Box Score
HTML Box Score

BILLINGS, Mont. (May 2) -- Freshman Andrea Hamada (Walla Walla) had two hits, but the Central Washington University softball team managed just three hits overall while committing four errors in an 8-0, six-inning loss to 22nd-ranked Saint Martin's University in the opening round of the 2013 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Softball Championship on Thursday afternoon at Bjorgum Field.

The Wildcats, 19-19 overall and seeded fourth in the tournament, will now face an elimination game against Western Oregon University (27-25) at 12:30 p.m. Mountain Daylight Time (11:30 a.m. Pacific) on Friday. If CWU wins that contest, they would play either Saint Martin's (37-13) or Simon Fraser University (28-21) in another elimination game immediately following. SMU and SFU play in a winner's bracket game at 10 a.m. Mountain (9 a.m. Pacific).

“Today's result is definitely not what we envisioned,” third-year CWU head coach Mallory Holtman-Fletcher said. “It's not how you start, though; it's how you finish, and we haven't finished yet.”

Hamada had a leadoff double in the top of the second in a scoreless game, but was left stranded at third base after advancing there with one out. She also had a single in the sixth inning to account for her other hit against GNAC Pitcher of the Year Sam Munger.

CWU had other opportunities to score but came up empty. They loaded the bases with one out in the third, and again had a runner on third base with one out in the fifth but were unable to break the shutout.

Saint Martin's, meanwhile, accumulated 12 hits and took advantage of four infield errors by the Wildcats. Junior pitcher Maria Gau (Woodinville) committed three of those errors while going the distance in the pitching circle, suffering her fourth consecutive loss despite allowing just four earned runs.

The Saints scored three times in the second, and twice each in the third and fifth innings. Lacey McGladrey had a two-run single in the third and a two-run home run in the fifth, while Aubree Pocklington delivered a two-run home run in the third and the eventual game-ending RBI on a single in the sixth.

CWU freshman center fielder Michaela Hazlett (Purcell, Okla.) had the Wildcats' other hit -- a fifth-inning double in her only official at-bat of the contest.

Pocklington had three hits, while four other Saints players totaled two each in the victory. Seven of their eight runs were scored by players in the bottom four positions in the batting order.

In Friday's elimination game, CWU will take on a Western Oregon squad that swept the Wildcats in a doubleheader at Monmouth, Ore., last Saturday. The two teams split their regular-season series, winning two games each.

GREAT NORTHWEST ATHLETIC CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT AT BILLINGS, MT

THURSDAY'S RESULTS
Game 1: Simon Fraser 3, Western Oregon 2
Game 2: #22 Saint Martin's 8, Central Washington 0 (6 innings)

FRIDAY'S SCHEDULE
Game 3: Simon Fraser vs. Saint Martin's, 10 a.m. MDT (9 a.m. PDT)
Game 4: Central Washington vs. Western Oregon, 12:30 p.m. MDT (11:30 a.m. PDT)
Game 5: Loser Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 3 p.m. MDT (2 p.m. PDT)