BELLINGHAM, Wash. (Mar. 16) – The Central Washington University softball team (13-4, 6-0) swept its doubleheader against Western Washington by scores of 8-6 and 9-5.
The scoring started early for Central Washington.
Theresa Moyle scored on a wild pitch for a 1-0 lead in the top of the first.
Western Washington responded in the fourth inning, piling across four runs on a pair of singles, a sacrifice fly, and a double down the left field line.
A double from
Alycia Bannan in the sixth inning cut the Vikings' lead to 4-3, as Bannan plated both
Bethany Balucan and
Kayla Smith. Western responded in kind, plating one with a triple to right field for a 5-3 lead.
Katie Kastning levelled the score line in the seventh inning on a lineout to short.
Paige Liikala and
Keegan Wise both came around to score on a throwing error by the right fielder, tying the game at 5-5.
Lexie Strasser and Shearyna Labasan held both offense in check until the 10
th inning. Balucan reached on a fielding error by the second baseman, but she picked up an RBI when
Sydney Brown scored. Moyle then hit a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Smith. Wise then reached on a throwing error by the pitcher, allowing Balucan to cross the plate for an 8-5 lead.
Labasan hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 10
th, but the Vikings could not find their way back.
Strasser went all 10 innings and allowed 13 hits. She struck out 10.
"Lex pitched really well for us," CWU Head Coach
Mike Larabee said. "We had around 30 hits on the day, we swung the bat well. I thought we took advantage of their mistakes well. In the seventh inning they made a couple errors and we were able to capitalize, same for the 10th. Once you get into extra innings, anything can happen especially in the GNAC. There's never a night off in this conference."
Samantha Stanfield got the ball in game two for Larabee and company.
The Wildcats opened the scoring in the third inning on a single from Kastning. She brought along Balucan and gave CWU a 1-0 lead.
Julia Reuble then reached on a fielding error, allowing
Savannah Egbert and Kastning to score on a second error by the left fielder.
The Vikings got all three runs back in the bottom half of the inning when a three-run shot left center cleared the bases.
Reuble then swatted a solo shot in the top of the fifth. Balucan followed her a few batters later by driving in Smith. In the sixth inning, Smith singled back up the middle to score Kastning. It was Kastning's turn in the seventh, she singled to center to score Balucan. A single from Bannan pushed Kastning to third, but a throwing error allowed Kastning to score.
A throwing error in the bottom of the seventh allowed the Vikings to score their first run of the inning. A single through the left side brought around another run before
Isabel Womack took over in the circle. She forced the first hitter she faced to pop out, bringing the Vikings to their final out. After allowing a single, Womack got Palmer to ground outwith the bases loaded. She recorded her first save of the season in the 9-5 win.
The Wildcats are back in action tomorrow (Mar. 17) for a doubleheader at Simon Fraser. First pitch is scheduled for noon.
