TURLOCK, Calif. (Mar. 28) – The Central Washington University softball team won two of three contests Saturday at the Tournament of Champions, finishing pool play with a 3-2 record and advances to the Silver Bracket where they fellow Great Northwest Athletic Conference foe Saint Martin's tomorrow at Noon.
The two wins bump the Wildcats record to 17-13 on the season.
Game 1 – 2-4 loss to #4 Cal State Monterey Bay The Wildcats dropped the opener 2-4 to fourth-ranked Cal State Monterey Bay. After being down 1-0 through six innings the Wildcats scored twice in the sixth on a two-run big fly from
Kailyn Campbell to take a 2-1 lead. The Otters responded by hitting two homeruns in the bottom half of the inning to regain the final 4-2 lead.
Game 2 – 13-1 win over Hawaii Hilo (Five innings) After a four-hour layoff, the Wildcat bats regenerated to blow out Hawaii Hilo 13-1 in five innings. Central Washington put up four runs in the first inning on RBI singles by Campbell,
Andrea Hamada and
Katie Focher, and again on a bases loaded walk by
Shelby Yasuda.
The Wildcat bats exploded in the third inning scoring seven runs on six hits. After Campbell drove in three runs on a double to left field,
Austin Wilkerson landed her teammate on home plate with a big two-run homerun to left field. Two batters later
Alexa Olague drove in a pair of runs on a double down the left field line followed by a pinch hit home run by
Brielle Copodonna that landed 15-feet past the fence in left field.
Lindsey Kamphuis picked up the win in the contest throwing all five innings allow just two hits while striking out three Vulcans.
Game 3 – 5-3 win over Cal State Stanislaus The third and final contest was a bit closer with the Wildcats falling behind 0-2 in the first inning. The Wildcats got on the board in the third inning with Hamada plating Focher on a single off the diving glove of the Vulcan third baseman.
Cal State Stanislaus added another run in the top of the fourth inning, but CWU responded by scoring four times in the bottom half of the inning with Copodonna,
Sammy Morris,
Celine Fowler and Campbell each driving in a runs.
Kamphuis also earned the win in the nightcap improving to 10-6 on the season, and
Kiana Wood picked up her first save of the seasosn, pitching the final three innings aloowing just one hit.
Top PerformancesKailyn Campbell – 6 for 9, 7 RBI, 3 runs, homerun
Austin Wilkerson – 3 for 9, 2 RBI, run, homerun
Andrea Hamada – 3 for 9, 2 RBI, run
Brielle Copodonna – 2 for 2, 3 RBI, HR
Lindsey Kamphuis – 9 IP, 2 wins, five hits, 6 k's, 3 walks
If the Wildcats defeat Saint Martin's, they will continue on in bracket play and play the winner of #4 Cal State Monterey Bay and Hawaii Pacific at 2:30 p.m. for a chance to win the Silver Bracket.
