Central Washington 9 – Azusa Pacific 6

IRVINE, Calif. – Azusa Pacific lost to Central Washington, 9-6, in the championship game of the NCAA Softball West Regional on Sunday. The loss eliminated APU from the tournament and ended the postseason for PacWest softball.

Weather pushed the final game of the Azusa regional to Sunday morning, and the Cougars and Wildcats met for the third time in a winner-take-all finale. APU took a 3-0 lead in the third inning, but Central Washington scored six unanswered runs to take a three-run lead of its own by the fourth inning. In the sixth inning, a walk, a wild pitch and a throwing error produced three APU runs to tie the score at six. In the bottom of that inning, however, the Wildcats scored three runs on a pair of singles to take the lead for good.

Azusa Pacific ended the season with a record of 40-12 and the program’s first PacWest championship.