ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Western Oregon University baseball team came away with 21 runs on 21 hits to split a Friday Great Northwest Athletic Conference series at Central Washington. The Wildcats rallied to walk-off game one by a score of 10-9 in extra innings before the Wolves responded with a big third inning to cruise to the 12-4 victory in the nightcap.
WOU (22-15, 13-9 GNAC) opened game one strong collecting two runs in the first inning. Jacob Maiben reached on an error and moved to second on a single by Justyn Herzog. Following a fielder's choice out, Logan Ho ripped a double to right-center for the RBI. Anthony Zellner drove in the second run of the inning with a groundout to short for the 2-0 lead.
The offense got going again in the third. Jacob Maiben walked and after two straight outs, the rally started. Ho singled to right to put runners on the corners. Zellner singled to left for the RBI before John Stark provided the big hit with a three-run homer for the 6-0 lead.
Central Washington (12-27, 6-16 GNAC) answered back with four runs in the fourth and five more in the fifth to take a 9-7 lead.
The Wolves tied it up in the sixth with another two-out rally. With Leighton Moniz on via a hit-by-pitch and Levi Cummings on with a single, both would score on a ringing double to left-center by Herzog to even the score at nine apiece.
Bryce Bond kept the go-ahead run from scoring in the eighth getting a strikeout to leave the runner at third. After neither team scored in the ninth, the Wildcats were able to walk it off with two outs getting a single just past the pitcher to bring in the winning run for the 10-9 win in 10 innings.
CWU held the 12-10 edge in hits and there were three errors, two committed by the Wildcats. Zellner led the offense with three hits and two RBI. Herzog also drove in two runs and added two hits. Ho also collected two hits. Stark had one hit, but it was a big one, the three-run homer to lead the team with three runs driven in.
On the mound, Mike Peterson started and went the first four innings to take the no decision allowing seven earned runs. Sebasten Boivin tossed the next two innings allowing two earned runs. Bond ended up with the tough-luck loss (2-1) allowing just the one run in 3.2 innings.
Michael Peter paced CWU with three hits and three RBI. Tyler McClain and Austin Ohland added two RBI apiece. On the mound, Ryan Arredondo started and worked the first four innings allowing seven runs (six earned) to get the no decision. After Jake Bradley allowed two earned runs in 1.2 innings, Brayde Hirai eventually came in and went the final four innings to get the win (2-2) allowing no runs.
In game two, one big inning helped seal the win for the Wolves.
WOU opened the scoring in the first with Jacob Maiben tripling down the right field line and later scoring on a double play for the 1-0 lead. After the Wildcats came back with two runs in the home half, the Wolves put the game away in the third.
WOU would end up scoring nine runs on just five hits in the inning, also taking advantage of an error. Cummings started the inning with a walk and after moving to second on a passed ball, he scored on a single to right by Jacob Maiben. Jacob Maiben later stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch before twin brother Derek Maiben doubled down the left field line to score Jacob. After the second out was recorded, WOU collected seven more runs. Hibiki Ouchi walked and Stark was hit-by-pitch to load the bases. Moniz was also hit-by-pitch for the RBI. Jackson Holstad kept the line moving with a single to right to score a pair of runs. Cummings wasted little time adding to the lead when he doubled to left for the RBI. Jacob Maiben followed by reaching on an error to bring in the seventh run of the inning. A passed ball brought home Cummings before Herzog closed the nine-run frame with a single up the middle. When all the dust settled, WOU had jumped the lead to 10-2.
The Wildcats tallied a run in the third and another in the fifth before the Wolves finished the scoring in the seventh. Holstad got the offense going with a single and moved to second when Cummings was hit-by-pitch. Both moved up on a passed ball and then scored on a single up the middle by Jacob Maiben to push the lead to 12-4.
WOU held the 11-7 edge in hits and CWU committed the only error. Jacob Maiben led the way with three hits, four RBI and three runs scored. Holstad tallied two hits and two RBI. On the mound, Dwayne Angebrandt started and went the first three innings to get the no decision, allowing three earned runs. Seth Kuykendall picked up his fourth win (4-3) of the season going the next three innings, allowing just one earned run. Matthew Dunaway tossed a 1-2-3 seventh.
Michael Copeland led the Wildcats with two hits, while Adam Fahsel drove in two runs. On the mound, Nolan Miliman started and took the loss (1-3) allowing five earned runs. Beau Kearsey allowed four runs (two earned) before Josh Touhey went the final 4.1 innings allowing three runs (two earned).
WOU and CWU will conclude their four-game series tomorrow (Saturday) with another doubleheader starting at 12 p.m. in Ellensburg.
