ELLENSBURG, Wash. (Mar. 29) – The Central Washington University baseball team (11-14-1, 8-10) split day one of the two-day, four-game series against Northwest Nazarene University. The Wildcats dropped game one by score of 8-12 and then won game two 5-2.
Tyler Hoefer started on the mound in game one of the series. The junior flew through the first inning but then stumbled in the second inning. The Nighthawks were able to put up four runs in the inning thanks to three defensive errors by the Wildcats.
Hoefer was able to settle down after the second inning and get back on track. The Central offense came to life in the bottom of the third inning after falling to a 4-0 deficit. The action started with
Trevor Tripoli working a walk and then advancing to second on a wild pitch.
Mitch Lesmeister was then hit by a pitch with a full count.
Justin Hampson laid down a sacrifice bunt to move both runners up a base. With two runners in scoring position,
Yi-an Pan hit a ball back up the middle, allowing Tripoli to score and Lesmeister to advance to third. Pan was out on the play after the Nighthawk second baseman slid to stop the ball and threw to first to beat Pan by a step.
The inning continued with a
Luke Smith walk. Ball four of the at-bat got away from the catcher and Lesmeister raced home to score on the play. At the end of the third, the score was 4-2 in favor of NNU.
The Nighthawks got nothing off of Hoefer after the second inning. The junior got comfortable and cruised through the next 3.2 innings. Hoefer went 5.2 innings on the day and gave up four runs (none were earned) on seven hits and struck out a season high 10 batters while only giving up two free passes.
Central's offense picked up where they left off in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Robert Ball was the first runner of the inning after getting plunked on a 1-2 pitch.
Michael Peter came up next and hit a double over the center fielder's head to score Ball. Four pitches later, Tripoli singled up the middle allowing Peter to come home on the play.
The Wildcats were able to add one more in the bottom of the fifth inning when Yi-An Pan hit his second homerun on the year to give Central a 5-4 lead, their first of the day.
The Wildcat bullpen struggled in the seventh inning giving up three solo homeruns in the inning allowing the Nighthawks to regain the lead. NNU went on to add two more in the eighth and then three more in the ninth.
The NNU bullpen were able to minimize the Wildcat opportunities only allowing one run to score in the eighth and then two runs in the ninth. The Nighthawks took game one by score of 12-8.
"We just didn't play really well out of the shoots in game one," CWU Head Coach
Desi Storey said. "I thought we did a good job battling back. But we gave them too many opportunities especially late in the game and it got away from us."
Game two was an absolute pitcher's duel between
Connor Stevenson and Cooper Webster. The Wildcat offense was able to strike first in the bottom of the first inning. Lesmerister singled up the middle and then stole second base. He later came around to score when Yi-An Pan singled up the middle to collect the first RBI of the game.
The Nighthawks were able to answer back in the top of the second inning after Larsson Chapman singled to start off the inning and was later brought in to score on a Shawn Grandmont double.
Both teams then went quiet as both pitchers started to rack up the strikeouts. Central was able to crack Webster first in the bottom of the fifth inning. After a Tripoli and Lesmeister both singled with one out, Webster unsuccessfully attempted to pick off Lesmeister at first. The ball got away from the first baseman and allowed Lesmeister to get all the way to third. Tripoli scored on the play.
Two pitches later Hampson hit a no-doubter to right field. Hampson's third homerun on the year was a two-run shot that gave the Wildcats a 4-1 lead. The Nighthawks tried to answer back but were limited to just one run in the sixth as Stevenson slammed the door shut.
Jacob Forrester came in after Stevenson's gem and earned his fourth save on the year. Stevenson got his second win on the year going six innings, giving up two runs (all were earned), on six hits and he struck out six Nighthawk hitters while walking just one
"Game two was dominated by Connor (Stevenson)," Coach Storey said. "He threw really well and had a great game and we played good defense like we are capable of doing. We got some timely hitting and that was the real deciding factor."
The Wildcats are back in action tomorrow at noon for day two of the series at the CWU baseball Field.
