OAKLAND, Calif. – The Central Washington University Wildcats baseball team suffered a tough series finale loss Sunday afternoon as they fell 17-16 to Academy of Art on the road. The Wildcats led 14-5 after three innings but were unable to hold on for the win to secure the overall series victory.
The high scoring affair was lopsided through the first half of the contest as CWU (2-5) managed to jump out to a 14-5 lead after three innings of play. The Urban Knights (2-2) then mounted a comeback in the final six frames scoring 12 runs, while holding the Wildcats to just two in that span.
Both teams hit the ball well, combining for 41 on the day, but AAU finished with overall advantage at 23-18. The Wildcats also had two errors in the game while the Urban Knights played a clean game to mount the comeback and tie the series at 2-2.
"Offense was pretty good, overall today as was our defense with the one error," CWU Head Coach
Desi Storey said. "Our pitching was not at its best today though. We struggled to get ahead on the count and land secondary pitches, so couldn't keep them from working back into the game."
The Urban Knights struck first in the opening inning. Two batters got on base in the first three at bats to set up the scoring run. Back-to-back RBI singles for AAU gave the home team a 2-0 lead early on.
The Wildcats found themselves down two outs in the early part of the top of the second after a sluggish start in the first. Three straight singles got things going for the Crimson and Black who tacked on two runs.
Michael Copeland brought in the first run on an RBI base hit to score
Jason Hill.
Trevor Tripoli brought in the next runner in Copeland. Tripoli's RBI single got to deep right field allowing Copeland to cross home plate and tie the contest at 2-2.
The Urban Knights responded in the bottom of the second scoring three runs on three hits. Aiding AAU in the scoring run was a pair of hit by pitches. A leadoff of single paired with two straight base hits after the hit by pitches helped the Urban Knights go up 5-2 entering the third.
The floodgates opened for the Wildcats bats in the top of the third. The Urban Knights had no answer as the CWU scored 12 runs on nine hits to open up a 14-5 lead. The barrage of hits also included the first grand slam of the year for the Wildcats.
Like they did in the second, a two-out rally got the run started for Central, but it was one that lasted longer than the Urban Knights wanted. A leadoff double of
Austin Ohland made for a promising start before a groundout and pop up got two outs for AAU.
Ohland scored on a wild pitch before
Jake Tilley was walked to make it a 5-3 game. The Wildcats then knocked five straight hits, four of which were consecutive singles and a double. Five runs scored in that span and the Wildcats retook the lead 8-5.
The final four runs for the Wildcats in the third came in the grandest of fashions. Copeland hit a grand slam homerun to right center field to bring all three runners in Tilley,
Derek Lohr, Hill and himself home and bring the score to 14-5.
The Urban Knights got a single run back in the bottom of the fourth to cut the lead to 14-6. They then tacked on two unearned runs in the bottom of the fifth while holding the Wildcats offense scoreless in that inning and the sixth.
Neither squad managed to produce a run in the seventh frame and Central took at a 14-8 lead into the seventh. Both teams then scored two runs each to bring the high scoring affair to 16-10. The Wildcats knocked in their two runs on just one hit, but a pair of walks, a wild pitch, and an RBI sacrifice fly pushed their lead to 16-8.
The Urban Knights countered in the bottom of the seventh with a solo homerun and with the help of a pair of singles to go along with a wild pitch from CWU. The three hits combined with the wild pitch made it a six-run game in favor of CWU, 16-10.
Over the final two innings, AAU scored seven combined runs and held the Wildcats scoreless to mount the improbably comeback win. Central managed to get a leadoff hit from
Jaden Hassell, but AAU then turned a double play and forced a fly out to get back on offense quickly.
The Wildcats managed to force a pair of ground outs in the first three at bats, but the Urban Knights got a double in one of the three to get a runner on. The fourth batter, Justin Summers, smacked a homer to right center field and made it 16-12 game after eight innings of work.
AAU wasted little time of defense in the ninth as they worked a rare 1-2-3 inning in the contest to get their offense back on the field. The Wildcats looked to stay in front leading 16-12, but the Urban Knights rally came full circle as they scored five unanswered to secure the win.
A one-out homerun to center field got the rally started for the Urban Knights and cut the lead to 16-13. A walk and back-to-back singles scored another run for AAU and made it 16-14. AAU then cut the game to just one-run on a wild pitch that scored a runner. Sealing the deal for the home team was a fielding error that loaded the bases, before a walk-off single ended the contest at 17-16.
Copeland led the way for Central going 5-6 with five RBI and four runs scored. Hassell was 3-6 with a pair of RBI and one run scored. Tripoli finished with three RBI and was 2-4 also with a run scored. Hampson also had three hits in four at bats and had a run scored and an RBI.
Aaron Foust got the start on the mound and worked 3.2 innings. He had a game-high six strikeouts and allowed three runs, with just one being earned.
Josh Touhey suffered the loss to go to 0-1 on the season.
Central has one more road series left in February before returning home. The Wildcats head to Oregon next weekend for a three-game series at Corban University starting Saturday, Feb. 15.
