ELLENSBURG — The Central Washington Wildcats (9-29) return to the diamond Friday for their final home weekend series of the regular season against Montana State-Billings. Their last time out, they went 1-3 in a four-game series against the Saint Martin's Saints on April 12.  

Despite the shortcomings, Head Coach Ronnie Ladines was complimentary of player Zoey Theophilus, according to a statement by CWU Athletics.  

“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. This team continues to improve each weekend, and it's exciting to see the progress,” Ladines said.  

CWU earned their sole win in game three of the series. They overcame Saint Martin's 6-2 in game one of Sunday’s doubleheader. 

Brooke Baker got things started in the first inning with a single to center field to score Kayla Brusseau and Jadyn Holdren which was followed by Lizzy Turpen singling down the right field line to score Izzy Vargas and make it 3-0 CWU. Kaylee Walker earned a bases loaded walk in the bottom of the first to score Haley Agena and make it 3-1 in favor of CWU. 

Brusseau hit a sacrifice fly to the center fielder which scored Jessica Reitz-Eaton in the fourth inning to make it 4-1 CWU. Heather Ebner added another for SMU in the bottom of the sixth with a single to center field to score Elissa Dewees and cut it to a 4-2 game in favor of the crimson and black. Turpen singled to first base on a bunt in the seventh to score Holdren followed by Reitz-Eaton singling to first base to score Baker and give the Wildcats the 6-2 victory. 

Holdren, Baker, Turpen, and Reitz-Eaton all had two hits while McKayla Cable and Brusseau each added one. Baker and Turpen had two RBI while Brusseau and Reitz-Eaton had one each. Cable, Vargas, Baker, Ashlyn Cook, and Melise Brown all drew one walk.  

Ebner and Dewees led the Saints with two hits while Agena, Shelby Lawson, Taylor Oregeles, and Layla Royle all had one hit. Ebner and Walker each had an RBI. Amanda Peterson drew two walks while Agena, Walker, Ava Heston, and Faith Prosch all drew one walk. 

Theophilus pitched all seven innings allowing eight hits, two runs, six walks, and struck out five of 36 batters. Bridget Johnson pitched 3.1 innings allowing five hits, four runs, three walks, and a strikeout against 18 batters. 

Keagan Norfleet pitched the next three innings allowing three hits, one run, one walk, and a strikeout against 14 batters. Peterson pitched the final 0.2 innings allowing two hits, one run, and one walk against five batters. 

In their second game, they suffered a 15-7 loss to the Saints. Reitz-Eaton put the Wildcats on the board first in the top of the second with a double to left center field which scored Baker and Vargas to make it 2-0 CWU. 

The Saints responded in the bottom of the third when Oregeles singled to left field to score Lawson, Walker, and Agena followed by Jennessy Lopez singling to center field to score Royle and Oregeles to make it 5-2 in favor of the Saints. 

Kasi Thomas doubled down the left field line in the fourth to score Reitz-Eaton and Turpen followed by Brusseau reaching first on an error by the second baseman to give enough time for Cable to score, finally with Baker earning a bases loaded walk which scored Thomas to give Central Washington the 6-5 lead. 

Ebner homered in the bottom of the fourth, followed by Lopez singling to center field to score Royle and Oregeles and give the lead back to SMU by an 8-6 score. In the fifth inning Walker singled to the shortstop to score Lawson, followed by Oregeles reaching first on an error by the first baseman to score Walker, then Royle singled to left field which sored Oregeles to give the Saints the 11-6 lead. 

Brusseau hit a home run in the sixth to cut it to 11-7 SMU. The Saints responded in the bottom of the sixth to seal the win when Olivianna Trinidad scored on a wild pitch followed by Lawson sacrificing to the left fielder to score Kaslyn Watanabe and finally Jules Detrinidad singled to center field to score Walker and Eva Spencer and make it a 15-7 SMU victory. 

Brusseau had two hits while Thomas, Vargas, Turpen, and Reitz-Eaton all had one hit. Thomas and Brusseau had two RBI each while Baker and Reitz-Eaton had one each. Baker drew three walks while Brown drew two and Reitz-Eaton drew one.  

Walker had three hits while Lopez and Agena had two hits and six other Saints added one hit each. Lopez had four RBI while Detrinidad and Oregeles had two with Lawson, Ebner, Walker, and Royle all having one RBI each. Oregeles, Royle, and Emilee Morris all drew two walks while six other Saints drew one walk each. 

Alex Flohr pitched 2.1 innings allowing five hits, five runs, three walks, and earned a strikeout against 16 batters. Baker pitched the next 1.1 innings, allowing three hits, three runs, and three walks against nine batters. Reese Anderson pitched 0.2 innings allowing two hits, three runs with only two earned, and three walks against eight batters. 

Ellie Gilbert pitched an inning allowing two hits, four runs, and two walks against seven batters. Theophilus pitched against the final two batters allowing one hit, no runs, and a walk. Kayla Vaughan pitched the first three innings allowing four hits, four runs with three earned, and three walks while earning a strikeout against 17 batters. 

Heidi Leitz pitched 0.1 innings allowing one hits, two runs with one earned, and no walks against four batters. Peterson pitched the final 2.2 innings allowing one hit, one run, three walks, and earned three strikeouts against 13 batters. 

As they look ahead to this weekend, MSUB is 7-38 in regular season play, and 5-15 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. Right behind them are the Wildcats, who are 3-13 in conference games, according to the GNAC standings.  

Their first doubleheader is set to start at noon Friday.  

    Izzy Vargas (2) takes a swing at the incoming pitch during the Central Washington Wildcats game against Saint Martin’s earlier this season.