March 27, 2011
Box Score - Game 1
Box Score - Game 2
ELLENSBURG, Wash. - Western Washington University's Erika Quint (Sr., Silverdale/Central Kitsap) pitched a five-hit shutout in the opener and picked up another win with 6-2/3 innings of scoreless relief in the nightcap as the Vikings swept arch-rival Central Washington University, 3-0 and 5-4, in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference doubleheader Sunday at Frederick Field.
Western, ranked No.9 in this week's National Fastpitch Coaches Association NCAA Division II Top 25 Poll, improved to 19-2 overall and leads the conference at 14-2.
Central, the defending GNAC champion, dropped to 9-8 overall and 7-5 in league play.
The shutout was the fifth of the year for Quint who remained unbeaten at 13-0 with the two wins. She blanked Central for 13-2/3 innings, pushing her total of consecutive scoreless innings to 21-2/3.
In the first game, Quint allowed five hits, with just one Central runner reaching third. She struck out four and walked one.
Samantha Rutherford (Sr., Kenmore/Inglemoor) provided all the support Quint needed with a lead-off home run over the centerfield fence in the second inning. She singled in another run in Western's two-run third.
Rutherford and Michelle Wrigley (Sr., Bothell/Inglemoor) each had two hits for Western, which managed just seven off Central pitcher Lauren Hadenfeld (7-5). Hadenfeld struck out seven and walked three.
In the second game, Central scored four runs, three of them unearned, in the bottom of the first. All of them were charged to Western starting pitcher Jenna DeRosier (Fr., Kelso), who retired one batter before being relieved by Quint.
Quint gave up just three hits and struck out six. She retired 17 of the last 18 batters faced.
The Vikings rallied for five runs in the sixth, all of them coming with two out. Caitlin Dotlich (Sr., Sedro-Woolley/Burlington-Edison) drove in two with a bases-loaded double, Jordan Emmil (Jr., Colville) followed with a two-run single and Stephanie Fox (Jr., Sammamish/Eastlake) plated the go-ahead run with a single to center.
Jackie Rothenberger (So., Coquitlam, B.C./Gleneagle Secondary) had three hits for Western, and Dotlich and Jessica Carey (Jr., Everett) each had two.
Western travels to northern California this week. The Vikings meet Cal State Monterey Bay in a doubleheader Tuesday (12 noon) and Sonoma State in a twinbill Wednesday (1 p.m.) before competing in the Cal State Stanislaus Tournament of Champions on Friday through Sunday at Turlock.
