ELLENSBURG, Wash. (May 1) – After earning a record-setting fourth consecutive Great Northwest Athletic Conference Regular-Season Championship, the Central Washington University Softball Team is set for an opening round matchup against Northwest Nazarene in Portland, Oregon on Thursday.
GAME INFORMATION
Thursday | May 2 | 2:30 p.m.
No 4. Northwest Nazarene vs. No. 1 Central Washington
Portland, Ore. | Porter Park
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FROM THE COACH
"Anyone can win this tournament," CWU head coach
Mike Larabee said. "We talk about three distinct seasons. We had our preseason, our conference season and now we are in our postseason. Everyone is 0-0. We're going to focus on pitching in the strike zone. We'll need a little bit of timely hitting. We also want to play solid defense. I'm really confident that our team is going to play to our potentional. If we do that then I think we will be right where we want to be on Saturday."
SCOUTING NORTHWEST NAZARENE
The defending regular season and tournament champion, Northwest Nazarene needed a split with Western Washington in the final weekend to claim the No. 4 spot in the GNAC Championships. After struggling over the first half of conference play, the Nighthawks have bounced back to win eight of their last 11 to make the postseason.
The Nighthawks are third in the GNAC with a .311 batting average and are led by Anna Williams, who boasts a .418 average that is fifth in the GNAC. Williams leads the league with 54 runs and is 26th in Division II with 69 hits. Kylie Orr is eight behind Williams with a .407 batting average.
In the circle, Jordan Adams continues to impress. She leads the GNAC with a 1.18 earned run average and has allowed just 34 earned runs in 131.2 innings. Her 141 strikeouts is second in the conference.
Coming into the 2019 season, the Wildcats and Nighthawks were the favorites to compete for the regular-season championship. The two teams opened conference play in a four-game series against each other on May 8 and May 9. The Wildcats swept the Nighthawks, taking games by scores of 2-1, 9-6, 10-9 and 10-4.
Lexie Strasser was excellent in her first meeting against the Nighthawks. Strasser went seven innings, allowing six hits while striking out four batters.
Julia Reuble also hit a solo homer in that game.
LAST TIME OUT
With a 3-0 win over Concordia (Ore) on Saturday, the Central Washington University softball team claimed their fourth consecutive Great Northwest Athletic Conference regular-season title.
The Wildcats set a new conference record for most consecutive regular-season titles with four. The Wildcats sport a 30-16 overall record, putting together an outstanding conference record of 21-7. Since 2010, this is the fourth time the team has notched 20 or more conference wins. The team was unstoppable on the road, going 12-3.
The Wildcats were crowned regular-season championships thanks to the heroics from
Katie Kastning. She finished the day 3-for-4, driving in all three of the Wildcats' runs. Kastning gave the team a 1-0 lead in the third inning. She drove in
Savannah Egbert with a single to left field. In the seventh inning, Kastning singled through the right side and plated Egbert and
Rachael Johnson.
Strasser (14-8) was phenomenal in the circle, picking up her 14
th win of the season. Strasser pitched all seven innings, allowing just four hits while striking out five batters. Of the 24 batters faced, Strasser induced eight fly outs and six ground outs.
Game two featured an explosive eight-run fifth inning from the Wildcat offense. Kastning was again the catalyst, driving in Egbert with a single to left center field. Kastning scored when the Wildcats took advantage of a dropped fly ball off the bat of Reuble.
The inning continued when Bethan Balucan hit a come-backer to the pitcher that was mishandled. The error proved costly as it happened with the bases loaded.
Alycia Bannan scurried home to add on to the Wildcat lead.
Mikayla Kopacz came through with an infield single, sending Reuble to the plate to score.
The big hit in the fifth inning belonged to
Kayla Ellis. Ellis doubled down the left field line with the bases loaded, as
Sydney Brown, Balucan and Smith hustled home.
Paige Liikala got in on the action, putting a ball in play that was mishandled by the shortstop. Ellis became the eighth and final run of the inning.
Despite the margin of victory, game two was tightly contested in the early going. The Wildcats led 2-0 midway through the first, thanks to a double from Reuble that scored Kastning. Reuble would come home on a throwing error later in the inning.
It was knotted 2-2 entering the fourth inning. Another throwing error allowed
Alee Cruz to step on home plate. Ellis knocked a single into center field. A throwing error from the Cavalier center fielder gave Brown a chance to touch home plate as well. The Wildcats led 4-2 before they struck gold in the fifth.
Throughout the game, the Wildcats took advantage of defensive miscues by the Cavaliers. Of the 12 runs the team plated in the game, eight of the runs were unearned. The Wildcat did pound 12 hits as a team, as Kastning, Smith and Ellis led the way with two hits apiece. Ellis went 2-for-3 with four runs driven in and a run scored.
Taylor Williams (6-2) was solid in the circle for the Wildcats in game two. She pitched all five innings, giving up five hits and just one earned run. Williams struck out three Cavaliers on the day.
Game one between the Wildcats and Wolves 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 Ellis. Wise came through with an infield single. 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.
Egbert kept hope alive with a single into the outfield. 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. Bannan skied a ball into center field that was caught for the final out.
The Wildcats did have an early lead in game one. 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.
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.
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. 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.
GNAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Kayla Smith earned GNAC Player of the Week honors.Smith finished with a .636 batting average, a .615 on-base percentage and a .636 slugging percentage as she helped the Wildcats clinch the GNAC regular-season title. She went 7 for 11 in the four road games with a run, three RBI and two stolen bases. Smith went 2 for 3 in both of Saturday's wins over Concordia and scored a run in the second game. Smith went 1 for 2 in Sunday's opener at Western Oregon, which included an RBI single in the first and a sacrifice fly, and went 2 for 3 with an RBI single in the nightcap.
NCAA Softball DII West Region Poll
The CWU Softball team ranks sixth in the NCAA DII Softball West Region Rankings. The team's .339 batting average is the 13th best in the country.
