St. George, Utah (FEB. 9) - The Central Washington University softball team were outmuscled by Cal State
East Bay, as the Pioneers hit four home runs as they took down the Wildcats 8-4 on Saturday morning. 

"Kind of a disspointing day," CWU head coach Mike Larabee said. "We had the bases loaded a few times but couldn't get the timely hit. We scratched out runs here and there, but couldn't push across the runs we needed." 

The Wildcats (5-3) pushed runs across the plate in a multitude of ways in Saturday's game against the Pioneers (2-3). The Wildcats got on the board first in the second inning. The bases were loaded, when a passed ball allowed Sydney Brown to scamper home, giving the Wildcats a 1-0 lead. 

The Wildcats trailed 3-1 in the top of the fourth as Katie Kastning came to the plate. Kastning hammered a ball into center field, allowing Savannah Egbert and Rachael Johnson. The game remained tied until the the top of the fifth. Najera and Fukushima hit back-to-back home runs for the Pioneers, giving them a 5-3 lead going into the late innings. 

Theresa Moyle hit her third home run of the young season in the sixth inning. It was a solo shot, cutting the lead to just one entering the final inning. The Pioneers added three insurance runs, proving to be too much for the Wildcats to overcome. 

The long ball haunted Wildcat pitchers Lexie Strasser and Samantha Stanfield. Strasser opened the game in the circle, going 4.1 innings, allowing five hits while striking out three batters. Stanfield closed out the game, going 2.2 innings, also striking out three batters. 

"My expectations are that we play a lot better than we did throughout the tournament," Larabee said. "We have some time to polish uip and our pitching and our infield. We have the talent to do some great things this year. We just have to go out there and execute." 

The Wildcats are scheduled for their home opener next Saturday. They'll take on Pacific Lutheran University in a double header that starts at noon.