CWU 4, Academy of Art 3
Galusha again proved to be the Wildcats' hitting hero with two doubles and three runs batted in as CWU defeated Academy of Art, 4-3.

The junior first baseman delivered a two-run double in the first inning, and then drove in the eventual winning run in the bottom of the fifth inning with another two-bagger just inside the bag at third base.

CWU made it a 3-0 count in the bottom of the second inning, again scoring on a double. Freshman Remy Bradley (Richland/Hanford HS) provided the Wildcats with the run with a two-out hit, scoring fellow freshman Andrea Hamada (Walla Walla) from second base after the CWU shortstop had led off the inning with a walk.

Sophomore pitcher Heidy Wells (Tacoma/Stadium HS) kept the Urban Knights scoreless until the third inning, when Haily MacDonald had a run-scoring single that cut the Wildcats' lead to 3-1.

Galusha's second double of the game proved to be the difference after an error had extended the fifth inning for the Wildcats. Freshman Michaela Hazlett (Purcell, Okla.) reached on a one-out bunt single, and the inning stayed alive when McDaniels reached on an infield error. Galusha then scored Hazlett to extend the lead to three runs.

Academy of Art, which had squeaked out an 8-7 win over the Wildcats in Las Vegas to open the CWU season on Feb. 8, scored twice in the top of the seventh after a single, walk, and then a two-run infield error that prolonged the game. Wells was able to escape any potential tying run after a game-ending groundout.

Wells (7-3) threw a four-hitter, striking out six. She also went 1 for 2 offensively as the Wildcats finished with a 6-4 advantage in the hit department. Galusha was the only CWU player with more than one hit, while Elyse Cordova had two of the Urban Knights' four hits.