ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Central Washington University softball team will be welcoming the Simon Fraser Red Leafs for the final series of the regular season with Senior Day recognition happening after the games on Saturday.
The Wildcats will be honoring seniors
Alyssa Benthagen,
Ashlee Laver,
Jillian Hampson,
Brooke Jordan,
TK Kai,
Kate Hopkins,
Laney Kaysner,
Sasha Mitchell, and
Makenna King.
GAME INFORMATION
Friday, April 26
Central Washington vs. Simon Fraser
1:00 & 3:00 p.m.
Gary & Bobbi Frederick Field
Ellensburg, Wash.
WATCH LIVE STATS
Saturday, April 27 (Senior Day)
Central Washington vs. Simon Fraser
1:00 & 3:00 p.m.
Gary & Bobbi Frederick Field
Ellensburg, Wash.
WATCH LIVE STATS
QUOTING HEAD COACH JOE DIPIETRO
"This is a big weekend for us. We need to win to advance to the GNC Championships and it's also senior weekend. There will be a lot of emotion so we need to stay focused."
LAST WEEK
The Wildcats went 2-2 this past weekend at the 11th-ranked Western Washington Vikings.
On day one the Wildcats took down the Vikings 17-game win-streak by a score of 3-2 in the first game with
TK Kai taking one for the team and getting hit by a pitch to allow
Makenna King to score followed by
Serena Perez earning a walk to get
Sasha Mitchell home. It did not stop there
Alyssa Benthagen smashed one down the middle to get
Jillian Hampson home. In the second the Vikings took over and won 8-0.
On day two the Vikings started swinging first winning 2-1 in game one. The Wildcats did not let that slide into the second game with Kai slicing one down the left side allowing King to run on home. Benthagen shot one down second base which gave Hampson enough time to run home allowing the Wildcats to win 2-1.
SCOUTING THE RED LEAFS
The Red Leafs have a 9-29 record so far this season and hold a record of 4-16 in GNAC play. CWU and SFU have yet to meet this season so it will be interesting to see how one another play this weekend.
SFU has five players batting over a .300 average. Leading the Red Leafs off is Grace McMillian with a .354 batting average with 127 at-bats. Not too far behind McMillian is Megan Duclos with a .336 batting average with 119 at bats. Duclos also leads the entire GNAC with 27 stolen bases. Following Dulcos in the standings is Janique Balcaen with .310, Abby McGlynn with .304, and Kristen Davyduke with a .301 average.
Looking at SFU's pitching Monica Bourque leads with an ERA of 4.07 and 44 strikeouts, in 106.2 innings pitched. Right behind Bourque is Julia Hanson with an ERA of 4.73, 42 strikeouts, and has pitched 77 innings total.
The Red Leafs are the second-leading team in the GNAC known for their hitting. With a combined average of .276 and an on-base percentage of .326, has had 1015 at-bats this season, and has had a combined 123 RBIs.
UP NEXT
The Wildcats will begin to prepare for the GNAC Tournament which will take place at Viking Field in Bellingham, Wash. on May 2-4 with game times and matchups still to be determined. The Wildcats currently sit in the final spot for the tournament at fourth in the conference and hold a two-game lead over the fifth-ranked Western Oregon Wolves who are at home against 13th-ranked Western Washington this weekend.
