ELLENSBURG, Wash. (Mar. 14) – The Central Washington University softball team completed a four game sweep of Northwest Nazarene University Saturday afternoon, defeating the Crusaders 6-5 and 8-2.
"This was a huge momentum boost for us," Head Coach
Mallory Holtman-Fletcher said about the sweep. "When you play a team four times in a row it is tough to pull off a sweep, the other team has a chance to make adjustments from game to game, but so do we, and I am proud of the way our players competed this weekend."
The Wildcats improve their record to 12-7 on the season and 6-2 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference Play. The Crusaders fall to 2-17, 0-8 in the GNAC.
The Wildcats used a balanced offensive attack as 10 different players recorded a hit and seven different players driving in runs.
"Prior to this weekend I said if our top half of our offense can continue to hit the ball well, and our bottom half can step up, we can be successful, and that's exactly what we got today," Holtman Fletcher said. "Different people all throughout the lineup were successful at converting runs and getting on base, and when we can do that, qw will always have a chance to win a game."
Game One – 6-5 Win
The game went scoreless for three innings before the Crusaders added two runs in the top half of the fourth. The Wildcats responded the following inning when
Alexa Olague double to right center field driving in two runners to tie the game.
Celine Fowler and
Austin Wilkerson followed with RBI singles to give the Wildcats a two run lead.
Northwest Nazarene regained the lead in the fifth inning scoring three runs, two of which came on a long home run by NNU pitcher Ashley Pesek.
Central Washington headed into the seventh inning down 5-4. With two outs and two runners on,
Katie Focher singled to center field to tie the game up, and Olague hit a walk-off single to left field on a full count that scored
Andrea Hamada from second base giving the Wildcats the final 6-5 advantage.
Brielle Copodonna (2-1) pitched in relief for the Wildcats throwing the final three innings, giving up one run to earn her second win of the season.
Notable Game One Performances Alexa Olague – 2 for 4, 3 RBI
Austin Wilkerson – 2 for 3, RBI
Sammy Morris – 2 for 4, run
Game Two – 8-2 Win
Again, NNU struck first scoring in the first second inning, but the Wildcats quickly tied the game back up on a run scoring triple by Olague.
A sacrifice fly by
Kailyn Campbell plated Fowler in the fifth inning giving the Wildcats a slight 2-1 lead. In the fifth inning the Wildcat offense erupted for six runs highlighted by a three-run home run by Campbell, and a pair of run scoring hits by Hamada and
Jordan Sandrini.
Lindsey Kamphuis tossed her seven complete game of the season, allowing six hits while striking out six batters, lowering her earned run average to a team best 2.52 and improved to 5-4 on the season
Notable Game Two Performances Andrea Hamada – 4 for 4, RBI, 2 runs
Celine Fowler – 3 for 4, 2 runs
Kailyn Campbell – 2 for 3, 4 RBI, run
Alexa Olague – 2 for 3, RBI
The Wildcats will return to action next weekend for a pair of doubleheaders starting with Saint Martin's on Mar. 21 at 1 p.m. followed by a matchup with Western Oregon on Mar. 22 at Noon.
