ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Central Washington University softball team split its doubleheader against Western Oregon, dropping game one 10-6 and picking up an 8-4 victory in the backend. 
 
Quotable
"First game was tough," CWU Head Coach Alison Mitchell said.  "It was mostly tough because they scored four runs in the first inning and it's hard to come back from that.  When you give a team extra chances with illegal pitches and you commit a bunch of errors defensively, that's what you have to expect will happen.  I was happy we battled through the entire game.  We did a gut check before the second game and we came out as a new team.  We need to find consistency with how we approach it each game."
 
Game One | Western Oregon 10, Central Washington 6
Both Western Oregon (11-9, 1-2 GNAC) and Central (12-8, 3-1 GNAC) put up crooked numbers in their first chance at the plate.  Ayanna Arceneaux brought the game's first run across in the opening frame.  She doubled down the left field line, scoring Kendall Coy.  The next batter, Kiley Lynn, singled through the right side to score Tyler Creach.  A wild pitch allowed Arceneaux to score and pushed Lynn to third.  A ground ball to first from Nicole Miller scored Lynn for a 4-0 lead. 
 
Trailing 4-0, the Wildcats loaded the bases for Julia Reuble.  She laced a double into left field, scoring both Theresa Moyle and Alyssa Benthagen.  Reilly Tidwell was able to escape any more damage in the circle, however, getting the next two batters to ground out to end the inning.
 
The Wolves put up another crooked number in the top of the second inning.  Logan Carlos reached on an infield single, before Coy drew a walk.  Creach laid down a sacrifice bunt, but an error on the play allowed Carlos to make it 5-2 by scurrying home.  Another RBI groundout extended WOU's lead to 6-2, before an infield single from Allyson Drury gave the Wolves a 7-2 advantage.  Samantha Stanfield (6-2) struck out Sydney Bowers and got a ground out from Miller to end the Wolves' half of the inning. 
 
In the bottom half of the second, Central managed to plate one.  Keegan Wise drew a lead-off walk and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Alee Cruz.  After moving to third on a groundout, Wise scored on a single from Harlee Carpenter.
 
Both pitchers dialed in for the third and fourth innings, keeping both offenses off the scoreboard.  Western Oregon led off the top of the fifth inning with a triple, sparking a three-run fifth.  The Wolves led 10-3 after finishing their half of the inning.
 
Central Washington scratched across a run an inning later.  Moyle roped a two-out double and was driven in by Carpenter, who laced a double to right center. 
 
Taylor Williams held the Wolves' bats quiet in the top half of the seventh.  A two-out single from Reuble extended the inning for Sydney Brown.  The junior shortstop doubled into the left center gap, scoring pinch runner Paige Liikala.  Gracee Dwyer followed Brown with a single, scoring Brown from second.  The Wolves were able to secure the win, however, with a flyout, 10-6.
 
Game Two | Western Oregon 4, Central Washington 8
Lexie Strasser (4-1) got the nod in game two for CWU.  She went seven complete innings and allowed six hits, four runs, three earned, and struck out one.
 
The bats wasted no time erasing the zeros in game two.  Coy came around to score on a throwing error in the opening frame, but her run was negated by Carpenter in the bottom of the first.  Carpenter hit a towering drive over the wall in right, her first homerun at Gary and Bobbi Frederick Field.
 
Central wasn't done with the first inning after Carpenter's homer.  Brown laced a two-run double, scoring Kopacz and Zerr, to take a 3-1 lead.
 
In the second inning it was Carpenter again.  She sent an offering from Maddie Mayer back from whence it came, scoring both Thiessen and Myiah Seaton.
 
Carpenter finished game two 4-for-4 and she drove in five runs.
 
Western Oregon cut into Central's lead in the top of the third.  Bowers singled to right center, scoring both Arceneaux and Creach, to make it 5-3 in favor of CWU.
 
Seeking a bit of added insurance, Carpenter poked a single into right field in the fourth to bring around Seaton for the second time. 
 
Drury lofted a sacrifice fly in the top of the fifth, scoring Lynn, and making it a two-run game at 6-4.  The Wildcats were held scoreless in the fifth, but the Wolves could not repeat the feat in the sixth.
 
Once again, Carpenter stepped to the plate with a runner aboard.  She laced an offering from Mayer into the gap in left center field, scoring Wise.  The next batter, Zerr, followed suit with a double to right center to drive in Carpenter for an 8-4 advantage.
 
Strasser retired the first two batters of the top of the seventh inning on a pair of groundouts back to the circle.  She finished with eight assists in game two.