April 27, 2006
Box Score-Game 1
Box Score-Game 2
MONMOUTH, Ore. - Cortney Walton (Jr., Chesapeake, VA/Great Bridge) drove in four runs in the opener and Nicole Walker (Jr., Kenmore/Juanita) pitched a three-hit shutout in the nightcap as Western Washington University swept Western Oregon University, 11-1 and 2-0, in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference softball doubleheader Thursday at WOU Field.
The Vikings, who have won a season-best five straight games, improved to 21-23 overall and 9-9 in league play. They have won 14 of their last 21 games after a 7-16 start. Western Oregon dropped to 10-29 overall and 4-12 in GNAC action. The Wolves have lost six straight and 18 of their last 20 games.
The 10-run winning margin in the opener was a season best for Western, which tied its season high with 17 hits. The Vikings scored five runs in the top of the fifth inning and plated six more in the seventh.
Walton was 4-for-5, including a home run and two doubles. She homered to lead off the seventh, her fourth of the season, and also had a two-run double during that rally. In the fifth, she contributed a run-scoring single.
Ashley Osman (Jr., Federal Way/Jefferson) and Amanda Shiflet (Fr., Stanwood) each had three hits for Western, with Mandy Harvey (Sr., Coeur d'Alene, ID/Lake City), Nicole Walker (Jr., Kenmore/Juanita) and Liza Teichler (So., Sammamish/Skyline) each having two.
Osman (3-4) also pitched the complete-game victory, scattering five hits, striking out three and not issueing a walk. She retired the first nine Western Oregon batters before allowing an unearned run in the fourth, the Wolves only run of the day.
In the nightcap, Walker improved to 7-8, giving up just three singles, striking out five and walking two. It was her second shutout of the season.
Osman, who 6-for-8 on the day, was 3-for-3, driving in the game's only runs with a two-out, two-run single in the fifth. Harvey and Misty Britt (Jr., Kelso/Lower Columbia CC) each had two hits for the Vikings.
Osman has had a team-high six multiple-RBI games for Western this season. Walton now has nine career home runs and ranks third among school career leaders, three shy of the record.
The Vikings travel to Arcata, Calif., to meet Humboldt State University (45-4), ranked No.1 nationally in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association/NCAA Division II Top 25 and No.1 in the West Region, in a GNAC doubleheader Saturday (11 a.m.).
