La Jolla, Calif. (May 10) – The Central Washington University softball team was eliminated from the NCAA West Regionals after an intense battle with Sonoma State. The Seawolves busted it open in the sixth and went on to take the game 5-0 on Friday.
"I'm really proud of our young ladies," CWU Head Coach
Mike Larabee said. "In this tournament, we just didn't score runs. That's been the strength of the team this year. At this time of the year, everyone has a good pitcher. The Sonoma pitcher was able to shut us down. We came into the weekend batting .340 and were up there in runs per game. We have to give credit to where credit is due."
Lexie Strasser (18-13) got the start in the circle for the Wildcats (33-20) against the Seawolves (36-19). In the bottom of the first, the Seawolves' leadoff batter Alee Balanon reached on a single. A sacrifice bunt moved her over. That's all the further she'd get, as Strasser got Cameron Kirtlan to pop out to
Sydney Brown. Jordyn Martinez hit a come-backer to Strasser, who flipped it to
Maddy Zerr for the final out of the inning. The game was tied 0-0 after one inning.
The Seawolves plated a run in the bottom of the second to give themselves the lead. The Wildcats weren't in the clear yet, as the Seawolves placed runners on the corners with two outs in the inning. Strasser wiggled off the hook, getting Balanon to pop out to Brown. The Wildcats trailed 1-0 after two.
In the third inning, the Seawolves scored another run before loading the bases with one away. Strasser got Nicole Renner to hit the ball on the ground to
Savannah Egbert. Egbert scooped up the ball and fired to home plate to record the fielder's choice. With two outs and the bases loaded, Lindsey Calcany Blair flew out to
Rachael Johnson to end the inning. The Wildcats trailed 2-0 after three innings.
Again, the Wildcats were in danger of letting the game get away from them in the fourth inning. The Seawolves' got their first two batters to reach base in the inning with Julia Davis stepping to the plate. During Davis' at bat,
Kayla Ellis slung the ball down to second base where
Bethany Balucan caught it. The Wildcats caught Balanon in a rundown between second and third. Brown tossed the ball to Egbert who tagged out Balanon.
The Sewolves stayed persistent, putting runners on second and third with one out in the fourth. Strasser got Kirtlan to fly out before Martinez grounded out. The score remained 2-0 through four innings.
After a four-pitch inning in the fifth, the Seawolves threatened again the sixth. With two away, the bases were loaded for Martinez. Martinez came through, clearing the bases with a double. Suddenly, the Seawolves led 5-0 entering the seventh inning.
Offensively, the Wildcats put together four hits in the contest. Egbert went 1-for-4 with a stolen base.
Katie Kastning went 1-for-2 with a pair of walks.
Julia Reuble and Johnson were the other Wildcats to pick up hits in the game.
"We hung in there until that sixth inning," Larabee added. "We probably had two or three chances to score some runs and we just couldn't get that key hit. At this time of the year, it's not about how many hits you get but getting the this at the right time."
The Wildcats' season comes to a close after the loss to Sonoma State. In 2019, the Wildcats won a record setting fourth consecutive Great Northwest Athletic Conference Regular-Season Championships. Coach Larabee was named GNAC Coach of the year while six student-athletes earned All-GNAC awards. The Wildcats placed 13 student-athletes on the GNAC All-Academic team. They also finished the season with one of the top team batting averages in the country.
"We have a pretty close group between our players and the coaching staff," Larabee said. "Our players have given myself and the coaching staff everything they had. I couldn't be more proud of them. They battled until the end. I'm also excited about next year's team. We got a great nucleus coming back as well as six players coming in that we are very excited about. Tradition never graduates and we are excited about the future."
