ELLENSBURG, Wash (May. 1) – The Central Washington University baseball team lost the first game of a two-game series versus perennial NAIA powerhouse Lewis-Clark State by a score of 14-2 Friday afternoon.
The non-conference loss has no play on the Wildcats' postseason aspirations as they still need Northwest Nazarene to go 0-4 in Monmouth, Ore. versus Western Oregon University. The Wildcats now stand 23-25 overall and 14-18 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference as the Warriors climb to 41-10 overall.
GAME ONE: CWU-2 LC-14 402 | 240 | 011 | 14
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Starting pitcher
Zach Johnson worked four innings for the Wildcats against a ferocious Warrior lineup.
The Warriors crossed the plate first as the second batter of the game, Raymond Pedrina, hit a screaming line drive over the left field fence to give LC State a 1-0 lead, and the visitors would tack on three more runs in the inning on a three-run homerun by Max Whitt to right field.
The Wildcats were held hitless until the third inning when
Cory Welch singled off the pitchers torso to ignite the offense.
Jeff Beckman singled in the next at-bat to give CWU its first runner in scoring position. After a successful double play from the Warriors,
Darren Honeysett singled up the middle with two outs to chase Welch home for the Wildcats' first run of the ballgame.
The Wildcats tacked on another run in the following inning when
Benjamin Dunbar reached on an error from the right fielder and found himself on second base. Dunbar would come around to score when
Randy Fuller ripped a single to center field.
The Wildcats will look to rebound tomorrow, May 2. when the team concludes its regular season. The team will honor six graduating seniors prior to the 1 p.m. start time.
Follow all the action with live stats at Wildcatsports.com and follow @CWUAthletics for live tweets.
