ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Central Washington University softball team split a pair of contests on the opening day of the 2020 season at the Desert Stinger.  They fell to Oklahoma Christian, 11-3, before taking down San Francisco State, 8-7.
 
"First game, I thought Izzy and Sam were a nice one-two punch," CWU Head Coach Alison Mitchell said.  "Paige really connected on a ball and that was nice to see.  I thought they did a good job of building rhythm into the pitch, which was nice.  We didn't allow the errors defensively to eat us up mentally.  Taylor Williams pitched her butt off.  She kept them guessing in the circle.  I was really proud of what she brought, which carried over to our defense and hitting.  Alyssa had a day behind the plate, she blocked well and nobody was going to run on her.  She absolutely crushed a pitch   Katie [Cunningham] had a really nice day at the plate.  Maddy [Zerr] had great composure at the plate. It was nice to see them bounce back after a tough loss."
 
Oklahoma Christian took an 11-3 victory over the Wildcats in game one.  The Eagles needed just five innings for the win.  They slapped 13 hits, driving in four runs in each of the first two innings.
 
A single to left in the first opened the scoring for the Eagles.  The RBI-single was followed by a two-run homerun, giving the Eagles a 3-0 lead.  With two runners on later in the first inning, the Eagles struck again with a single through the right side.
 
In the second inning, the Eagles' offense went back to work, swatting a two-run shot.  A single later in the inning brought around a pair for an 8-0 lead. The third inning brought around a pair of runs for Oklahoma Christian on a single through the right side.
 
Paige Liikala brought around Central's first two runs, blasting a two-round tripper.  The two-run shot was the first of the season for CWU. 
 
The Eagles added another run in the fourth inning on yet another single, taking an 11-2 lead.  Gracee Dwyer doubled down the line in the top of the fifth, scoring Mikayla Kopacz, but the Wildcats did not mount a comeback.
 
Isabel Womack (0-1) was charged with the loss.  She surrendered nine hits, eight runs, seven earned, one walk, and struck out three over 1.2 innings.
 
Taylor Williams took to the circle for the Wildcats in game two.  She struggled in the first inning, allowing five runs.  A pair of singles in the top of the first gave San Francisco State an early 3-0 lead.  They expanded it to 5-0 with a two-run shot.  An RBI single in the top of the second made it 6-0.
 
Katie Cunningham brought around the Wildcats' first run, driving in Liikala with a double.  Cunningham then scored on a single from Mikayla Kopacz to center field. 
 
In the bottom of the third inning, freshman Alyssa Benthagen notched her first career homerun.  Her two-run shot made it 6-4.  Later in the inning, a double from Miyah Seaton drove in Keegan Wise. Cunningham then drove in both Seaton and Dwyer, she also moved Liikala to third.  With runners on the corners, Allie Thiessen singled to right field to score Liikala for an 8-6 lead.
 
A one-out double, following a walk, in the top of the seventh inning cut the Crimson and Black's lead in half, 8-7.  With two outs and the tying run on second, the Gators roped a double but Liikala found Seaton on the relay and Seaton tossed a strike to the plate to preserve the win.
 
The Wildcats are back in action tomorrow with a pair of games at 11:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., against Cal State San Bernardino and Regis, respectively.