ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Central Washington University Softball Team will roll into week two of the regular season with a Pacific Northwest doubleheader against the 13th-ranked NAIA squad, the Eastern Oregon Mountaineers. The series was moved to Hermiston, Ore. at Hermiston High School due to inclement weather in the La Grande area on Saturday.
 
GAME INFORMATION
 
Saturday, February 8
12:00 & 2:00 p.m.
Central Washington vs. #13 NAIA Eastern Oregon
Hermiston High School
Hermiston, Ore.
 
QUOTING CWU HEAD SOFTBALL COACH JOE DIPIETRO
 
"Eastern Oregon is another really good team that will require us to be at our best and will be another great opportunity to get our newcomers some more valuable experience on the level that they will have to play at in order to succeed at this level."
 
LAST WEEKEND
 
The Wildcats had a tough start to their 2025 season going 0-5 down in Irvine, Calif. as a part of the CUI Kick-Off Classic.
 
On day one, the Wildcats fell 3-0 to Chico State and 5-0 to host Concordia Irvine. Against Chico, the lone hit for CWU came from McKayla Cable while Zoey Theophilus pitched the full seven innings allowing six hits, three runs two of which earned, and one walk while striking out one against 29 batters. Against CUI, CWU saw one hit apiece from Karsyn Decker, Gabi Casco, and Serena Perez with Casco drawing two walks and Jessica Reitz-Eaton drawing one. Payton Kessler pitched all six innings for the crimson and black allowing seven hits, five runs four of which earned, and three walks while striking out eight against 29 batters.
 
On day two, the Wildcats came out to early leads in both games but fell 9-1 to Dominican in five innings and 3-2 to Hawaii Pacific. Mia Flores nabbed the first RBI for CWU in the top of the first against DU when she singled up the middle to score Decker, however the Penguins countered with a four run first inning, two run third inning, and a three run fifth inning. Flores had two hits while Decker and Brooke Blocker each had one. Reitz-Eaton and Casco each drew a walk. Theophilus pitched 4.2 innings allowing 10 hits, nine runs with eight earned, and one walk while striking out three against 26 batters. Cable put the 'Cats up 2-0 in the top of the first when she doubled to score Decker and Reitz-Eaton, but the Sharks would tie things up in the bottom of the first and deliver the game winner in the fourth inning. Decker had two hits while Reitz-Eaton, Cable, Casco, and Perez all had one hit apiece. Adriana Rodriguez drew two walks while Reitz-Eaton drew one. Ellie Gilbert made her collegiate debut pitching all six innings allowing eight hits, three runs two of which earned, and one walk while striking out two.
 
On the final day of the Kick-Off Classic, CWU suffered a 5-3 setback to Cal State Monterey Bay. Flores put the 'Cats on the board in the first when she singled to the shortstop to score Decker, but the Otters responded with two runs in the third. Decker put CWU back on top with a single up the middle to score Rodriguez and Blocker in the bottom of the sixth. A three-run seventh sealed the deal for MB. CWU had 10 total hits with three coming from Decker, two coming from Cable, and one coming from each Reitz-Eaton, Flores, Perez, Blocker, and Reese Schimmel. Kessler pitched 6.2 innings allowing nine hits, five runs three of which earned, and one walk while striking out six against 31 batters. Olivia Ross earned the final out of the game.
 
SCOUTING THE #13 NAIA MOUNTAINEERS


This is the season-opening series for EOU as they look to make a strong start to their 2025 campaign. The Mountaineers are coming off a 39-10 season in 2024 that saw them go 22-5 in CCC play and win the Cascade collegiate Conference Tournament over rival Southern Oregon who advanced to the NAIA Softball World Series by a 2-1 and 5-4 score. They traveled to Lawrenceville, Ga. for the opening round of the NAIA Playoffs, falling to the hosting Georgia Gwinnett Grizzlies who advanced to the NAIA Softball World Series.
 
CWU and EOU met last year in Ellensburg four a four-game series that was reduced to two games due to weather. The teams split with CWU earning the 6-0 victory in game one, but the Mountaineers snuck away with a 4-3 victory in game two.
 
Eastern Oregon is returning four of their five hitters that finished above a .300 batting average on the season led by Madelyn Durham who had a .345 batting average and led EOU with 34 RBI a season ago. Also coming back is Haley Tyree who finished with a .308 batting average and led the Mountaineers with 49 hits last season including five doubles, three triples, three homeruns, and 31 RBI. Hannah Tyree will also be back for EOU after leading the Mountaineers with five homeruns last season to go with her .299 batting average, eight doubles, and 30 RBI. EOU will be looking to replace their top pitcher from a season ago, but their number two pitcher from a season ago Kylie Parsons is back after having a stellar season. Parsons posted a 1.26 ERA with a 20-4 record that include 13 complete games, four shutouts, and two saves in 121.1 innings pitched. She allowed 76 hits, 24 runs with 17 earned, and 57 walks while striking out 133 and not allowing a homerun the entire season.
 
UP NEXT
 
The Wildcats will head back to California to participate in the annual Tournament of Champions hosted by Stanislaus State in Turlock. CWU will have five more games starting off with a pair of games on Friday, February 14, first against NCAA Division II newcomers Jessup (1-1) at 9:00 a.m. followed by a rematch against Cal State Monterey Bay (3-2) at 2:00 p.m., both on the Warrior Field. On Saturday, CWU will first see Sonoma State (5-2) at 9:00 a.m. and wrap up day two against San Francisco State (4-1) at 2:00 p.m. with both games happening on Field 1 of the Pedretti Sports Complex. The crimson and black will clash with the hosting Warriors of Stan State (3-1) to wrap up their time at the TOC with a battle at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday on Warrior Field.