LACEY, Wash. -- Senior Bre Thomas (Vancouver, Wash./Columbia River HS) had two more multiple-hit games, including a 3 for 4 outing in game two on Sunday, as the Central Washington University softball team defeated host Saint Martin's University, 13-4 in five innings in the series finale. Saint Martin's took the first game, 11-3 in five innings.
Central Washington is now 17-27 overall and 13-19 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play, while Saint Martin's is now 30-17-1 overall and 20-12 in the conference.
Thomas, who was 2 for 2 with two RBI in game one, reached base in four of her five plate appearances in the nightcap as she was also hit by a pitch. Over four games this weekend, the senior center fielder had 12 hits in 14 at-bats in leading CWU to a 3-1 record.
The Wildcats scored in four of their five innings at the plate in Sunday's second game, using a six-run third inning to break a 2-2 tie and then pushing the margin to a nine-run advantage with four tallies in the top of the fifth inning. Eight of nine spots in the CWU batting order contributed at least one hit, with Thomas, freshman Heidy Wells (Tacoma, Wash./Stadium HS) and senior Molly Coppinger (Belfair, Wash./North Mason HS) all having multiple-hit games. Wells and Coppinger were both 2 for 3.
Central Washington took advantage of defensive miscues by Saint Martin's in the game, as the host Saints were charged with five errors which the Wildcats converted into five unearned runs. Three of those errors came in the six-run third inning.
Sophomore Maria Gau (Woodinville, Wash.) won her third decision in as many appearances on the weekend, improving to 10-16 after scattering six hits in the five-inning complete game.
Morgan Klemm had two of Saint Martin's six hits in game two, while Taviah Jenkins drove in two runs for the Saints.
In the opener, CWU fell behind 6-0 before getting its first defensive out, as Saint Martin's set the tone early for its 11-3 victory.
Central Washington scored two of its three runs in the top of the second inning, with both crossing the plate on Thomas' two-out single that chased SMU starter Taylor Bakos from the contest. Saint Martin's scored two of its own in the bottom of the inning to maintain its six-run lead, and the Saints later added a single run in the third and two more in the fourth for an 11-2 lead. A run-scoring double off the top of the left field wall from senior Carrina Wagner (Tacoma, Wash./Spanaway Lake HS) accounted for the game's final run in the top of the fifth inning for the Wildcats.
CWU was outhit by a 12-7 count, as Megan Antonovich was 3 for 3 for Saint Martin's, and Kelsie McGladrey hit a three-run home run in the Saints' six-run first inning as part of a four-RBI outing.
Five different Wildcats had one hit apiece in the game, joining Thomas with hits in the contest.
Central Washington has four games remaining in its 2012 season, beginning with its home finales this Thursday (Apr. 26) as the Wildcats take on Northwest Nazarene University in a 1 p.m. doubleheader. CWU then visits rival Western Washington University on Friday (Apr. 27) for its season finales.
