Saturday, May 7, 2016

AZUSA, Calif. – Central Washington is one game away from reaching the West Region Super Regionals after winning both of their games Saturday in the NCAA Division II West Region Tournament at Azusa Pacific University’s Cougar Softball Complex.

In their elimination opener, the Wildcats staked themselves to a 4-0 lead after two innings and then held off a seventh inning rally by UC San Diego to advance past the Tritons 6-5. In the championship game, CWU again went out to a 4-0 lead after two innings, but never allowed Azusa Pacific to come as a close in a 7-3 victory.

Central Washington scored nine of their 13 runs by way of the longball. Brielle Copodonna led the way, hitting three-run homers in the first inning in both games. Kiana Wood was the winning pitcher for the Wildcats in both games, picking up her 20th and 21st wins on the season.

With the win over Azusa Pacific, the two teams will play in a winner-take-all game on Sunday beginning at 11 a.m. The winner of that game will play Humboldt State in the West Region Super Regionals next week.

CENTRAL WASHINGTON 6, UC SAN DIEGO 5
After the disappointment of not playing on Friday, the Wildcats wasted little time getting their offense going on Saturday. Celine Fowler singled to open the bottom of the first and Austin Wilkerson walked before Copodonna hammered a two-out homer. Alexa Olague made it a 4-0 game in the second when she drew a bases loaded walk that scored Rachael Johnson.

UC San Diego used a two-put rally to score two in the top of the third as L. Sander’s single to left center field scored Kelsi Maday and Kendall Baker.

Central Washington responded with two critical runs in the bottom of the fifth. Wilkerson opened with a leadoff homer right center field and Andrea Hamada’s two-put single to center field scored Taylor Ferleman.

The Tritons did not go away easily, putting together a rally in the top of the seventh. Rachel Phillips started it with a one-out single and Maddie Lewis put runners on the corners with another single. Phillips scored on Taylor Abeyta’s single and Maday followed with a two-run single up the middle, scoring Lewis and Baker. The Wildcats succeeded in throwing out Abeyta on a steal attempt and getting Lauren Sanders to foul out to end the game.

Wood went the distance to earn her 20th win of the season in the circle for Central Washington, allowing five runs, four earned, on 11 hits with two strikeouts. Lauren Brown took the loss for UC San Diego, allowing four runs on four hits with two walks and a strikeout over the first 1.1 innings.

Wilkerson and Ferleman each had two hits to lead Central Washington offensively with Copodonna finishing with three RBI with her home run. Baker, Phillips and McKenna Clewett each had two hits to lead UC San Diego, which finished its season at 37-22.

CENTRAL WASHINGTON 7, AZUSA PACIFIC 3
The Wildcats opened their rematch with the Cougars the same way they opened against UC San Diego with Copodonna smashing a three-run homer over the field field fence. Central Washington added one in the second inning with Kailyn Campbell’s two-out single scoring Sammy Morris.

Azusa Pacific responded with a pair of runs in the top of the fourth, with Janelle Eccles’ double scoring Anneliese Davis and Kayla Jimenez. The Wildcats took three runs back by way of the longball in the fifth with Laura Steiner hitting a three-run home run.

The Cougars added one in the sixth on Jimenez’s homer to center field.

Wood returned for her second complete game victory of the day, allowing three runs on eight hits with a strikeout. Narissa Garcia took the loss for Azusa Pacific to drop to 15-4 on the season. She allowed four runs in five hits with a walk and a strikeout in 1.2 innings of work.

Campbell and Morris each finished with two hits for Central Washington while Copodonna and Steiner each had three RBI. Jimenez and Eccles each finished with two hits for Azusa Pacific.