March 13, 2011

Box Score - Game 1

Box Score - Game 2

Box Score - Game 3

ANACORTES, Wash. - Western Washington University pitcher Erika Quint (Sr., Silverdale/Central Kitsap) had a school-record 16 strikeouts in the opener, and outfielder Michelle Wrigley (Sr., Bothell/Inglemoor) extended her hitting streak to a school record-tying 18 games as the Vikings swept a Great Northwest Athletic Conference tripleheader with Western Oregon University, 2-1 in 11 innings, 7-6 and 8-7, on Sunday at Ault Daniels Field.

The victories gave the Vikings, ranked No.17 in this week's National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division II Top 25 Poll, a four-game sweep of the Wolves, who they blanked 8-0 on Saturday. WWU improved to 16-1 overall and 11-1 in GNAC play, lengthening its conference lead to four games.

The Wolves fell to 7-11 overall and 4-8 in conference play.

Wrigley, who tied the WWU hit streak mark set by Jen Brandolini in 1998, had two hits in each of the first two games, and one in the third.

The first game, which took three hours and 30 minutes to complete, tied the second-longest in school history in terms of innings and was the longest since Apr. 18, 2002, when WWU defeated Simon Fraser, 2-1, in 11 innings. A 13-inning contest on May 4, 2001, a 2-1 loss to Western New Mexico, is the school record.

Megan Carrillo (Fr., Prunedale, CA/North Monterey County) ended Sunday's opener in the bottom of the 11th with a double to right field that scored Karli Baumgartner (Sr., Silverdale/Central Kitsap), who had been placed on second in accordance with the international tiebreaker rule.

Quint struck out 16, breaking the WWU record of 15 set by her sister, Jackie, in a nine-inning 5-3 win over Saint Martin's on Apr. 14, 2007.

Quint, who is unbeaten in 10 games this season, allowed just four hits and did not issue a walk. WOU's only run came in the top of the second inning, a one-out double by Ashley Worthey which scored Jessica Hallmark, who had led off with a single. From that point on, Quint retired 28 of the last 30 batters she faced, including 15 straight during one stretch.

WWU, which had 10 hits and seven walks, left 18 runners on base, stranding at least one in every inning.

In the third, shortstop Cailin Dotlich (Sr., Sedro-Woolley/Burlington-Edison) tied the score at 1-1 with a two-out RBI single.

In the second game, WWU fell behind 6-1, but rallied for the win with six runs in the bottom of the seventh, all of them scoring with two outs.

A bases-loaded single by Krista Bickar (Jr., Hoquiam) plated the first run, and another scored on a fielding error by the WOU pitcher. Dotlich then scored two more with a double and Kelsey Anderson (Sr., Mount Vernon) ended the game with a two-run single.

WWU's Carrillo had three hits, one an RBI-single in the fifth.

WOU scored four in the first, three on a home run by Jessica Hallmark, one in the third on a single by Bailey Rueck, who had three hits, and another in the sixth.

In the third game, Quint pitched the first four innings and WWU scored seven runs in the second to lead 7-3 when she was taken out. Three Viking relievers struggled as WOU scored two runs in the fifth and two more in the seventh to tie the score at 7-7.

But in the bottom of that frame, WWU's Jessica Carey (Jr., Everett) had a game-winning two-out single. Devyn Baker (Fr., Montesano), who pitched 2-1/3 innings, was credited with the win.

The big blows in the Vikings' seven-run second were a run-scoring double by Dotlich and a two-run triple by Stephanie Fox (Jr., Sammamish/Eastlake).

Quint, 10-0, is one shy of the WWU record for consecutive wins in one season (11, Nancy Mills, 2000). She has a 1.42 earned run average, striking out 10 or more seven times this season with a total of 104 in 69 innings pitched.

WWU next entertains Simon Fraser University on Thursday (1 p.m.) in a GNAC doubleheader at Viking Field.