MONMOUTH, Ore. (Apr. 28) - The Central Washington University softball team dropped a pair of games to the Western Oregon Wolves by scores of 4-3 and 8-4 on Sunday afternoon. 

Game one between the Wildcats (30-16, 21-7) and Wolves (31-14, 20-9) was a classic. The Wolves gained a 4-2 lead thanks to a solo home run from Ryanne Whitaker in the fifth inning. Whitaker drove in half of the Wolves' runs on the day. 

The scored stayed that way until the Wildcats had their last chance at the plate. Keegan Wise was called upon to pinch hit for Kayla Ellis. Wise came through with an infield single. Rachael Johnson hit another infield single that allowed Wise to advance all the way to third. The Wildcats were in business with runners on the corners with nobody out. 

They next play put the Wildcats out of business for the time being. Johnson, the best base stealer in Wildcat Softball program history, was caught stealing second base. Wise made a late decision to break towards the plate. The Wolves made an excellent play to catch wise in a pickle. She was tagged out between third base and the plate. Suddenly, the Wildcats had nobody on base with one out remaining in the game. 

Savannah Egbert kept hope alive with a single into the outfield. Katie Kastning followed with a triple down the right field line that allowed Egbert to hustle home. Again, momentum swung in favor of the Wildcats as they placed the tying run on third base. Alycia Bannan skied a ball into center field that was caught for the final out. 

The Wildcats did have an early lead in game one. Kayla Smith smoked a single into right field that allowed Kastning to score. The duo teamed up to score the Wildcats' second run of the game in the third inning. Smith socked a fly ball to center that allowed Kastning to score. 

Lexie Strasser (14-9) got the start in the circle for the Wildcats in game one. Strasser faced 27 batters inducing seven fly outs and eight ground outs. Strasser was able to retire one batter via the strikeout. 

"I thought Lexie pitched solid," CWU head coach Mike Larabee said. "We gave up a three-run inning, we had our opportunities late but we didn't get that key hit when we needed to give us the lead."

Game two featured less excitement, as the Wolves plated seven runs in the first three innings to take a 7-2 lead. The outlook looked promising for the Wildcats midway through the first inning. Julia Reuble doubled home Egbert to give the team a 1-0 lead. In the third inning, Smith hit an infield single with the bases loaded. Kastning raced home for the Wildcats second run of the game. They'd add two more runs in the seventh but it wasn't enough. 

"We are a pretty good ball club when we take care of the ball," Larabee said. "We allowed four unearned runs in the second game and it is something we have to work on." 

The Wildcats enter the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships as the number one seed after earning the Regular-Season Championship. The tournament is hosted by Concordia (Ore.) and takes place in Portland, Oregon. The tournament will begin on Thursday, May 2, with games at noon and 2:30 p.m. Three games will be played on Friday beginning at 10 a.m., with the championship game scheduled for Saturday at noon. If necessary, a second game will follow on Saturday around 2:30 p.m.

"Everybody is 0-0 right now," Larabee said. "We have a big tournament to play on Thursday and we are fired up for it."