LACEY, Wash. – The Western Oregon softball team fell short on an automatic trip to the NCAA Division II Softball Championship for the second time in three year as Great Northwest Athletic Conference regular-season champion Central Washington defeated the Wolves twice on Saturday in capturing the 2016 GNAC Softball Championship title.
 
The Wildcats slugged their way to an 11-2 victory in five innings to force the If-necessary game and continued the high-powered offense with a 9-3 victory in the title game.
 
WOU fell to a 31-24 overall, while Central Washington improved to 38-14 to earn the GNAC's automatic bid into the NCAA Softball West Regional.
 
GAME 1: CWU 11, WOU 2
The Wolves got on the scoreboard first with the long ball, but it would a big bomb that capped 11 unanswered runs for the Wildcats in Saturday's opener.
 
Lexi Jennings gave the Wolves a 2-0 lead with a two-run home run in the second inning, her fourth of the season.
 
CWU wasted no time erasing the deficit by scoring six runs on six hits in the third, another run with a RBI double in the fourth and plated four more via a grand slam in the fifth. The Wildcats finished with 11 hits.
 
Senior Alyson Boytz suffered the loss, scattering eight hits and allowing six runs in 2 2/3 innings.

Jennings recorded two of WOU's five hits. The Wolves left six runners on base while Kayla Smith recorded four strikeouts and issued three walks in earning the win.
 
GAME 2: CWU 9, WOU 3
A two-run triple in the first inning and a two-run single in the second inning highlighted seven early CWU runs to help the Wildcats seize momentum in the championship game.
 
WOU looked to rally in the top of the second with a RBI triple by senior Brandy Knowles, who later scored on a wild pitch.
 
Like Saturday's opener, big frames paid dividends for the Wildcats when they added four runs in the second after the WOU rally.
 
Destiny Kuehl added a run for Western Oregon with a RBI fielder's choice in the third frame, scoring Emma Alfonso.
 
However, that is as close as WOU would get as the Wildcats scored single tallies in the fourth and fifth frames while Kiana Wood allowed just one hit to the Wolves over the final three innings.
 
Freshman pitcher Haley Fabian was tagged for her first loss of the season (4-1), allowing seven runs on three hits over 1 2/3 innings.
 
WOU finished with five hits to the Wildcats' nine. Knowles finished with two hits.