NAMPA, Idaho (Mar. 25) – The Central Washington University baseball team split the first two games of its four-game series against Northwest Nazarene in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference matchup.  The Wildcats are now 13-8 overall and 9-3 in GNAC play after winning game one 9-3 and dropping the nightcap 1-2.  The Crusaders move to 14-10 overall and 9-5 in conference. 
In game one, Central pushed runs across in each of the first four innings, including two crooked numbers in the third and fourth innings. 
 
The Wildcats opened the scoring on a passed ball, allowing Ryan Atkinson to trot home. 
 
A Darren Honeysett single in the second inning scored Benjamin Dunbar, giving Central a 2-0 lead.
 
The Wildcats struck thrice in the third.  Jake Levin opened the inning with a walk before Randy Fuller reached on an error with two outs.  Dunbar came up and hit a two out three-run home run over the left center fence, extending the Wildcats lead to 5-0.
 
Travis Cook worked through four scoreless innings before the Crusaders found the scoreboard with three runs in the fifth.
 
"Travis threw a nice game," CWU Head Coach Desi Storey said afterward.  "They got some bloop singles and one guy turned on a fastball and took it out.  For the most part he worked out of the jams."
 
The Wildcats' offense got things going again in the eighth inning with a pair of runs.  Connor Plaisance brought Levin home on a single to center field.  Fuller then scored Plaisance on a single up the middle, both runs were scored with two outs.
 
"Our guys did a great job in game one against a lefty," Storey acknowledged.  "They didn't try to do too much and found the gaps, hitting balls through the infield.  Dunbar comes up big with the homer."
 
Cook (2-0) earned his second win of the year.  He allowed just three runs, two earned, over six innings, with six strikeouts.
 
Central's offense struck first again in the second game.  Tanner Romo singled home Justin Adams with one out in the first inning.
 
Levin guided the Wildcats through four innings of shutout baseball, until the Crusaders singled a runner home in the fifth.
 
A two-out double in the seventh inning led to the Crusaders knocking home the winning run on a single, securing a 2-1 walk-off victory.
 
"We just couldn't get adjusted to him," Storey added.  "He threw a good game and Jake threw a good game.  They got a clutch hit and we didn't."
 
The first three hitters in the Wildcats' lineup each recorded a hit. 
 
"We just need to bounce back and continue to execute," Storey noted.
 
 
Central plays again tomorrow against Northwest Nazarene.  First pitch is scheduled for 12 p.m. MDT.