ELLENSBURG, Wash (March. 21) – The Central Washington University baseball team dropped the first two games of a four-game series versus Saint Martin's University Saturday losing game one 14-8 and game two 7-4.
The Wildcats fell victim to their own play as the team would commit 12 errors on the day, six in each game. Central Washington falls to the .500-mark as its record stands at 12-12 overall and 6-8 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. The Saints climb to 10-14 overall and stand idle at 4-6 in league play.
Game One – CWU 8 SMU 14The Wildcats struck first in the opening frame of game one scoring two early runs. The first three batters reached base safely as
Cory Welch doubled to left field and was chased home by a
Darren Honeysett single three pitches later. Honeysett scampered his way home all the way from first on a double by
Kasey Bielec that snuck in on the fair side of the third base bag and rattled around in the left field corner.
The Saints erased the early 2-0 lead in the third when starting pitcher
Dustin Hamilton retired the first two batters in order before SMU rattled off four runs with two outs in the inning.
Hamilton made his third start of the season working 2 2/3 innings, allowing four earned runs while striking out three.
The Wildcats tied the ballgame at 6-6 in the bottom of the seventh inning on a pair of RBI-hits from Honeysett and reigning GNAC Player of the Week,
Ryan Atkinson. But a six-run top of the eighth inning put the ballgame away when five of the first six Saint's batter reached base safely, and the big inning was capped by a pinch-hit grand slam from SMU's Jake Huskey.
Game Two CWU 4 SMU 7The Saints used a pair of three-run innings to defeat the Wildcats in game two. After the Wildcats managed to tie the game at one apiece in the bottom of the second, the Saints erupted for three runs in the top of the third when the first four Saint's batters reached safely. Carl Svanevik ripped a two-run single down the left field line that chased home two runs, and he would later score on an RBI-groundout.
Starting pitcher
Zach Johnson tossed 6 2/3 innings allowing seven runs, only five of which were earned and struck out five Saints
The Wildcats knotted game two at 4-4 in the bottom of the fifth innings when
Jeff Beckman doubled with two outs to drive in
Benjamin Dunbar and Johnathan Dailey.
But the dagger occurred in the top of the seventh inning as the Saints would tack on the final three runs, due in large part to five Wildcat errors in the inning.
The Wildcats will look to bounce back tomorrow, Sunday, March. 22., when they will conclude the four-game set versus the Saints. First pitch is scheduled for Noon.
Be sure to follow all the actions with livestats at Wildcatsports.com
