ELLENSBURG, WASH. – The Central Washington University baseball team (14-17-1, 11-13) played host to the Concordia Cavaliers (11-21, 9-15) for the final day of the weekend series. The Wildcats came up clutch and took both games on the day.
 
Game one started out shaky for both teams' pitchers. The Cavaliers got the scoring started early in the first inning after a run came in on a bases loaded walk. Central was able to answer back in the bottom of the second after Yi-An Pan doubled and later came around to score on a wild pitch.
 
Both teams then went on to score five runs in the fifth inning. Jesse Unger doubled down the right field line with the bases loaded allowing Justin Hampson and Mitch Lesmeister to score on the play. After Luke Smith drew a walk, Pan was hit by a pitch bringing Colton Turner in from third base. Jason Hill drew another bases loaded walk to bring in another run. Trevor Tripoli brought in the final run of the inning drawing another bases loaded walk.
 
Both teams traded runs each inning. Central was able to pull away in the sixth inning scoring three runs in the inning. Pan reached on a throwing error from the Cavalier shortstop. Hill then dropped a base hit into right field allowing Pan to move to second. After a sacrifice bunt from Caetano Rochelle, Tripoli hit a sacrifice fly into right field allowing Pan to score. Two pitches later, Lesmeister reached on a throwing error from the shortstop allowing Hill to score from third base. Hampson followed that up with his own base hit to right field. Lesmeister hustled all the way from first and scored on the play to make the Wildcat lead 13-8.
 
Jake Forrester came on in the ninth inning and allowed just one run before slamming the door on the Cavalier comeback to take game one by a final score of 13-9.
 
"We did a really good job just battling at the plate in game one," CWU Head Coach Desi Storey said. "Our pitching wasn't great but we just didn't give in. We had some really good at bats and just kept the pressure on them."
 
Game two belonged to James Brooks. The redshirt senior had his best outing of the year going six innings and giving up three runs (one earned run) on five hits while striking out four of the 27 batters that he faced.
 
The Central offense supplemented Brooks good start with some fire power of their own. Central's first run of the game came in the first inning after Turner got a two out single and made it to third on a fielding error from the Cavalier centerfielder.
 
Turner came in to score on a wild pitch that walked Unger. The Wildcats added another run in the third inning before blowing the game open with a three run fourth inning and a four run fifth inning.
 
The fourth inning started with two straight walks and then a throwing error by the pitcher after Hill laid down a sacrifice bunt. Both Pan and Smith came in to score on the error and Hill moved all the way to third. Tripoli then hit his second sacrifice fly of the day, this one to left field, allowing Hill to score from third.
 
Hampson led off the inning striking out swinging but hustled his way to first on the passed ball, dropped third strike. Turner followed that up by reaching on an error from the Concordia catcher. After two quick outs by the next two Wildcat hitters, Pan drew a walk to load the bases. Hill then singled down the right field line allowing both Turner and Hampson to score.
 
Robert Ball then reached on a throwing error from the third baseman after a pitching change for Concordia. Pan scored on the play and Hill moved up to third base. Tripoli then drew a walk to load the bases. Lesmeister then earned a four-pitch free pass to bring Hill in making the Central lead 9-3.
 
That all Brooks would need on the day as he cruised through the next couple of innings. The Wildcat offense added one more run in the bottom of the sixth inning. JJ Asinas came on in the seventh and closed down the game. The junior worked a fly out, strike out, and a ground out with a runner on first to end the game.
 
"We got good at-bats again in game two," Storey said. "The big thing about game two was (James) Brooks was able to settle in and get us deep into the game for that game four win. I thought we did a really good job overall this weekend. We needed three wins this weekend and I think everyone knew that."
 
CWU is back in action next weekend in Lacey, Washington as they take on Saint Martin's University for the second series of the season.