IRVINE, Calif. – After dropping their first game to Northwest Nazarene University, 2-1, the Central Washington University softball team beat Western Washington University, 9-5, in an elimination game.
 
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"I thought Sam did great in the first game," CWU Head Coach Alison Mitchell said. "She gave everything she could and we know they're a great hitting team that lives and dies with the long ball. That's postseason softball. I have been waiting for a while for all four facets of the game to come together for us and they did. Super proud of our team, the first game was a battle and we focused on ourselves and did what we needed to do to scrape out a win."
 
GAME ONE | Northwest Nazarene 2, Central Washington University 1
The Wildcats turned to Samantha Stanfield (6-5), while the Nighthawks went with their ace Sidney Booth (16-3). The two pitchers held shutouts through three innings.
 
Each side had a base runner in the first inning. Theresa Moyle was hit by pitch and stole second, but was stranded. Ivy Hommel led off the bottom of the first with a single, but was called out for leaving early later in the inning.
 
Moyle reached again in the top of the fourth. She tripled down the right field line with one out. Maddy Zerr drove her in with a single to center, giving CWU a 1-0 lead. The Wildcats' lead did not last long, as lead-off solo home run from Brittany Genuardi levelled the score at 1-1 in the bottom of the fourth.
 
The bats went quiet until the bottom of the sixth inning. Hommel launched a pitch overe the left center fence to take a 2-1 lead.
 
Stanfield went all six innings and allowed just six hits.
 
GAME TWO | Central Washington 9, Western Washington 5
A big third inning vaulted the Wildcats over the Vikings. Central put up crooked numbers in the second, third, and fourth innings as they staved off elimination.
 
Lexie Strasser (2-3) earned the victory in relief. She tossed 3.2 innings of work, allowing just one run on five hits.
 
The Vikings found the scoreboard first as Riley Wales hit a three-run home run in the top of the second inning. The Wildcats responded with a pair of runs of their own in the bottom of the inning, plating a pair on an infield single by Sasha Mitchell.
 
Western added an insurance run in the top of the third on a double from Tori McDowell. Central erased the lead with one swing in the bottom half of the inning. Harlee Carpenter led off with a bunt single, bringing up Moyle as the tying run. The senior outfielder launched a two-run blast over the tree line behind left field, tying the game at 4-4.
 
After Zerr chased Anna Kasner from the game with a single, she advanced to second on a wild pitch from Kira Doan. Alycia Bannan drove her in with a single to take a 5-4 lead. Later in the inning, Seaton hit a sacrifice fly to score Bannan and increase the difference to 6-4.
 
Central's bats weren't done and went back to work in the fourth inning. Moyle singled home Allie Thiessen from second, before scoring on a single from Zerr. Zerr then scored on a single from Bannan as the Wildcats made it 9-4.
 
The Vikings managed to force across a run in the sixth, but Stanfield was able to shut the door to secure the win.

UP NEXT
The Wildcats are off on Thursday, but will play on Friday (May 21). It is not yet determined who the Wildcats will play.