LACEY — The Central Washington University Wildcats (9-29) wrapped up their road trip over the weekend 1-3 against Saint Martin’s with a 6-2 victory in game three Sunday, according to a statement by CWU Athletics. Their victory in game three was led by the Wildcats pitcher Zoey Theophilus.  

“Zoey had an outstanding weekend and was a huge reason we stayed competitive in every game, giving our offense the chance to do its job,” said Wildcats Head Coach Ronnie Ladines. “This team continues to improve each weekend, and it’s exciting to see the progress.” 

Saint Martin’s took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first after loading the bases and having three runners score. The Wildcats responded in the third inning when Kasi Thomas singled to right field to score Milise Brown followed by a sacrifice fly to second the baseman to score Jessica Reitz-Eaton by Kayla Brusseau, and wrapped up by Jadyn Holdren singling to center field to score Thomas and Izzy Vargas to gain a 4-3 lead. 

Saint Martin’s tied the game up in the bottom of the third and the following three innings went scoreless for both sides, according to a release from Saint Martin’s Athletics. 

Kaylee Walker from Saint Martin’s earned the walk-off victory in the seventh after a throwing error by the Wildcats catcher, giving SMU the 5-4 victory. 

Theophilus pitched 6.1 innings of the first game allowing nine hits, five runs, four earned and five walks while striking out two. 

Game two started out much closer for the Wildcats as Brusseau hit a single to score McKayla Cable in the top of the first, followed by a score from SMU in the bottom of the inning. SMU gained the lead in the bottom of the second with a single run and both teams earned runs in the third inning to put the game at 2-3 at the top of the fourth. 

Saint Martin’s picked up the pace, putting up three runs in the fourth inning and another three in the fifth. CWU worked to catch up with two runs in the sixth inning, but were unsuccessful in scoring in the seventh, ending the game 4-9. 

Alex Flohr pitched the first three innings for the Wildcats, allowing nine hits, six runs with five earned, three walks and three strikeouts. Reese Anderson pitched in relief where she allowed three hits, three runs and one walk. 

CWU rebounded the next day in game three. Brooke Baker singled to center field scoring Brusseau and Jadyn Holdren. This was followed by Lizzy Turpen singling down the right field line to score Izzy Vargas, and Saint Martin’s scored in the bottom of the first to put the game at 3-1. 

Neither team scored until the fourth inning where Jessica Reitz-Eaton scored for the Wildcats after Brusseau hit a sacrifice to the center fielder.  

SMU scored again in the bottom of the sixth, but in the top of the seventh Turpen singled to first base to score Holdren and Reitz-Eaton singled to first to score Baker, which gave CWU the 6-2 victory. 

Theophilus was back on the mound to pitch all seven innings for the Wildcats, allowing eight hits, two runs, six walks and struck out five batters. 

The Wildcats were first on the board in game four as Reitz-Eaton hit a double to left center field to score Baker and Vargas in the top of the second inning. After going scoreless in the second, SMU finally scored in the bottom of the third, scoring five runs to claim the lead.  

The fourth game went on to be the highest-scoring game of the series, as the Wildcats bounced back in the top of the fourth inning with four runs to reclaim a 6-5 lead. Saint Martin’s had strong scoring for the next three innings putting up three runs in the fourth, three runs in the fifth and four runs in the sixth.  

Central only put up one more run following their claim of the lead in the fourth inning, giving Saint Martin’s a 7-15 victory to close out the series. 

Alex Flohr pitched 2.1 innings, allowing five hits, five runs, three walks, and earned a strikeout. Baker followed, where she pitched 1.1 innings and allowed three hits, three runs and three walks. Reece Anderson pitched 0.2 innings with two hits, three runs and three walks. Ellie Golbert pitched an inning with two hits, four runs and two walks. Theophilus pitched against the final two batters, allowing one hit, no runs and a walk. 

The Wildcats take a week off before returning home April 24-25 to face Montana State Billings in a four-game series. 

BOX SCORES 

GAME ONE: 

CWU: 0-0-4-0-0-0-0: 4 

SMU: 3-0-1-0-0-0-1: 5 

GAME TWO: 

CWU: 1-0-1-0-0-2-0: 4 

SMU: 1-1-1-3-3-0-x: 9 

GAME THREE: 

CWU: 3-0-0-1-0-0-2: 6 

SMU: 1-0-0-0-0-1-0: 2 

GAME FOUR: 

CWU: 0-2-0-4-0-1: 7 

SMU: 0-0-5-3-3-4: 15