The Central Washington softball team has a jam packed week of games as they travel to Canada to play Simon Fraser University this Wednesday for two night games followed by its final home stand of the year when they host Western Oregon and Saint Martin's on Saturday and Sunday Respectively.
 
The softball team is fresh off a road trip to California where they put on a good showing at the Tournament of Champions, going 4-2, with their only losses coming to nationally ranked Humboldt State and Cal State Monterey Bay. 
 
The Wildcats started the tournament off strong winning the first three games over Azusa Pacific, Cal State Dominguez Hills and Chico State.  The wins were due in large part to the play of Austin Wilkerson (Ferndale, WA, Sehome) who was named to the All-Tournament team and earn GNAC Player of the Week Honors.
 
Wilkerson was 8-for-18 in the tournament, compiling a pair of doubles and two homeruns.
 
This week is huge for the softball team as they sit comfortable in fourth place but can jump to as high as first place depending on how well the rest of the conference leaders play this weekend.
 
Up first the Wildcats head to Simon Fraser for a 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. doubleheader this Wednesday.  Simon Fraser has just two conference wins (2-12) and are 4-25 overall.
 
The real tests will come on Saturday and Sunday.  Saturday they play conference leading Western Oregon who stands with a 13-1 GNAC record and a 25-15 mark overall.   The Wolves carry the second best batting average in the conference (.314) and the fouth best ERA at 3.17.  They have three of the top seven hitters in the conference, led by Amanda Evola who is batting .415 on the season and leads the conference with 40 RBI.
 
Sunday they host Saint Martin's University who sit a game and a half ahead of the Wildcats in the standings with a 9-4 record, 20-15 overall.  The saints have been streaking, winning eight of their last 10 games.  Sam Munger, who leads the team in batting average at .375, and is the teams top pitchers with a 14-10 record and a 2.24 era, leads the Saints as they travel to Ellensburg.
 
The Wildcats who are 19-14 and 8-6 in GNAC play are hoping to take care of business this week and improve their spot in the conference standings and gain momentum when the first Regional rankings get release in the upcoming weeks.