Box Score ELLENSBURG, Wash. (Mar. 25) -- The Central Washington University junior Jeff Beckman (Renton, WA, Hazen) broke open a tied ball game in the bottom of the seventh inning with a clutch two-run triple to propel the Wildcats over Oregon Tech 10-8 Tuesday afternoon at the CWU Baseball field.

The Wildcats (12-11) tied the game at 6-6 on a RBI single by Cory Welch (Las Vegas, NV, Bishop Gorman) in the bottom of the sixth inning.  Then in the seventh inning Ethan Sterkel (Ellensburg, WA, Ellensburg) singled to lead off the frame, and a batter later Eric Tinnell (Ephrata, WA, Ephrata) walked to set the table for Beckman.  With a 3-1 count, Beckman drove a ball over the head of the OIT centerfielder scoring both Sterkel and Tinnell, and slid safely into third base with a triple to give the Wildcats an 8-6 lead.

Central Washington added one more run in the seventh on a RBI single by Joel Johnson (Olympia, WA, Olympia) scoring Beckman and giving CWU a 9-6 lead heading into the eighth inning.

Oregon Tech (9-23) made things interesting when shortstop Tyson Dahl hit a two-run homerun to left center field off reliever Skye Adams (Vancouver, WA, Columbia River) to cut the CWU advantage to just one run. 

The Wildcats responded by adding one more run in the ninth inning, when Welch reached base on an infield single and then stole second and third base before getting plating on a single by Sterkel to give the Wildcats the final 10-8 advantage.

Johnson closed out the game on the mound for CWU retiring the Owls in order, including strikeouts of the last two batters to pick up his first save of the 2014 season.

The teams combined for 29 hits on the day with Central taking a slight 15-14 advantage.  Five CWU hitters had multiple hits on the day as Justen Weigel (Naches, WA, Naches Valley), Scott Stone (Corvallis, OR, Crescent Valley), Jesse White (Salinas, CA, Salinas) and Welch each getting two safeties while Sterkel went 3-for-5 with two RBI.  White also hit his first home run in the season, as the ball hit off the top off the left field wall and bounced over the fence.

Adams, who threw two innings in relief for CWU, picked up the win, his third of the season.

The Wildcats will continue their 19-game home stand as they host Saint Martin's University this Saturday (Mar. 29) and Sunday (Mar. 30) for a pair of doubleheaders at 1 p.m. and Noon respectively.