Thursday, May 10, 2018

ELLENSBURG, Wash.  – Using a 15-hit effort to stave off elimination, No. 3 seed Central Washington earned a 7-1 win over No. 4 Concordia on the second day of the 2018 GNAC Baseball Championships at the CWU Baseball Field.

Central Washington (27-25) advances to the nightcap where it will play the loser between No. 1 seed Montana State Billings and No. 2 seed Western Oregon. Concordia, meanwhile, sees its tournament come to a close and ends its historic season at 20-32 overall.

Despite the disparity in runs, both teams managed at least 12 hits. Nine of the Wildcats’ 15 hits came off the bat of Tristin Parton, Dustin Braun and James Smith III. Braun was one of two Wildcats to drive in a pair of runs.

Even though Concordia saw six players record multi-hit games, the Cavaliers left nine runners on base and grounded into three double plays. Reid Penney managed the only Concordia RBI of the game and finished the contest 2 for 3 to go along with the team’s only double in the fourth inning.

The Wildcats extended its lead to five runs in the fifth inning after Braun scored on a wild pitch. Hitting in the five spot, Justin Hampson smashed a single up the middle for his first RBI of the day.

Hampson tacked on an insurance run in the top of the ninth with a similar RBI-single to give CWU a six-run cushion.

 The Central Washington pitching staff scattered 12 hits throughout the game. Griffin Davis, Connor Stevenson and Tyler Hoefer combined for five strikeouts and issued no walks. In four innings of relief, Concordia’s Andrew Willmon allowed just four hits and an earned run to go along with three strikeouts.