Box Score ELLENSBURG, WA (Mar. 7) -- Central Washington University junior pitcher Brandon Williams etched himself into the Great Northwest Athletic Conference history books by striking out 15 batters in a 6-1 game one victory over Northwest Nazarene University Friday afternoon as the Wildcats split their doubleheader with the Crusaders, dropping game two 9-3.

With the split, CWU now has a 6-8 record with a 2-4 mark in GNAC play, while the Crusaders are now 8-11, 4-2 in GNAC.

Williams (3-1) was dominant to say the least in the opener, leading CWU to the 6-1 victory.  Despite giving up an unearned run in the first inning, the powerful right-hander had the NNU batters on their heels for the remainder of the game.  He allowed just six hits and his 15 strikeouts ties a GNAC record held by a handful of pitchers, including CWU alumni Brandon Rhode.

"Brandon was fantastic." Head coach Desi Storey said. "He pretty much controlled the game by shutting them down and it allowed us to get some things going defensively."

Williams struck out the side in the second, third and fifth innings before getting relieved by Cory Welch in the ninth inning.  Welch himself added to the strikeout total, as he struck out all three batters he faced.  In total the Williams and Welch combined to strikeout 18 batters, the most by a Wildcat team in the NCAA Division II era.

"I just tried to go out there and put up a bunch of zeroes." Starting pitcher BRANDON WILLIAMS said. "The fast ball was alive today and my off speed was hitting the zone.  I've been working hard on my command in my bullpen sessions and it was nice come in throwing strikes." 
 
There was no lack of offense for the Wildcats in game one as they totaled 11 hits as a team with Jaykob Sells, JUSTEN WEIGEL and Ethan Sterkel all recording two hits in the game.  Sells had a pair of RBI singles and Weigel scored Stephen McElroy in the second inning on a single up the middle.

Tides turned in game two with the Crusaders taking a 9-3 win.  NNU barely outhit the Wildcats, 10-9, but the Crusaders were 7-for-21 with runners on base while the Wildcats were just 4-for-10.  Northwest Nazarene starting pitcher Aaron Vaughn (4-1) gave up nine hits but walked just one batter and struck out seven.

"We have to get more consistent from one game to the next." Coach Storey explained. "It was nice to pick up the win in the first game, but we needed to carry that momentum into game two, but we couldn't piece anything together."  

Kasey Bielec, Jeff Beckman and Welch each recorded two hits in the nightcap, but the Wildcats were unable to move base runners around scoring just three runs.

The Wildcats will return to action tomorrow as they finish off their four-game series with NNU tomorrow starting at Noon.