ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Central Washington University baseball team (14-18, 11-9 GNAC) looks to continue its good fortunes this upcoming week, opening a pivotal four‑game home stand against Western Oregon (14-20, 6-10 GNAC) on Friday and Saturday at the CWU Baseball Field.
INSIDE THE MATCHUPS:
Friday, April 10 (Doubleheader)
Central Washington vs Western Oregon
Game One: Noon | Game Two: 3:00 p.m.
CWU Baseball Field
Ellensburg, Wash
WATCH
LIVE STATS
HISTORY
Saturday, April 11 (Doubleheader)
Central Washington vs Western Oregon
Game One: Noon | Game Two: 3:00 p.m.
CWU Baseball Field
Ellensburg, Wash
WATCH
LIVE STATS
HISTORY
LAST WEEKEND:
Central controlled last weekend in Billings, taking three of four from the Yellowjackets behind timely offense and steady pitching. The Wildcats opened with a 9-6 win in Friday's opener, scoring twice in the first and erupting for four more in the fifth on
Max Bledy's grand slam. Bledy then followed up with a two-run shot in the ninth inning to finish the game. CWU followed with a 10-8 victory in Game 2, using a three‑run third inning and a four‑run seventh to stay in front while
Garet Hagy earned the win, and
Kellen Berg notched his fifth save of the season. After MSUB rallied late to take Saturday's first game 6-5 on Kaden Bertram's walk-off, The crimson and black answered with a complete 11-2 victory in the finale for a 3-1 series win.
The Wildcats' lineup delivered across all four contests. Bledy drove in six RBI in the opener, finishing the series with multiple extra‑base hits and three home runs.
Ethan Swenson totaled five RBI, including a three‑run homer in Game 2, while the GNAC Player of the Week
Conrad Henkel added a trio of home runs, while also driving in runs in the field and reaching base repeatedly, logging seven hits and seven RBIs.
Logan Blank posted four hits across the first two games, and
Kaiden Hernandez reached safely in key spots while scoring three runs on Friday. On the mound,
Austin Cupic worked 6.1 innings for the game one win, Hagy delivered five innings in game two,
Camdyn Martindale pitched a complete seven-inning game with five strikeouts, and Berg closed out two victories to help Central improve its GNAC standing with a strong road series.
SCOUTING THE WOLVES:
Since splitting its series with CWU on March 7-8, Western Oregon has gone 6-8, opening the stretch with a 13-8 win at George Fox before dropping four straight at Cal State Monterey Bay, including an 11‑inning 10-9 loss to close the road trip. The Wolves regrouped at home with a four‑game sweep of Saint Martin's, outscoring the Saints 35-12, but then stumbled through a four‑game sweep at the hands of Northwest Nazarene, managing just eight total runs in the series. Western Oregon ended the run on a positive note with a 9-2 win over George Fox on April 8.
Western Oregon's offense has been anchored by Chris Arce, who leads the Wolves with a .398 average, 49 hits and a .545 slugging percentage, while Zane Garvey (.328, 42 hits) and Benny Nazario (.315, 35 hits) round out a productive top of the order, with Alex Harden adding five home runs to pace the team's power. Western Oregon's pitching rotation is led by Ayden Holker, who leads the staff with 44.0 innings while striking out 35 and allowing 27 earned runs, and Shane Bailey has thrown 39.2 innings across eight starts with 27 strikeouts
The Wildcats enter the weekend looking to climb further in the GNAC race, with first pitches set for noon and 3 p.m. on both days as CWU aims to extend its strongest stretch of the season in front of its home crowd.
