ELLENSBURG, Wash. (Mar. 19) -- The Wildcats were victorious in the game one slugfest that featured 28 hits and 26 runs with CWU collecting 18 safeties and plating 17 runs, securing a split on the day after dropping game two 10-3.
 
With the split the Wildcat now stand 10-6 on the season with a 6-2 mark in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.  Saint Martin's finishes the day with a 6-12 record, 3-5 GNAC.

"The guys swung the bats very well in game one," CWU Head Coach Desi Storey said.  "Everyone was making good contact and we got clutch hits, I just wish we could have saved some of those for game two.  Credit to Saint Martin's though, they came out swinging in the second game and we just couldn't find a rhythm until late in the game."
 
Central Washington trailed 4-2 heading into the fourth inning before the Wildcats added three runs in the bottom of the frame highlighted by a leadoff triple by Dylan Freyer and a pair of RBI by Benjamin Dunbar and Reid Martinez.
 
The Wildcats added five more runs in the fifth inning to take a comfortable 10-2 lead with Tanner Romo driving in two runs on a pinch hit single.
 
Saint Martin's added a five spot of their own using five hits and one error to cut the CWU lead to 10-9.
 
The CWU bats came alive in the seventh and eighth innings where they combined to score seven runs, four coming of the bat of Ryan Atkinson who hit a grandslam in the eighth inning giving him a total of six RBI in the contest.
 
Atkinson's six RBI is the third most in school history.

"Ryan tends to get a lot of hits in bunches, and I hope this is the start of one of those hot streaks," Storey said.  "When he is locked in, he is a very talented hitter than can produce like he did today any game."
 
Starting pitcher Travis Cook notched his first win of the season throwing 5.1 innings, fanning six batters.
 
The Wildcats got solid relief pitching from Zach Haggett, Tanner Braun Jacob Forrester.  The trio combined to throw the final 3.2 innings surrendering no runs and just three hits.
 
The Saints controlled game two from the first inning, plating three runners on three hits.  Saint Martins added a run in the third inning and two more in the fourth to take a 6-0 lead.
 
A pair of two-run singles by Josh Sontag in the sixth inning and Austin Feist in the seventh gave SMU the final 10-1 advantage in game two
 
The Wildcats first run came in the fourth inning on a double by centerfielder Kyle Stahl that scored Freyer from first base.  They also puzzled together a pair of runs in the seventh inning on a triple by James Smith III and a single by Bryton Redal.
 
The final two games of this four-game series will start tomorrow, Mar. 20 at noon.