ELLENSBURG, Wash. – Justin Wakem went 5 for 7 on the day to pace a Western Oregon offense that scored 17 runs in a doubleheader sweep of Great Northwest Athletic Conference opponent Central Washington Friday afternoon at the CWU Baseball Field.
 
Wakem's two-run single in the top of the ninth inning of game one added insurance to a one-run lead while his infield single in the top of the eighth inning in Friday's second game capped seven unanswered runs from the Wolves in a come from behind victory.
 
Relief pitching shut down the Central Washington offense late in each ballgame. Shawn Domke tossed 2 2/3 scoreless innings and Kade Mechals struck out the side in a 6-4 game one win. Alex Roth flipped momentum late in game two throwing two scoreless frames while Jacob Fricke struck out three in a wild 11-7 triumph in eight innings in game two.
 
WOU is now 25-11 overall and 24-8 in conference play to increase their lead over the second-place Wildcats to five games with eight games left in the regular season. Central Washington fell to 26-18 overall and 20-14 in the GNAC to remain ahead of Northwest Nazarene by a game.
 
GAME ONE – Western Oregon 6, Central Washington 4
 
The Wolves entered the ninth inning in Friday's series opener tied at 3-3 with the Wildcats and a bit of crafty base running sparked a scoring rally.
 
Brock Pradere led off the ninth beating out a high chopper over the mound for an infield single and an error on a sacrifice bunt attempt from Jay Leverett out two runners on base. With one out, a groundball to third base off the bat of Jacob Martinez was hauled in by Kyle Stahl near the cut of the grass. He decided to try and tag Pradere as he approached the base, but a missed tag loaded the bases. Nyles Nygaard lifted a 3-1 pitch into right field for a sacrifice fly to score Pradere. Four pitches later, Wakem lined a single to right field to cash in two more runs for a 6-3 lead.
 
Mechals allowed one run on a single and a double in the bottom of the ninth, but struck out the final two batters of the game looking to earn his seventh save in 2017.
 
Wakem was 3 for 5 in game one and Garrett Anderson went 3 for 4 with two runs knocked in, including a RBI single in the top of the second inning for an early 1-0 lead.
 
After the Wildcats tied the game with a single tally in their half of the second, the Wolves got a one-out solo home run in the top of the fifth off the bat of Joey Crunkilton, his second blast of the season. Two more extra base hits pushed the lead to 3-1 in the sixth inning. Erick Allegro tripled to left-center and scored on the next pitch when Anderson singled down the left field line.
 
Domke helped squash a threat in the bottom of the sixth after CWU scored twice against WOU starting pitcher Connor McCord, as he induced a pop-up and grounder to Leverett at second to keep the game tied. He would allow two hits and one walk while striking out one for the win (1-0).
 
Kyle Blankinship took the loss for CWU, as he surrendered three runs (two earned) on four hits with three strikeouts in three relief innings.
 
Rory Graf-Brennan had four of CWU's 10 hits and scored a run. Conor Plaisance and James Smith each had two hits in the first game of the day.
 
GAME TWO – Western Oregon 11, Central Washington 7 (8 innings)
 
A wild game two saw four lead changes, but seven runs in the final two innings helped Western Oregon complete the sweep of Friday's twinbill. In the top of the seventh against CWU closer Christopher Dalto, Leverett doubled to left while Martinez and Nygaard drew walks that loaded the bases. The CWU lead was cut to two at 7-5 on a Dalto wild pitch. Torreahno Sweet grabbed a RBI on a sacrifice fly to right and Allegro brought Nygaard in with the equalizing run singling up the middle to tie the game, 7-7.
 
The rally continued in the top of the eighth inning, all with two outs on the board. McCord walked and was subbed on the base paths by Cody Dykstra, who advanced to third on the following Martinez single. During Nygaard's at-bat, a wild pitch from Dillon Larson brought in Dykstra from third. Nygaard followed with a RBI single for a two-run lead. Two more walks reloaded the bags and Wakem's single near first base capped the four-run frame.
 
Fricke responded with a shutdown inning in the bottom of the seventh, pitching around a one-out single by striking out the side for his second career save.
 
The need for late fireworks materialized after the teams played hot potato with the lead. Western Oregon led 2-0 with a first-inning RBI single from Martinez and a run-scoring ground out from McCord in the top of the third.
 
CWU scored its first two runs in response in the bottom of the third on consecutive RBI doubles from Graf-Brennan and Dylan Freyre.  The Wildcats took their first lead of the series in the fourth when Sam Welton hammered a 3-1 pitch from WOU starting pitcher Jake Simmons for a solo home run.
 
The Wolves took advantage of two Wildcat errors in the fifth to get a pair of runs via sacrifice fly balls from McCord and Martinez.
 
Central Washington used four walks, one hit batter and two bunt single against three WOU pitchers to score four runs in the bottom of the sixth to take a 7-4 lead.
 
Roth shook off miscues that led to two of the four CWU runs by striking out one and inducing an inning-ending double play keeping the Wolves within striking distance of comeback. He reaped the major benefit of the Wolves' late offense earning the win, improving to 2-0, in two hitless frames with two strikeouts.
 
Western Oregon had 10 hits in the game, six coming in the last two innings.
 
UP NEXT: WOU closes out its four-game set against Central Washington with a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 12 p.m. in Ellensburg.