This Week in Wolves Softball
Thurs., May 5 - 1 p.m. - Gary & Bobbi Frederick Field - Ellensburg, Wash.
Western Oregon (12-30, 9-21 GNAC)
at Central Washington (30-13, 24-7 GNAC)
&
Sat., May 7 - 12 p.m. - SMU Softball Field - Lacey, Wash.
Western Oregon
at Saint Martin's (7-24, 6-20 GNAC)

WOU ends season with road DHs
The Western Oregon softball team will conclude its 2011 campaign with a pair of road Great Northwest Athletic Conference twinbills. The Wolves will visit league-leading Central Washington Thursday (May 5, 1 p.m.) before their season ends at Saint Martin's Saturday (May 7, 12 p.m.).

News and notes
Senior Jessica Hallmark hit her 42nd career home run Sunday against No. 25 Western Washington, extending her first-place lead in career homers in WOU history. She also tied the single-season home run record on the same blast, a record she set in 2009, with 12 homers . . . Senior Jessica Wood needs just six strikeouts to take sole possession of second place all-time in Western history. She currently owns 380 career K's . . . WOU maintained its conference lead in stolen bases this weekend. The Wolves have stolen a league-leading 47 bases. Western clocks in at third in both sacrifice flies (11) and earned run average (3.74) . . . WOU ranks in the top 100 nationally in double plays per game (.036), stolen bases per game (1.12), and home runs per game (0.67) . . . In their last five contests versus Western Washington, the Wolves have fallen by a single run in each game, with two extending into extra innings.

Scouting Central Washington
The Wildcats enter their date with Western at 30-13 (24-7 GNAC). CWU was just 9-8 through March, but have won 21 of their previous 24 games, including a 15-game win streak that included sweeps of four conference teams. Central is batting .327 with 62 home runs, 58 doubles, and 246 runs batted in. Three Wildcats are hitting better than .350, most notably Samantha Petrich, who owns a .495 batting average with 55 hits, 12 home runs, and 37 RBI. Kelsey Haupert (.459 ba, 61 h, 12 2b, 17 hr, 48 rbi) and Molly Coppiner (.394 ba, 37 h, 23 rbi) are also solid hitters for Central. Lauren Hadenfeld has appeared in the circle 35 times for CWU. At 22-8, she posts an earned run average of 2.17, second-lowest in the GNAC. Opposing hitters are batting .224 against Hadenfeld, and have struck out 192 times.

The series: Wolves vs. Wildcats
The Wolves trail the all-time series against CWU 35-40 but are 15-15 in games played at Central. The two programs first met in 1995 and is one of WOU's longest-running series in program history. Western took one road game from the Wildcats last season, and the two split their four-game series earlier this season in Monmouth. Central currently owns a two-game winning streak in the series.

Inside stats against CWU
Senior Jessica Hallmark has 17 career hits versus the Wildcats, including four doubles and one home run. She has also tallied three stolen bases in 24 games . . . Senior Tierra-Lyn Cuba is batting .314 against CWU with 16 hits, one double, and one home run. Like Hallmark, Cuba has also notched three stolen bases . . . Junior Kendra George has produced ten hits, two doubles, and two home runs in 45 at-bats versus Central. She has seven career RBI in 19 games . . . Junior Bailey Rueck has an impressive 13 runs batted in against CWU. She also has notched 18 hits including three home runs and two doubles . . . Sophomore Andrea Bailey is batting .429 versus Central. She has 12 hits including two doubles, and two home runs in 28 at-bats. Bailey has also contributed four stolen bases . . . In her first series against CWU, freshman Ashley Worthey went 7-for-15 with eight RBI and one home run . . . Senior Jessica Wood has appeared in 14 games versus Central, pitching 67.2 total innings. She owns a 2.79 earned run average to go along with 59 strikeouts. Wildcat hitters are batting .247 against her.

Scouting Saint Martin's
Saint Martin's currently sits at 7-28 (6-24 GNAC) on the season and are 5-5 in their last ten contests. The Saints snapped a 12-game losing streak with their victory over WOU in this year's first series. SMU carries a .260 batting average with 42 doubles, 16 home runs, and 106 runs batted in. Three Saints are currently hitting over .300, led by Joslyn Eugenio (.387 ba, 46 h, 8 2b, 4 hr, 18 rbi). Also productive at the plate are Lacey McGladrey (.346 ba, 37 h, 9 2b, 11 rbi) and Kristine Kaneshiro (.325 ba, 27 h, 5 2b, 20 rbi). Eugenio (4-13) also does the pitching for SMU, tallying 17 starts and 21 appearances. She owns a 4.27 earned run average to go along with 48 strikeouts and an opposing batting average of .307. Brandi Klemm (3-15, 5.59 era, 33 so, .311 oba) splits time in the circle with Eugenio.

The series: Wolves vs. Saints
WOU has dominated Saint Martin's since the series began in 1998, carrying a 55-16 advantage all-time. The Wolves are 21-8 against SMU in road contests and are 11-3 in Lacey over the last five seasons. The Saints managed

Inside stats against SMU
Senior Jessica Hallmark is slugging.507 all-time versus Saint Martin's. She has five career home runs and two doubles in 69 plate appearances against the Saints. She has also tallied three stolen bases and 16 RBI . . . In just 18 at-bats, senior Jessica Wood is hitting .444 against SMU, notching eight career hits to go along with one home run and one double. She was a perfect 4-for-4 in her last meeting with the Saints . . . Western's freshman had solid numbers in their inaugural series with Saint Martin's. Ashley Worthey is batting .385 with three RBI and a stolen base. Ashley Gardner hit .333 over the four-game series, notching a pair of doubles. Alex Hillmick has pitched nine total innings versus SMU, establishing a 2.33 earned run average to go along with an opposing batting average of .257.