ELLENSBURG, Wash. (Mar. 6) – After losing twice Saturday, the Central Washington University softball team bounced back with a pair of victories over Western Oregon University Sunday afternoon by scores of 7-5 and 7-6.
 
The Wildcats improve to 14-3 on the season and even their Great Northwest Athletic Conference record to 2-2.  With the two losses the Wolves fall to 7-10 on the season and 0-2 in the GNAC.
 
Kailyn Campbell had a big afternoon for the Wildcats going 4 for 8 with five RBI and two homeruns.  Both of her homeruns came in game two putting her second on the team with three on the season.
 
In total, the Wildcats hit four homeruns on the day, with all coming from Campbell, Austin Wilkerson and Brielle Copodonna, the Wildcats three, four and five hitters.
 
"That is why they are there," CWU Head Coach Mike Larabee said.  "Our three four and five hitters need to produce and they did that today.  Austin did a great job staying in the middle vector and if pitcher leave a mistake over the plate for either one of those players, they are going to hammer it."
 
The Wildcats grabbed a 2-1 lead in the second inning of game one, scoring on a WOU error, followed by a run scoring single by Celine Fowler.  Western Oregon second basemen Kelsie Gardner leveled the score with a solo homerun in the third inning, but Wilkerson gave CWU the lead back in the bottom half of the inning with a solo homerun, her fourth on the season.
 
Heading into the bottom of the fourth inning the Wolves held a 4-3 lead but the Wildcats added four runs in the frame off a two RBI single by Campbell, followed by a two-run homerun by Copodonna, giving CWU a 7-4 lead.
 
Copodonna pitched the last three innings for Central Washington and held the Wolves to just one run, striking out two batters in the process.  Kiana Wood picked up the win going four innings, surrendering four runs on six hits.  Wood also earned the victory in game two and is now 9-1 on the season.
 
"It was kind of a unique situation," Larabee said.  "Kiana wasn't pitching her best in the first game.  She struggled, but kept fighting.  When we got the lead I thought it was time to give them a different look, and Copodonna finished well for us.
 
Both teams scored in the opening frame of game two, with Campbell supplying the run for the Wildcats on a towering homerun to left field. 
 
Central Washington added five runs in the bottom of the second inning, once again powered by a round-tripper by Campbell, this time a two-run shot to centerfield.  Freshman Rachael Johnson also drove in a run in the inning on an infield single that plated Fowler.
 
The Wildcats held a 6-5 lead heading into the fifth inning, and Johnson added a much need RBI single to left field, again scoring Fowler who reached on her  third base hit on the day.
 
The Wolves added a run on a Ashlee Lynch homerun in the top of the sixth to pull within one score, but Wood shut the door on a comeback attempt forcing a foul out to end the game and secure the 7-6 victory.
 
Alexa Olague also added three hits on the day, and was a wall defensively from her third base position with four assists and two putouts.
 
The Wildcats return to action on Mar. 12 and 13 when they face Simon Fraser and Western Washington, respectively, at home on Frederick Field.