Box Score ST. GEORGE, Utah (May 11) – The Central Washington University softball team saw its season come to an end Sunday afternoon as they lost to host Dixie State University 8-0 in the NCAA Division II West Region sub-regional championship game.
 
The Wildcats finish the 2014 season with a 32-20 record.  With the win, Dixie State will advance to play Cal State Monterey Bay next week in the NCAA Division II Super Regional. 
 
With a stead wind gust of 25 MPH the Red Storm took full advantage of the weather hitting two homeruns that, in normal conditions, would have staying inside the park.  In comparison, DSU had seven ground ball outs while the Wildcats had 11.  Keeping the ball in the out blowing win helped DSU's offense outhit CWU 14-6.
 
DSU went ahead 2-0 in the first inning aided by a homerun.  They added four more runs in the second inning taking advantage of a pair of CWU errors that lead to a grand slam for the Red Storm, increasing their lead to 6-0.  Two more runs in the fourth inning provided Dixie State with enough runs to end the game after five innings due to the NCAA eight run rule.
 
Freshmen Sammy Morris (Bothell, WA, Bothell) and Taylor Ferleman (Bellevue, WA, Lake Washington) each had two hits and accounted for two thirds of the CWU hits in the contest.  Because the DSU pitching staff kept the Wildcat offense from elevating the ball in the gusty wind, they were able to keep the Wildcats from advancing base runners in the contest.
 
With a young group of talented underclassmen returning to CWU next season, the possibility to earn a berth in the NCAA West Regional Tournament in 2015 is high for the Softball team.