HAYWARD, Calif. (Feb. 12) – The Central Washington University baseball was swept in its doubleheader against California State University East Bay.
The Wildcats are now 1-3 on the season.
"It's tough," CWU Head Coach
Desi Storey noted. "We had some guys who were a little overanxious and our younger guys are a bit overmatched. It's still early and there's a lot of season ahead of us."
The Wildcats fell in game one, 8-1.
Dillon Larsen (0-1) was charged with the loss. The freshman allowed four runs, three earned, over 2.2 innings. He walked three and allowed three hits.
The Wildcats scored their lone run in the second inning on a solo shot from
Conor Plaisance. East Bay responded with two runs of their own in both the second and third innings. The Pioneers tallied again in the sixth, before topping off with three runs in the eighth.
Plaisance finished game one 3-for-4.
Christopher Dalto,
James Smith III, and
Rory Graf-Brennen also had a knock each.
Mackenzie Gaul (0-1) got the start in game two. The lefty hurled 5.2 innings, allowing six hits and striking out one. He surrendered three runs.
"He did a good job," Storey said. "He is a competitor and today he competed. He threw well, got a little tired late. Overall it was a good outing."
Central Washington got the scoring started in the second inning. The Wildcats connected on three consecutive singles with
Michael Heinevetter driving home
Jake Levin.
The Pioneers responded with a run of their own in the third inning on a groundout to second. East Bay broke the deadlock in the bottom of the fifth with a pair of hits, 2-1. The Pioneers added to their lead in the bottom of the sixth, stretching their lead to 3-1.
Plaisance connected on his second solo blast in the top of the seventh inning, cutting the Pioneers' lead to 3-2. He finished the back end of the doubleheader 2-for-3.
"Conor is hitting the ball well," Storey added. "He's seeing the ball well and coming up big for us."
The Wildcats could not scavenge another run, falling 3-2.
Central Washington is back in action on Saturday (Feb. 18) and Sunday (Feb. 19) for a pair of games against Lewis-Clark State. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday and noon on Sunday.
