SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (Feb. 27) – The Central Washington University baseball team split its doubleheader against the Academy of Art University with scores of 8-6 and 3-4. The Wildcats are now 4-4 on the season, while the Urban Knights are to 4-9.
Dylan Freyre singled home
Kyle Stahl in the first inning with two outs, giving Central Washington a 1-0 advantage.
Jake Levin then took a 1-0 pitch over the wall in right field, putting the Wildcats up 3-0. The round-tripper was Levin's first of the regular season.
The Urban Knights got one run back in the bottom half of the inning. Erick Luna singled up the middle, scoring Joseph Marchini.
Luna came through again the bottom of the second, singling through the left side and bringing home a pair of runners. Tyler Strawn gave the Urban Knights a 4-3 advantage with a single that scored Payton Milone.
Levin hit his second home run of the season in the top of the third on a 2-1 count. The three-run shot put Central up 6-4.
Levin finished 3-for-5 with three runs scored, three hits, three homeruns, and six runs batted in. He is the second player ever in Central history to hit three home runs in one
In the fourth inning Strawn doubled home Luna, cutting the Wildcats' lead to just 6-5. Cameron Jones evened the score with a single to right field.
The Wildcats led off the ninth with a double by Stahl. Freyre's one-out sacrifice fly gave the Wildcats a 7-6 lead, but Levin wasn't finished. Levin hit his third round-tripper of the game on a 1-0 pitch, giving Central an 8-6 lead.
Connor Jones (1-0) recorded his first win of the season with an inning of scoreless relief.
CJ Gettman earns his first save of the year.
The second game of the twin bill went to extras.
The Urban Knights posted a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning on a triple by Marchini, scoring Cody Edmunds, and then a single by Michael Maleski brought home Marchini.
Central responded with a run in the fifth, seventh, and eight innings.
In the fifth,
Ryan Atkinson brought home
Christopher Dalto with a single.
Darren Honeysett singled to right center, scoring Freyre in the seventh. The Wildcats' third run came on a single by Levin, scoring Atkinson and tying the game at 3-3.
Maleski brought home Edmunds in the seventh, briefly giving Academy of Art a one-run advantage.
A double by Brett Adami in the 11
th inning scored Zack Trueblood to give the Urban Knights a walk-off victory.
Atkinson finished 3-for-5 with a run scored, run driven in, and a double. Honeysett recorded three hits and a RBI.
Mitch Yada went five innings and allowed two runs, one earned, on five hits.
Zach Haggett went two innings and allowed one unearned run.
Justin Adams (0-1) allowed one run on three hits and was charged with his first loss of the year.
The Wildcats open conference play on March 4 against Montana State University Billings. First pitch is scheduled for noon, game two begins at roughly 3 p.m.
