BELLINGHAM, Wash. - The Western Washington University softball team put together one of its best performances of the season on Friday at Viking Field, splitting a Great Northwest Athletic Conference doubleheader against first-place Central Washington.

WWU (12-24, 6-11 GNAC) dropped the first game 5-3 in extra innings, and rebounded with an 8-0 run-rule-shortened victory in 5 innings over CWU (22-9, 10-4 GNAC) in the nightcap.

Freshman Kira Doan (Brier, WA/Mountlake Terrace) led the Vikings at the plate going 4-for-6 with 3 doubles in the doubleheader, and also gave a solid pitching performance in the first game despite suffering the loss.

Junior Shearyna Labasan (Mililani, HI/Maryknoll) was 2-for-4 at the plate with 2 doubles, 2 runs scored and 2 RBI, and recorded the win in the circle in the second game tossing 5.0 scoreless innings while allowing only 2 hits.

Senior Carlie Richards (Kennewick, WA/Kamiakin) helped put the second game out of reach blasting a 3-run home run in the bottom of the 3^rd inning, part of a 2-for-4, 4 RBI performance during the doubleheader.

Overall the Vikings out-hit the Wildcats 16-10 in the two games, including a 10-2 margin in the second game. WWU totaled 7 extra-base hits, with 6 doubles and 1 home run. The Vikings were 8-for-19 (.421) with runners in scoring position combined in the doubleheader, and scored 8 of the 11 runs with 2 outs.

"I thought today was one of the best performance of the season, all the way around - pitching, clutch hitting, defense," said head coach Amy Suiter. "We were mentally strong, especially after a tough first inning in the first game, and really continued to grow as the game progressed. We executed plans at the plate as a team and that for us is a huge step in the right direction. Today was a good stepping-stone for this young team to believe in their abilities and I'm excited to watch them continue to improve."

The Vikings will have the weekend off after shuffling games around due to rain and inclement weather in the forecast, and returns to action Monday hosting Saint Martin's in a doubleheader starting at 1 pm at Viking Field. The games vs. the Saints will be WWU's final home games of the season, with Carlie Richards and Morgan VanRiper (Kalama, WA) honored as part of Senior Day festivities.

Game Notes: WWU wore pink jerseys for the annual Strike Out Cancer Game to help raise awareness for cancer research...Shearyna Labasan had a pair of doubles to give her 9 on the season to move into a tie for 2^nd in the GNAC this season...now has 19 career doubles to enter the WWU record book in a tie for 20^th place...Labasan made her 70^th career pitching appearance to gain sole possession of 8^th in WWU history and recorded her 28^th career pitching win (10^th in WWU history)...Carlie Richards hit her second home run of the season, matching her season total from 2017.

Game 1: CWU 5, WWU 3 (8 inn.)Box Score & Play-by-Play | Game Book

The Vikings fought back from an early 3-0 deficit after the top of the 1^st inning, tying the game in the 4^th inning, but fell short of the victory when Central Washington scored a pair of runs in the top of the 8^th inning on a 2-run, pinch-hit home run by Slycia Bannan.

Central plated 3 runs and loaded the bases in the top of the 1^st inning without the Vikings recording an out, but freshman pitcher Kira Doan limited the damage by getting out of the jam.

The rest of the way Doan found her groove, limiting CWU to 3 hits over the next six innings before the game was pushed into extra innings.

The Vikings were held hitless through the first three innings, reaching twice on CWU fielding errors, but knotted the game up at 3-3 with 3 runs in the bottom of the 4^th inning. Shearyna Labasan led off with a double to the right field gap and came in to score the first run on a one-out single by Carlie Richards. Sophomore center fielder Jackie Lucido (San Jose, CA/Piedmont Hills) leveled the score with a 2-out, 2-run single though the left side of the infield.

WWU put the potential go-ahead run in scoring position in the 5^th inning, but CWU starter Lexi Strasser held the Vikings scoreless over their final four at-bats.

The Wildcats forged ahead in the top of the 8^th inning when Bannan homered off her former club teammate Doan for the game-winning home run. Strasser retired the Vikings in order in the bottom of the 8^th inning to record her 13^th victory of the season (13-5).

Doan (1-3) pitched all 8.0 innings, suffering the loss allowing 8 hits and 5 runs (4 ER), while striking out 5 with a pair of walks.

Doan was 2-for-3 with a double as the only Viking to record a multi-hit game.

CWU leadoff hitter Savannah Egbert was 2-for-3 with a run scored and right fielder Katie Kastning was 2-for-4 with a double and RBI.

Central Washington 5, Western Washington 3 (April 6, 2018 at Bellingham, WA)----------------------------------------------------------------------Central Washington.. 300 000 02 -  5  8  2      (22-8, 10-3 GNAC)Western Washington.. 000 300 00 -  3  6  2      (11-24, 5-11 GNAC)----------------------------------------------------------------------Central Washington - Strasser and MoyleWestern Washington -- Doan and HardyWin-Strasser (13-5)  Loss-Doan (1-3)  T-2:03HR CWU - Bannan (2)

Game 2: WWU 8, CWU 0 (5 inn.) Box Score & Play-by-Play | Game Book

The Vikings scored in every inning they stepped to the plate while recording a run-rule-shortened 8-0 victory in 5 innings in the second game of the doubleheader.

Shearyna Labasan was 1-for-1 with a double and 2 RBI at the plate and earned the win allowing 2 hits in 5.0 shutout innings to improve to 5-12 on the season.

Second baseman Kira Doan and freshman left fielder Lauren Lo (Issaquah, WA/Skyline) both went 2-for-3, with Doan recording a pair of doubles. Freshman first baseman Rylie Wales (Snohomish, WA) also went 2-for-2 with a pair of runs scored and 2 RBI.

The Vikings jumped out to a 2-0 lead with a single tally in each the 1^st and 2^nd innings. Labasan go the scoring started with a sacrifice fly in the 1^st inning and freshman third baseman Sam Silver (Mount Vernon, WA) drove in the second run with a single to left field.

WWU broke the game open with 4 runs in the bottom of the 3^rd inning to extend the lead to 6-0. After two quick outs were recorded to open the inning, the Vikings put a pair of runners on base before Wales tabbed a 2-out RBI with a single through the right side. Carlie Richards put then put the game out of reach with a 3-run home run to right-center for her second homer of the season.

Western added 2 more runs in the bottom of the 4^th on back-to-back RBI doubles by Doan and Labasan. With the Vikings holding an 8-0 lead, Labasan closed out the game with a scoreless top of the 5^th inning to bring the 8-run rule into effect.

CWU starter Kayla Smith (6-2) was saddled with the loss allowing 3 hits and 2 runs in 1.0+ inning of work. Right fielder Katie Kastning recorded her 7^th double of the season for one of two CWU hits in the game off Labasan.

Western Washington 8, Central Washington 0 (April 6, 2018 at Bellingham, WA)----------------------------------------------------------------------Central Washington.. 000 00 -  0  2  0      (22-9, 10-4 GNAC)Western Washington.. 114 2X -  8 10  1      (12-24, 6-11 GNAC)----------------------------------------------------------------------Central Washington - Smith; Williams (2); Strasser (4) and MoyleWestern Washington - Labasan and MatthewsWin-Labasan (5-12)  Loss-Smith (6-2)  T-1:18  A-73HR WWU - Richards (2)