ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Central Washington University softball team will head on up to Bellingham to take on 11th-ranked Western Washington University in a big four game series to try and firmly take over the fourth spot in the GNAC and the final spot for the playoffs.
GAME INFORMATION
Friday, April 19
Central Washington at #11 Western Washington
12:00 & 2:30 p.m.
Viking Field
Bellingham, Wash.
WATCH LIVE STATS
Saturday, April 20
Central Washington at #11 Western Washington
12:00 & 2:30 p.m.
Viking Field
Bellingham, Wash.
WATCH LIVE STATS
QUOTING HEAD COACH JOE DIPIETRO
"This weekend is a very important one for us. Western is one of the top teams in the country and are currently in first place in the GNAC. We'll need to play at our best. We felt we let a very good opportunity get past us on Saturday. A split with WOU keeps us in a tie for the last playoff spot so we need to win our games to get in."
LAST WEEK
The Wildcats went 2-2 this past weekend against the Western Oregon Wolves.
On day one, the Wildcats took down the Wolves in game one by a score of 2-1 thanks to a huge triple from
Makenna King. The 'Cats did not stop there. In the second game
Alyssa Benthagen smashed one to right field bringing home two runs to help the crimson and black win the second game 6-2.
On day two the Wolves took over the playing field, sweeping the day by scores of 10-2 in six innings in game one and then by a 4-1 score in game two.
SCOUTING #11 WESTERN WASHINGTON VIKINGS
The Vikings have started their season 34-4 and hold a record of 14-2 in GNAC play. CWU and WWU have not met this season yet, so it will be interesting seeing what each team brings to the plate.
WWU has four players batting over a .300 average. Leading the Vikings off is Hailey Rath with a .388 average in 129 at bats. Not far behind is Lexi Barcomb with a .375 average. Following Barcomb is Ashley Jaconson with .369, and lastly Maleah Andrews with a .354 batting average.
WWU pitching is no joke with Kaiana Kong and Joie Baker both owning a 11-1 record for the season. Alli Kimball is not far behind with a 12-2 season record. Kong has an ERA of 1.51, 57 hits, 19 runs, and 51 strikeouts. Baker has an ERA of 2.20, 95 hits, 39 runs, and 90 strikeouts. Lastly Kimball has an ERA of 1.56, 75 hits, 27 runs, and 48 strikeouts. Not to mention Kimball and Baker combined have 5 shutouts.
UP NEXT
The Wildcats will have one last hurrah at home battling it out with the Simon Fraser Red Leafs (6-28, 1-15 GNAC) in a four-game series starting on Friday, April 26 at 1:00 and 3:00 p.m. The series will continue into Saturday, April 27 for the 'Cats senior day with first pitch set for 1:00 p.m. and game two set for 3:00 p.m.
