ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Central Washington University Softball Team is back in action this weekend after the GNAC Winter Warmup Tournament in the Tri-Cities was canceled last weekend. The Wildcats will head to Northwest Nazarene for a four-game weekend against the Nighthawks and Montana State Billings.
GAME INFORMATION
Friday, February 28
9:30 a.m.
Central Washington vs. Montana State Billings
Bobby Welch Halle Field
Nampa, Idaho
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2:30 p.m.
Central Washington at Northwest Nazarene
Bobby Welch Halle Field
Nampa, Idaho
WATCH LIVE STATS TICKETS
Saturday, March 1
9:30 a.m.
Central Washington vs. Montana State Billings
Bobby Welch Halle Field
Nampa, Idaho
WATCH LIVE STATS TICKETS
12:00 p.m.
Central Washington at Northwest Nazarene
Bobby Welch Halle Field
Nampa, Idaho
WATCH LIVE STATS TICKETS
LAST OUTINGS
The Wildcats were last in action two weeks ago down in Turlock, Calif. at the Tournament of Champions. They went 2-3 at the TOC earning their first wins of the season. They were swept on day one, first a 7-5 setback to Jessup followed by a 9-1 five inning setback to Cal State Monterey Bay. The Wildcats bounced back for a split on day two earning their first victory of the season in a 9-1 six inning game against Sonoma State but fell 5-1 to San Francisco State. CWU wrapped up their time in Cali on day three taking down the hosting Stanislaus State Warriors 7-6.
SCOUTING THE YELLOWJACKETS
MSUB is 1-7 on the season. They opened their season getting swept at Metro State with three out of the four games ending in five innings (13-2, 15-7, & 12-1) and the fourth game ending in six innings by an 11-3 score. The 'Jackets then traveled to North Dakota where they split at Jamestown falling 6-1 before bouncing back for a 6-4 victory over the Jimmies for their first win of the season but fell to Northern State 9-1 and Valley City State 11-4.
The 'Jackets are led by Bryn Lucht (.421), Wynter Hurst (.412), and Kaylin Gavlin (.400) in batting average with Lucht owning both homeruns for MSUB so far this season. Lucht and Hurst are tied each with five RBI while Lucht has drawn the most walks this season with five. Lauren Blaschak, Riley Warden, Hurst, and Galvin are all two for two on stolen bases this season. Emily Watters leads the Yellowjacket pitching corps with a 5.78 ERA, a 1-2 record, and one complete game pitched in 13.1 innings. Watters has allowed 22 hits, 21 runs with 11 earned, and four walks while striking out 11 against 67 batters.
The Wildcats swept MSUB in Ellensburg last season taking day one by scores of 9-3 and 6-5 then backing it up on day two by scores of 6-0 and 11-8.
SCOUTING THE NIGHTHAWKS
Northwest Nazarene is currently 6-7 on the season. They opened their season going 3-1 at the CUI Kick-Off classic posting victories over Cal State San Bernardino (4-2, Hawaii Pacific (4-3), and Chaminade (6-5), but fell to 23rd-ranked Cal State San Marcos by a 5-2 score. The 'Hawks then split at Biola first winning 4-1 before falling 3-0 then were swept by Concordia Irvine by 4-0 and 4-1 scores before wrapping up their time in SoCal with a 4-3 victory over Azusa Pacific that was cut short to six innings due to weather. NNU then went 1-3 at the Tournament of Champions posting a 4-0 victory over Menlo in eight innings before stumbling their final three games, firs to Cal Poly Humboldt by a 5-1 score, then to San Francisco State by a 4-2 score, and finally to Chico State by a 3-0 score.
Ava Clark and Kellcie Adams lead the Nighthawks, both posting a .400 batting average. Clarissa Moreno is the owner to the sole homerun for NNU this season while Charlotte Forniss has the most RBI with seven so far this season. Clark has drawn the most walks with seven and is 5-6 on stolen base attempts. Miah Lusk and Riley McGee lead the Nighthawk pitching with a 2.08 and 2.70 ERA, respectfully. Lusk is 2-2 on the season with one complete game and three saves in 34.2 innings pitching allowing 27 hits, 14 runs with only eight earned, and 10 walks while striking out 38 of 129 batters faced. McGee is 1-2 on the season with 13.1 innings pitched, allowing 17 hits, seven runs with only four earned, and no walks while striking out four of 57 batters faced.
NNU was ranked both times CWU saw them last season with the Wildcats going 1-7 against the Nighthawks. They were swept in Ellensburg by scores of 6-0, 5-1, 3-0, and 6-2. They took game one down in Nampa for the conference series by a 4-3 score, but NNU came back for victories in the final three games by scores of 3-1, 2-0, and 3-1.
UP NEXT
The Wildcats will turn their attention to conference play as they make the trek to Western Oregon (2-11) for a four-game series. The series will take place on Friday, March 7 with first pitch of game one set for 1:00 p.m., then continue into Saturday, March 8 for the final two games with game one set to start at noon.
