ELLENSBURG, Wash. (Apr. 21) – The Central Washington University (23-19, 18-14 GNAC) baseball team split its doubleheader with the Northwest Nazarene University Nighthawks (18-28, 12-20) in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference doubleheader by scores of 2-3 and 8-2. 
 
"I'm proud of our guys today," CWU Head Coach Desi Storey said.  "We played two complete games, it's how we need to play.  We get a few more hits in game one and we sweep.  But we played really well today in both games.  Our pitchers were locked in; both Mack [Gaul] and Seth [Pedersen] had fantastic outings for us.  I'm very happy with how we played today."
 
Mackenzie Gaul got the start in game one and went 6.2 innings, allowing just one run on five hits.  He struck out three hitters.  JJ Asinas (2-2) was charged with the loss.  In 2.1 innings, Asinas allowed two runs on two hits.
 
Adam Paulson (3-5) went the distance for the Saints, allowing just one earned run on six hits.  He struck out eight hitters. 
 
The Wildcats found the scoreboard first in the bottom of the first when Dustin Braun singled home Justin Hampson.
 
All was quiet until the top of the seventh inning offensively.  Parker Price singled home Haden Keller, tying the game at 1-1.
 
It was briefly untied when Hampson reach on an error which allowed Christopher Dalto to score for a 2-1 CWU advantage. 
 
The Nighthawks erased the advantage in the next frame.  Kyle Redford took a high and outside fastball into the wind down the right field line for a two-run homerun and a 3-2 lead. 
 
Paulson struck out the side for NNU to seal the victory.
 
Seth Pedersen (3-4) went the distance in the final game of the series.  He hurled seven innings on just 81 pitches.  Pedersen allowed just four hits, two runs, one earned, and he struck out five.
 
An RBI double from Dylan Cure gave the Nighthawks an early 1-0 advantage in the second inning.  The Wildcats wasted no time getting the run back, as Michael Peter roped a double into the left center gap, scoring both Yi-an Pan and Robert Ball.  Hampson then tripled to left center, scoring Peter, and giving the Wildcats a 3-1 lead.
 
In the third inning, Parton singled home Braun to expand the lead to 4-1.  Dalto singled to right later, scoring Parton after an error in right field.
 
The Wildcats expanded their lead to 6-1 in the bottom of the fourth, when Peter swatted his first collegiate homerun.  The freshman second baseman took a 1-0 offering over the right center fence.  Later in the fourth, Braun singled home Ty Deckwa and Hampson to give the Wildcats an 8-1 lead.
 
The Nighthawks brought around one run with a sacrifice fly in the seventh, but Pedersen limited the damage for the victory.
 
The Wildcats are back in action next Saturday (Apr. 28) in Monmouth, Oregon for a GNAC doubleheader against Western Oregon.