AZUSA, Calif. – With all seven of its runs coming with two outs, No. 21-ranked Central Washington posted a 7-3 win over No. 14 Azusa Pacific to force a winner-take-all regional tournament championship game against the host Cougars on Sunday.
After lightning and rain washed out all but five innings of Friday's action, the tournament resumed under sunny skies Saturday, and Central Washington held on in its first game to beat UC San Diego, 6-5, before jumping out to an early four-run lead and holding on again to deal Azusa Pacific its first postseason defeat.
The teams will meet for the fourth time this season in an 11 a.m. Sunday morning matchup with a berth in the best-of-three super regional series against Humboldt State at stake. Central Washington won the coin toss to determine the home team designation for Sunday's game, which means the Wildcats will play all five of its games in the regional as the home team.
Central Washington 7, Azusa Pacific 3: Box Score | Press Conference
Brielle Copodonna hit a three-run home run with two outs in the first inning, and Kailyn Campbell delivered a two-out RBI single in the second inning to extend the Wildcats' lead to 4-0. The Cougars slashed the lead in half on Janelle Eccles' two-run double in the fourth, but Laura Steiner delivered a two-out pinch-hit three-run homer in the fifth to extend the lead to 7-3.
Sophomore first baseman Kayla Jimenez hit a sixth-inning solo shot to wrap up the scoring and cut the final margin to 7-3. However, CWU starting pitcher Kiana Wood limited the first four hitters in the Azusa Pacific lineup to a combined total of two hits, earning back-to-back complete-game wins while throwing 210 pitches between the Wildcats' two games Saturday.
Wood struck out one, scattering three runs on eight hits without issuing a walk, as she improved to 21-6 on the year. Central Washington is now 41-15 overall, while Azusa Pacific dropped to 40-11.
When junior righthander Ariana von Zboray inherited a bases-loaded situation with no outs in the bottom of the fifth inning, she induced a comebacker for a home-to-first double play that kept Central Washington off the board and just one out away from keeping it a 4-2 game. However, Steiner entered as a pinch-hitter and drove a 1-0 pitch over the left-field fence for a three-run homer that extended the cushion to 7-2.
Jimenez led the Azusa Pacific offense, reaching on a hit by pitch in her first plate appearance before collecting extra-base hits with a double and home run in her final two at-bats. Eccles also had two hits, going two-for-three with two RBIs.
