ELLENSBURG, Wash.- The Central Washington University softball teams looks to bounce back from a less than stellar outing last week as they welcome Simon Fraser and Western Washington University to Gary and Bobbi Frederick Field this Saturday and Sunday.
 
GAME INFO
 
Central Washington vs Simon Fraser | Saturday, April 21 | 1 & 3 p.m.

Central Washington at Western Washington| Sunday, April 22 | 12 & 2 p.m.
 
LAST WEEKEND
The Wildcats stumbled last weekend against Northwest Nazarene, dropping three of their four games against the Nighthawks.
 
With the losses, Central falls to 25-12 on the season and 13-7 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. Northwest Nazarene improves to 22-19, and is now tied with CWU for the conference lead at 13-7.
 
GNAC STANDINGS
 

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
The Wildcats lead the GNAC when it comes to stolen bases (66), runs scored (5.86/game), and plate appearances (32.35/game), as well as ERA at 2.94. The Wildcats also limit opposing batters to a conference low .267 batting average. Individually, Savannah Egbert ranks second in the conference and 12th nationally in batting average at .480. Egbert also leads the conference with 25 stole bases and ranks second in on base percentage (.525) and total hits (60). Defensively, Lexie Strasser ranks second in the conference with a 2.42 ERA, while limiting batters to just a .241 batting average. Strasser has also pitched a conference high 130 innings and has registered 15 wins.
 
JOHNSON BREAKS CWU STOLEN BASE RECORD
Junior outfielder Rachael Johnson recorded the 46th stolen base of her career in the first game of Central's four-game series against Northwest Nazarene. Johnson swiped her record-breaking base in the seventh inning. Johnson also stole a base in the second and fourth games of the series and now has 48 for her career.  She holds a career stolen base percentage of 92.2, which ranks second all-time.
 
Sophomore Savannah Egbert is hot on Johnson's trail, totaling 46 stolen bases throughout her Wildcat career including a team and conference-high 25 this season.  
 
WEST REGION UPDATE
The Wildcats enter the week ranked seventh in the West Region standings, just below Cal State San Bernadino. CWU is the only team in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference to be featured in the regional rankings.
 

 
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Simon Fraser
2018 Record: 14-14, 10-10 GNAC

Last Weekend: The Clan haven't played since April 9 when they dropped back-to-back games to Central Washington (1-5, 7-8). SFU have lost seven of their last nine games dating back to March 25.
 
The Clan's last victory came against Saint Marin's, where two homeruns from Dallas Tilley assisted their come-from-behind effort (10-7). Tilley's first homerun came in the second inning, a two-run shot that gave the Clan a 3-2 lead. The Saints countered with five runs in the third inning to take a 7-4 lead. SFU chipped away at the score and a lead-off homerun by Hailey Gearey in the fourth brought the Clan within one, 7-6. That set the stage for Tilley's three-run blast in the fifth. Tilley now has two homeruns on the season and four in her SFU career.  
 
Top Hitter: The Clan are fairly balanced offensively, led by three batters with averages greater than .300 on the season. Senior shortstop Taylor Lundrigan leads SFU with a .363 batting average, .538 slugging percentage, and .408 on base percentage. Freshman Kate Fergusson has a .330 batting average and has recorded 29 hits this season.  
 
Top Pitcher: Alla Stachoski has a team-best 3.79 ERA and has nine wins on the season. She has pitched a total of 109 innings and has recorded 86 strikeouts.
 
Western Washington
2018 Record: 12-26, 6-13 GNAC

Last Weekend: Western Washington closed out the home portion of their 2018 schedule with a pair of one-run defeats last week, falling to Saint Martin's University 2-1 and 3-2 in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference doubleheader at Viking Field.
 
The Vikings were limited to 10 hits, and were 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position while leaving 9 runners on base combined in the doubleheader. Junior Shearyna Labasan combined to go 3-for-6 with her team-leading 10th double of the season for the day, while freshmen Rylie Wales and Kira Doan each recorded a pair of hits.

Top Hitter: Shearyna Labasan leads the Vikings with a .405 batting average, .550 slugging percentage, .492 hitting percentage, 23 runs scored, and 45 hits. Rylie Wales ranks second on the team with a .295 average and has a .427 on base percentage.   
 
Top Pitcher: Labasan also is the team's top pitcher with a 3.36 ERA, while pitching a total of 112.2 innings. Anna Kasner has also proven to be a reliable option in the circle with a 3.41 ERA. Kasner also limits opposing batters to just a .261 clip and has a team-best win-loss percentage of .400.
 
-CWU-