ELLENSBURG, Wash. — Central Washington University softball returns to GNAC play with a four-game series at Saint Martin's University.
GAME INFORMATION
Saturday, April 9
At Saint Martin's
1:00 pm
Saints Field
Lacey, WA
LIVE STATS | WATCH
Sunday, April 10
At Saint Martin's
Noon
Saints Field
Lacey, WA
LIVE STATS | WATCH
QUOTABLE
"This is a big weekend for us at Saint Martin's," CWU Head Coach Joe DiPietro said. "We need to continue to play like we have the past few weeks. It seems we have found a bit of rhythm and we need to elevate that some this weekend. With only three weekends remaining in our season, the time to push forward is now."
SCOUTING SAINT MARTIN'S
The Saints are atop the GNAC standings with a 6-2 record in GNAC play and are 17-13 overall. They are coming off a 2-3 mark at the Tournament of Champions.
Saint Martin's opened the TOC with an 11-9 loss to the Academy of Art. They then recorded consecutive wins against Sonoma State, 6-1, and Stanislaus State, 4-2. In their final two games, the Saints were shutout by Cal State Dominguez Hills, 8-0, before falling to Monterey Bay, 5-1.
Malia Pinder leads the Saints in average (.381), OPS (1.027), home runs (4), RBI (24), and OBP (.450) among other categories. In a non-conference doubleheader against CWU earlier this season, Pinder went 3-for-6 and drove in one run. Destiny Conerly is tied for the Saints' lead in home runs, while Devyn Connolly is just one run driven in from tying Pinder for the team lead. Both Conerly and Connolly are hitting over .300 at .320 and .310, respectively. Saint Martin's is hitting .280 as a team. The Saints have hit 18 home runs and scored 159 runs. They have amassed 158 strikeouts and 107 walks. On the base path, the Saints are 25-for-34 in stolen bases.
Abby Runyon and Tia Ridings have each recorded 14 starts on the season, while Chloe Leverington leads the Saints with 20 appearances. Runyon is 6-5 on the year through 68.2 innings. She has posted an ERA of 3.77 and a WHIP of 1.62. Runyon has tossed one complete game, struck out 24, and opponents have posted an average of .283. Ridings is 5-6 over 49.0 innings. She has an ERA of 4.29 and a WHIP of 1.59. Leverington has made three starts and 17 relief appearances. All three of her starts went for complete games. She has also tallied one save over 63 innings. Opponents are hitting just .245. Leverington leads the Saints with 65 strikeouts, an ERA of 2.22, and a WHIP of 1.05. The Saints' pitching staff holds an ERA of 3.81 and a WHIP of 1.55. Opponents have posted an average of .293 overall.
THE WILDCATS
After posting a record of 3-2 at the Tournament of Champions, the Wildcats are 15-17 overall. Entering the weekend, Central is 6-6 in GNAC play.
Rhaney Harris earned her first GNAC Pitcher of the Week selection after posting a perfect 3-0 record at the TOC. Harris threw three complete game victories, posting an ERA of 1.33 over 21 innings. She allowed one run on five hits and struck out three in the Wildcats' 2-1 victory over San Francisco State. She then held Azusa Pacific to just a pair of runs on six hits, while striking out two. In Central's final game of the tournament, Harris struck out five and allowed one run for her ninth win of the season. In the last two weeks, Harris has thrown 31 innings in five complete games, allowed three or less runs in each start, and tossed one shutout. Only once in her last five starts has Harris allowed more than one earned run.
Allie Thiessen earned All-Tournament honors for her performance in Turlock. She recorded at least one hit in four of the 'Cats five games and had multiple hit performances in the final three games of the tournament. She finished 3-for-4 against Dominican, scoring twice. Thiessen leads the Wildcats with an average of .429, an OPS of 1.058, an OBP of .500, and is tied for the team lead in SLG at .562.
Alyssa Benthagen leads the Crimson and Black in home runs (7) and runs batted in (27).
Karysn Decker has overtaken the lead in stolen bases with a perfect 12-for-12 mark on the season. The Wildcats have been thrown out just four times on the season, going 32-for-36 in stolen base attempts.
As a unit, Central Washington is hitting .291 on the year. They have hit nine home runs and scored 151 runs. In the circle, CWU pitchers have posted an ERA of 4.38 and a WHIP of 1.76. The Wildcats' staff has posted 105 strikeouts.
