CALDWELL, Idaho (Mar. 10) – The Central Washington University baseball team split its doubleheader with Northwest Nazarene University on Friday (Mar. 10).
 
Dylan Freyre got the Wildcats' offense jumpstarted in the top of the first inning with a two-out opposite field blast, lifting the Wildcats to a 1-0 lead.'
 
The Crusaders responded with a run of their own, also on a solo shot, in the bottom half of the first, levelling the score at 1-1.  Northwest Nazarene put up a pair of runs in the second inning, giving the Crusaders a 3-1 advantage.
 
Northwest Nazarene tacked on a pair more in the sixth inning, staking out a 5-1 lead.
 
The Wildcats got a run back in the seventh inning on a big fly from Sam Welton, but they could not close the gap and fell 5-2.
 
Jake Levin went 5.1 innings and allowed five runs, three earned, on 10 hits.  He struck out five hitters and walked none. 
 
In game two the Wildcats sprinkled six runs across in four separate innings. 
 
The Crusaders found the scoreboard first in their opening at-bats with a three-run shot down the right field line.
 
The Wildcats chipped away at the Crusaders' lead, scoring twice in the second inning.  Brice McCulloch singled home James Smith III, before Michael Heinevetter brought around Levin with a single to left field.
 
Levin doubled home Smith in the third, bringing the score back level at 3-3. 
 
Central Washington took its first lead of the game in the fifth inning on a two-run bomb by Smith, putting the Wildcats ahead 5-3.
 
The scoring came to an end in the sixth inning, but not before Kyle Stahl doubled home JJ Asinas in the sixth.
 
Mackenzie Gaul earned his second win of the season.  The southpaw hurled five innings and allowed seven hits, three earned runs, two walks, and he struck out seven.   Kyle Blankenship earned his second save of the inning, albeit in slight unconventional fashion.  Blankenship went two perfect innings of relief.
 
"We did a good job bouncing back," CWU Head Coach Desi Storey said afterward.  "Game two was much cleaner.  I thought Mack threw a great game and Blankenship had a good game as well.  We got some timely hitting, but we played consistently overall."
 
The Wildcats play again tomorrow (Mar. 11) in a doubleheader against Northwest Nazarene.  First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. MT.