GNAC Baseball: Wolves Take Pair from Central Washington

Western Oregon improves to 12-2 in conference with 8-3, 4-3 wins.

Salem-News.com SPORTS

MONMOUTH, Ore. - Western Oregon jumped out to an early lead in game one and then rallied in the nightcap to take a baseball doubleheader sweep over Central Washington on Sunday at the WOU Baseball Field, 8-3 and 4-3.

The Wolves moved to 12-2 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference and to 22-15 overall. Central Washington dropped to 5-9 in league play and to 21-15 on the year.

WOU has now won ten consecutive games, while Central saw a six-game winning streak come to an end in the first game.

Western Oregon got excellent starting pitching performances in both games, with Kevin Corrigan throwing shutout baseball through eight innings in the first contest, while Mike Eisenhauer pitched six effective stanzas in the second event.

In the first game, the Wolves got all the runs that they would need in the first inning.

After a Bryan Stone single and back-to-back hit batters, Brent Mertens drilled a bases clearing triple to make the count 3-0.

Randy Summers added an RBI-single to give the hosts four first-inning runs against Wildcat ace Tyler Levin.

For good measure, Summers emptied the bases again in the fifth inning with a three-run double, which would be more than enough offense for WOU starting pitcher Corrigan, who was spotless until the ninth inning.

The senior right-hander finally tired, walking two and giving up two base hits in the final inning, before leaving the contest. For the game, he gave up three runs, seven hits, walked four and struck out two.

Derek O’Konek had two of CWU’s seven hits in the game, while Summers finished 2-for-3 with four RBI for the Wolves.

In the second game, Western took a 1-0 lead in the second inning after an RBI-single by Boo Christenson, but the Wildcats came right back with two runs in the third on the first four hits of the game off of Eisenhauer, the biggest an RBI-base hit by Jamie Nilsen.

That 2-1 lead held until the fifth inning when the Wolves tied the game on a single by Mertens.

Eisenhauer, who was never in trouble again after the third inning, shut down the Wildcats in the top of the sixth and then left the game having given up six hits, two runs, no walks and eight strikeouts.

In the bottom of the inning, back-to-back walks set the table again for Christenson, who singled to right field and brought home a diving Aaron Sutton.

Travis Coursey’s deep fly to left then brought home Paul Fisher with an insurance run, that the Wolves would turn out to need.

Ben Shivers came on in the seventh to get the save, but not before the Wildcats made things interesting.

Michael Johnson doubled with one out and then scored on O’Konek’s single to make the game 4-3.

Shivers then fanned the final Wildcat batter to give the Wolves the victory.

Johnson had two hits in the game for the visitors, as did Tyler Farrington. Christenson was 2-for-4 with two RBI to lead the Wolves.

The Wolves and Wildcats will square off again on Monday in a GNAC doubleheader. Start time is noon.

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