TUCSON, Ariz. – Central Washington University split a pair of games on opening day to Chico State (6-0), 6-5, and Academy of Art (0-6), 1-0.
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"I thought Rhaney was really good today against a ranked team," CWU Head Coach
Joe DiPietro said. "She kept them off balance & made pitches when she needed them. She should have won the game with how she threw. Izzy worked ahead most of the game and was very solid. She tired a bit at the end but showed mental toughness and fought threw it. I also thought Alyssa & Reese called very good games behind the plate."
GAME ONE – CWU 5, CHICO STATE 6 (8 INNINGS)
A four-run third inning, thanks to a pair of two-run hits from
Harlee Carpenter and
Allie Thiessen, tied the game at 4-4 but Central fell to Chico State 6-5 in eight innings.
Rhaney Harris (0-1) tossed a complete game, striking out six over 7.2 innings of work. She allowed just one earned run in the season opener.
Karsyn Decker was 2-for-4 and scored a pair of runs. Central recorded six hits. The Wildcats committed five errors in the field.
Brooke Larsen (3-1) got the nod for Chico State. She threw eight complete innings and allowed five earned runs. She recorded 14 strikeouts. Larsen also allowed one free pass and hit one batter.
Chico Started took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first on a double steal. They scored a trio of runs in the second inning for a 4-0 lead. An RBI groundout started the three-run frame before a single to right drove in a pair.
A lead-off hit by pitch in the top of the third put
Reese Schimmel on first for the Crimson and Black.
Makenna King followed two batters later with a one-out bunt single, reaching second on the play, putting two runners in scoring position. An infield single from Decker loaded the bases for Carpenter. She took an 0-1 pitch back up the middle to drive in King and Schimmel. Thiessen followed her with a triple to right, scoring Decker and Carpenter.
Central took their only lead of the contest in the fifth. Decker came around to score on a single up the middle from
Alyssa Benthagen, after stealing second and advancing to third on a passed ball.
Chico State responded in their half of the inning. Harris struck out two of the first three batters she faced in the inning, a single to right sandwiched in between the strikeouts. A walk put runners on first and second before a fielding error allowed the inning to continue. Larsen made the most of it for her squad, singling to left to tie the game at 5-5.
CWU's offense went down in order in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings. Harris allowed a pair of singles in the sixth but pitched her way out of any danger.
A sacrifice bunt put the game-winning run on third for Chico State in the bottom of the eighth inning. Sara Mitrano hit a ground-ball third and Larsen broke for home. Central caught Chico State's pitcher in a rundown and retired the would-be game-winning runner, but Mitrano reached on the play. Down to their final out, Chico State hit back-to-back singles to drive in the walk-off run.
GAME TWO – ARTU 0, CWU 1
Isabel Womack (1-0) threw a complete game shutout in her first start of 2022. She struck out nine and allowed just three hits for the win. The right-hander recorded 12 ground ball outs.
Julia Jordan (0-2) was charged with the loss for ARTU. She threw six complete innings, allowing seven hits, two walks, and she struck out three.
Decker continued her rhythm at the plate in game two, notching a pair of hits. Thiessen and
Myiah Seaton each recorded a pair of hits as well. Seaton and Carpenter recorded stolen bases, their first of the season.
Both pitchers put up zeros in the first three innings of play, allowing a combined five hits. The Wildcats struck first in the bottom of the fourth. Thiessen laid down a one-out bunt single before advancing to second on a groundout.
Myiah Seaton then laced 1-1 offering to left, scoring Thiessen, and giving the Wildcats a 1-0 lead.
Seaton also made a plethora of strong defensive plays at third.
Womack responded by striking out the first two hitters of the fifth, before forcing a ground out to end the inning. Central threatened to pad their led in the bottom of the inning, but J. Jordan was able to quell the danger before the 'Cats could add insurance.
The Wildcats' pitcher opened the seventh with a strikeout and then got Elle Edeker to ground out to third. Facing their final out, the Urban Knights send Cassandra Mittman to the plate as a pinch hitter. She took the first pitch from Womack up the middle, putting the tying run on first. She advanced to second, then third, on a pair of wild pitches – the tying run just 60-feet from the plate. Womack buckled down and set down Cailee Grayhorse with a strikeout.
UP NEXT
Central Washington takes on Metropolitan State Denver at 2:30 pm tomorrow (Feb. 12), followed by Concordia University Irvine at 5:00 pm.
