Hot bats help CWU baseball earn split with Saint Martin's - Spokane, North Idaho News & Weather KHQ.com

By Sammy Henderson

LACEY, Wash. -- Senior Brett Bielec (Port Orchard, Wash./North Mason HS) was 2 for 4 with three RBI and was one of six members of the Central Washington University baseball team to collect multiple hits in a 13-2 game-two victory over Saint Martin's University on Sunday afternoon. The Saints won the first game of the doubleheader, 3-1.

With the convincing victory in game two, the Wildcats improved to 16-22 overall and 8-12 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. Saint Martin's won three of the four games in the weekend series and now stands with a 14-26 mark, 10-12 in the GNAC.

Central Washington scored first in game one, on a RBI double by junior Kyle Sani (Kennewick, Wash./Southridge HS) scoring senior Brandon Wang (Mill Creek, Wash./Jackson HS). Saint Martin's pitcher Thomas DeBoer stifled the Wildcats bats for the remainder of the game allowing just six hits after the first inning to pick up the complete game victory.

CWU pitcher Jason Lotzer (Lynnwood, Wash.) suffered the loss (3-3), but had one of his best outings of the season throwing all eight innings, scattering eight hits and giving up three runs while striking out three batters. 

Sophomore Ethan Sterkel (Ellensburg, Wash.) and junior Jimmy Ryerson (Seattle/Roosevelt HS) were each 2 for 3 in game one, combining to account for half of the team's eight hits in the contest.

The Central Washington offense heated up in game two, scoring 13 runs on 16 hits, including five doubles. The teams were tied at 2-2 after three innings, but the Wildcats gained separation by scoring four runs in the fourth inning and five in the sixth to hold a 11-2 advantage, en route to the 13-2 win.

Bielec, Brady Kincannon (Federal Way, Wash./Decatur HS), and David Leid (Carson City, Nev./Carson HS) were each 2 for 4, while freshman Kasey Bielec (Port Orchard, Wash./North Mason HS) was a perfect 2 for 2 with two RBI. Sterkel and Ryerson both scored three runs in game two and were 3 for 4 and 2 for 3, respectively.

Junior pitcher Randy Button (Allyn, Wash./North Mason HS) earned a complete-game victory for the second time in his last three starts, throwing all seven innings surrendering eight hits and two runs to improve his season record to 3-2.

Central Washington returns to action next weekend as they travel to Monmouth, Ore., for a pair of doubleheaders against conference leader Western Oregon University starting Saturday (Apr. 28) at 1 p.m.