Softball | 1/31/2019 3:21:00 PM

BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington University softball team opens the 2019 season this weekend with five games at the 10^th Annual Desert Stinger at Majestic Park in Las Vegas.

First-year head coach Sheryl Gilmore will lead the Vikings into the tough five-game slate, which includes three teams that are ranked in the NFCA Division II Preseason Top 25. The 2019 Desert Stinger features 24 NCAA Division II programs, with the Vikings the only team to face the three ranked teams in the field. 

The season opens with a pair of games on Friday, February 2, playing Cal State Dominguez Hills at 4:30 pm and No. 7 nationally-ranked Chico State at 7 pm. All five games during the three-day tournament will feature live statistical updates with links at WWUVikings.com/Live. 

"We finally get to play some ball. The girls have put in the work and they are prepared to step out on that field against some of the best teams in the country. It's been so fun to see how much they have grown individually and as a team since the Fall and things are coming together. Whatever success we experience and whatever adversity we face, I'm just excited to watch these guys, especially our seniors, let it fly and play the game they love."

                                     - Sheryl Gilmore, WWU head coach

Here is a look at WWU's schedule in the season-opening tournament:

The Vikings are making their eighth appearance in the Desert Stinger, combining for a 20-15 record in the tournament. WWU did not appear in the first Desert Stinger in 2010 and made a trip to Hawai'i in 2017. Western has posted a winning record five of seven previous trips to the Desert Stinger, including a perfect 5-0 record in 2011 and 4-1 in 2013.

WWU enters its 27^th season in program history, having gone 11-15 in all-time season openers since the inaugural season in 1993. The Vikings are 5-3 in their last eight season openers dating back to 2011.

WWU is scheduled to play five of its first 11 games against teams that are ranked in the NFCA Division II Preseason Top 25, including three games this weekend in Las Vegas. In addition to No. 7 Chico State, No. 10 Concordia Irvine and No. 23 UC San Diego at the Desert Stinger, the Vikings are also scheduled to play No. 21 Colorado Mesa and No. 17 Dixie State next week in the Dixie State Courtyard Classic in St. George, Utah (Feb. 7-9).

The Vikings were voted to finish 4^th in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference in the annual preseason coaches poll. WWU received 32 points, with Northwest Nazarene picked first (61) narrowly edging Central Washington (59) for the top spot in the preseason poll. Western Oregon is listed No. 3 with 41 points ahead of the Vikings and Simon Fraser is No. 5 with 29 points. The top four teams in the conference standings following the 28-game GNAC schedule will advance to the GNAC Championships May 2-4 in Billings, Montana.

The Vikings are led by senior pitcher/third baseman Shearyna Labasan (Mililani, HI/Maryknoll) who earned First Team All- GNAC honors for her efforts at the plate. Labasan batted .421 with 11 doubles, four home runs and a .586 slugging percentage. As the Vikings' No. 2 pitcher, Labasan compiled a 3.48 earned run average and 102 strikeouts. 

WWU also returns a pair of superstars in senior first baseman Emily Benson (West Richland, WA/Kamiakin) and senior pitcher/infielder Makinlee Sellevold (Everett, WA/Cascade) who sat out the 2018 campaign. Benson earned All-GNAC and All-West Region honors in 2017, hitting .418 with 44 runs, 12 homers, 37 RBIs and a blistering .733 slugging percentage. Sellevold batted .390 in 2017 and finished with 67 hits, 8 homers and a .628 slugging percentage. Both players are listed several times in the WWU career record book, with Benson holding top program marks for home runs (31) and Sellevold recording top 10 offensive listings in home runs (15), extra-base hits (52) and doubles (35). 

Two additional starters from the 2017 GNAC Championship squad return after sitting out the 2018 season due to injury. Senior shortstop Cylie Richards (Kennewick, WA/Kamiakin) has appeared in 82 career games (54 starts) in the middle infield and batted .250 (14-for-56) with 4 home runs in 2017. Sophomore outfielderMackenzie Palmer (Federal Way, WA/Todd Beamer) hit .304 (34-for-112) in 38 starts in 2017.

The Vikings feature six newcomers that have joined the program for the 2019 season, including junior college transfers middle infielder Tamia Hirano (Mililani, HI/Maryknoll/Edmonds CC) and pitcher/utility Seli Aholelei(Honolulu, HI/Henry J. Kaiser/Edmonds CC) who both played under Sheryl Gilmore at Edmonds Community College. Freshmen catcher/utility Sam Mutolo (Bothell, WA/Jackson), third baseman Brooke Fesenbek(Olympia, WA), catcher/outfielder Rachel Christensen (Everett, WA) and infielder Ciara Ortiz (Edmonds, WA/Edmonds-Woodway) will be making the transition to collegiate softball after standout prep careers.

The 2019 roster features four seniors, five juniors, eight sophomores and four freshman. WWU returns 12 starters (min. 20 games), including four players from 2017 that did not play last season, and 15 total letterwinners. WWU went 15-32 overall (9-19 GNAC) in 2018, but is just one season removed from winning the 2017 GNAC Championships and earning the first NCAA Tournament victory in program history.

WWU will play its first games of the season at Viking Field with a pair of doubleheaders against Montana State Billings in GNAC games March 2-3 (both start at noon). The Vikings first 15 games of the season will be on the road at the Desert Stinger (Las Vegas, NV), Dixie State Courtyard Classic (St. George, UT) and Cavalier Classic (Portland, OR). There are 14 home games on the 2019 schedule, all GNAC contests, with 10 in the month of March, and only four in April. The complete 2019 home schedule can be viewed at WWUVikings.com/Softball.

Sheryl Gilmore was hired as the fifth head coach during the 26-year history of the WWU Softball program, beginning her new position on Sept. 1, 2018. Gilmore returns to her alma mater after a successful four-year tenure as the head softball coach at Edmonds Community College, leading the Tritons to a 106-60 (.639) record, including a 66-42 (.611) mark against Northwest Athletic Conference (NWAC) North Division opponents. She guided Edmonds to the NWAC playoffs in three of her four seasons at the helm of the program (2016-18), including the North Region title in 2018 and a 3rd-place finish at the NWAC Tournament. Gilmore is a graduate of WWU, holding an bachelor of science degree in kinesiology and master of science in human movement and performance.

The WWU softball program enters its 27^th season in 2019 with an all-time winning percentage of .545 (633-529-1). The Vikings have posted a winning record in 16 seasons and made four trips to the NCAA Division II Championships. WWU won the 1998 NAIA National Championship to record the school's first team national title. Over the last five seasons the program has recorded a 135-104 (.565) and won the 2017 GNAC Tournament to advance to the NCAA II West Regional in Monterey, California. In the first game of the regional, the No. 8-seed Vikings beat top-seed and regional host Cal State Monterey Bay for the program's first NCAA Championships victory.

-- WWU Softball --