LACEY, WASH. – The Central Washington University baseball team (14-19-1, 11-15) traveled west of the mountains for the final Great Northwest Athletic Conference matchup between the Wildcats and the Saint Martin's Saints (14-21, 10-16). The Wildcats lost both games on day one of the series.

The Saints were able to get on the board early and often and put up three runs in the first three innings. The Saints then added three more runs in the sixth inning and didn't look back. Game one marked the first time all season that the Wildcats have been shutout. Aaron Shoup dominated on the mound and went seven innings giving up just four hits while striking out six batters.

Central was only able to rack up four hits in the game. Mitch Lesmeister, Justin Hampson, Jason Hill, and Robert Ball all contributed a hit each. The Saints on the other hand, tallied fourteen hits in the game and five SMU batters had multiple hits in the game. Saint Martin's was led by their lead-off hitter Ryne Oshiro who had four hits in five at-bats. 

Tyler Hoefer was handed his first loss on the season after going 4.2 innings and allowing three runs on seven hits and walked three batters while striking out four. Three other Wildcat pitchers were used to finish the game and allowed seven combined hits and four combined runs. 

"We just didn't play well today overall," CWU Head Coach Desi Storey said. "We struggled at the plate all day and they didn't. They were able to put together good at-bats and were able to hit our mistakes."

The only highlight of the day came in the first inning of the second game for the Wildcats. Mitch Lesmeister led off the game with a solo moon-shot to give the Wildcats their only lead of the day. The feeling didn't last long as the Saints came back and answered with a two run homerun of their own in the bottom half of the first inning. 

Saint Martin's went on to score three runs in the bottom of the second inning after a one run single and a two run double in the inning. The only other Wildcat run came in the top of the fifth inning. Yi-An Pan doubled to left center with one out and then two batters later, Trevor Tripoli singled in Pan from second base. 

"We did better at the plate but we just didn't have the pitching that we needed," Storey said. "If we are going to be successful, we have to be better on the hill and better at the plate. We just have to make some adjustments."

Connor Stevenson was handed his third loss of the game after going just one inning and allowing two runs on two hits and gave up two free passes. 

Central will look to bounce back on Sunday against Saint Martins after an off day due to the poor weather conditions on Saturday.