TURLOCK, Calif. – The Central Washington softball team has now won 10 straight games after defeating Stanislaus State 5-3 Wednesday afternoon in Turlock, Calif.
The Wildcats now stand at 14-4 on the season while the Warriors fall to 14-12.
"Winning 10 in a row is never easy, at any level," CWU Head Coach
Mike Larabee said. "Our team has been locked in, doing all the small things that equate to winning. We have some tough games coming up and I am excited to see how we do at the Tournament of Champions."
The Wildcats scored at least one run in each of the first three innings to take a 4-0 lead.
Savannah Egbert led the game off with a single, advanced to second on a steal and later scored on a wild pitch. In the second inning both Jacie McDaniel's and
Bethany Balucan earned RBI doubles in the frame to put CWU up 3-0. In the third inning, Balucan added her second RBI of the game on a groundout plating
Alycia Bannan.
In the fifth innings,
Julia Reuble led off with a double and
Katie Kastning followed with one of her own to put CWU up 5-0.
Lexie Strasser started in the circle for CWU and took a no-hitter into the sixth inning, but a pair of CWU errors extended the inning and the Warriors earned their first and only hit of the inning, scoring three runs in the frame to cut the CWU lead to 5-3. Strasser shut down the Warriors in order to earn the complete game victory. The freshman did not give up an earned run in the contest.
Strasser is now 7-3 on the season and has won her last four decisions, taking a no-hitter to at least the third inning in each of her last four starts.
"This was a complete effort today," Larabee added. "We had timely hitting and some amazing defensive plays, especially from Bethany (Balucan). Strasser hit all of her spots, and if we take out the errors in the sixth inning, we played a near flawless game."
The Wildcats will next compete in the tournament of champions where they play six games in three days, starting with Concordia Irvine and Cal State Dominguez Hills at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., respectively. The Wildcats scheduled doubleheader with Cal Baptist tomorrow, Mar. 22, has been cancelled due to rain in the forecast.
