The Wildcats’ softball team posted a 4-2 record on what was a strange week for the team.

They played a doubleheader at home Thursday, and as they prepared to make a road trip to Oregon to open GNAC play, their road games were moved to Ellensburg due to inclement weather.  

“We definitely wanted to try and get games in, and I saw earlier in the week they were forecasting bad weather—it made a lot of sense,” head coach Mike Larabee said.

After a 17-day layoff from competition, the Wildcats beat Corban University, winning 11-0 in five innings and 7-4 in the second game.

“I think they were a really good program, think they were 17th in the nation in NAIA,” Larabee said. “I thought we put a crooked number on the board. Something we always talk about is landing that haymaker.”

The Wildcats were on a 10-game winning streak, but Concordia University (CU), in their first year as a Division II program, ended the streak with a three-run fifth inning in the first game of a doubleheader.

In the second game of the doubleheader, Central was leading 5-1, but a four-run fifth inning tied the game, and CU tacked on two in the seventh, which clinched a 7-6 victory.

“We came out Saturday, and we just didn’t play to the level we know how,” junior left fielder Sammy Morris said.

Going on a 10-game winning streak and losing two games in a row can be hard on a team that has only lost three games all season, Larabee said at last Saturday’s game.

“I told them we’re the best team in this conference, but we gotta be excellent and that’s something we always talk about. We’re not going to have a problem scoring runs, but we gotta make sure to tighten up our defense and we’ll be okay,” Larabee said.

Central got back on track the next day against Western Oregon University, sweeping the Wolves in two close games, 7-5 and 7-6. Central combined for four home runs on Sunday.

“A lot of us were pretty frustrated with ourselves and how we did play on Saturday so I think we let that sit in for a minute but then we came back the next day with a new attitude,” Morris said.

Central plays SFU (14-11 overall, 5-3 GNAC) Saturday.

Leading SFU’s offensive attack is senior Nicole Ratel with a .385 batting average and four home runs and sophomore infielder Taylor Lundrigan, who is hitting .355 with four home runs.

SFU has the second-highest ERA in the GNAC. They bring in sophomore power pitcher, Alia Stachoski, who is 7-3 with a 3.78 ERA.

“You gotta be patient, and you gotta hit what you’re going to get when it comes to the strike zone,” Morris said.

On Sunday, Central plays WWU (10-8 overall, 5-3 GNAC), where the Wildcats are hoping for a better result than last season, when the Vikings swept them in all four meetings. WWU outscored Central 23-8 in four games.

One player who gave Central trouble last season was sophomore pitcher Makinlee Sellevold. She limited the Wildcats to three runs in 25 innings. This season she has a 3-4 record with a 2.35 ERA.

“She’s good. I played against her for a lot of years even before college. She definitely brings it, she did a lot for them last year,” Morris said. “In my opinion, they don’t have much of a pitching staff past her, so if we can handle her, we’ll be in good shape.”

Offensively, seniors Alexie Levin and Emma Blauser lead WWU. Levin is hitting .429 and Blauser is hitting .346.

Central leads WWU in the all-time series, 43-32, going back to 2003.