ELLENSBURG, Wash. (Apr. 1) – The Central Washington University baseball team split its doubleheader with Montana State Billings.
 
The Wildcats are 17-12 overall and 11-8 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play.
 
Jake Levin notched a walk-off homerun in the bottom of the seventh in game two, sealing the victory at 6-5.
 
In game one, the Yellowjackets struck first in the fifth for a 1-0 lead.  A bases loaded walk in the bottom of the fifth brought home Yi-Fan Pan. 
 
Then, Billings struck for four runs in the sixth and six in the seventh.  The Yellowjackets were not done, as they tacked on three more in the eighth.  Levin hit a two-run shot in the eighth, before Sam Welton singled home Michael Heinevetter. 
 
The Wildcats fell 14-5 in Saturday's opener.
 
"We didn't do too much right in game one," CWU Head Coach Desi Storey said.  "We just had to regroup for game two."
 
JJ Asinas baffled opposing hitters in game two, hurling six innings of one-run ball.
 
"First college start and he got into the seventh with a shutout," Storey noted.  "After the solo homerun we figured it was a good time to get him out.  He is pitch count was the highest he's worked for us."
 
A double steal in the first inning brought home Kyle Stahl, giving the Wildcats a 1-0 lead.  Stahl came around again in the third inning on a wild pitch for a 2-0 advantage.
 
Conor Plaisance then singled home Levin, giving Central a comfy 3-0 lead.  Stahl added an RBI single in the fouth, extending the lead to 4-0.  Levin made it 5-0 in the fifth on a single, as Dylan Freyre came around to score on a throwing error.
 
After giving up a solo homerun in the top of the seventh, Asinas was lifted with a 5-1 lead.  The Wildcats' bullpen struggled to retire the Yellowjackets.  Billings scraped across four more runs, levelling the score at 5-5. 
 
It was all for naught, however, as Levin swatted his second dinger of the day, this time of the walk-off variety, in the Wildcats' 6-5 victory.
 
"Luckily for us Jake stepped up for us and rode it out of there," Storey finished.
 
Central Washington takes on Concordia University on Friday (Apr. 7) at Concordia University.  Friday's game will pick-up in the third inning with Heinevetter on second base, after the finale in Ellensburg was postponed due to weather.