BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington University softball team got offensive on Sunday, recording 23 hits and scoring 21 runs in a doubleheader sweep over Saint Martin's in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play at Viking Field.

 

The Vikings bounced back from a pair of losses on Saturday vs. Central Washington to sweep the games vs. SMU, 9-1 and 12-5, improving to 15-8 overall and 9-3 in conference play. WWU is now 6-2 in home games at Viking Field. Saint Martin's dropped to 12-10 overall and 5-3 in GNAC play after sweeping Simon Fraser on Saturday.

 

"It was great to see the team bounce back and do what they normally do. Their goal today was just to learn from yesterday, stay together, and play their game. I think they did a great job of that," said WWU head coach Sheryl Gilmore. "Today was a total team effort and they really had each other's backs out there. It's so fun to watch these seniors play free and let it fly for their last season of softball."

 

Senior first baseman Emily Benson led the WWU offensive outburst, going 4-for-4 with 4 runs scored, 2 home runs, 5 RBI and three intentional walks combined in the doubleheader. Benson is now batting .443 (31-for-70) on the season with 21 runs scored, 8 home runs and 29 RBI. She hit her 38^th and 39^th career home runs, extending her WWU record and moving into a tie for 3^rd in GNAC history.

 

Senior shortstop Cylie Richards was 3-for-6 with 4 runs scored vs. the Saints, with her first-inning grand slam in the opening game providing an early cushion in the 9-1 victory. The slam was the third of the season for the Vikings, tying for 2^nd-most in the 27 years of program history. 

 

In addition to the grand slam by Richards and pair of home runs by Benson, sophomore outfielder Lauren Lo hit the Vikings fourth and biggest home run of the day with a tie-breaking 3-run home run in the 5^th inning of the 12-5 win in the second game of the doubleheader.

That home run trot feeling, right @lauren_lo11!!!!! pic.twitter.com/KA76gRkPau
— WWU Softball (@WWU_Softball) March 18, 2019

In addition to recording 23 hits and 21 runs, the Viking offense combined to go 12-for-24 (.500) with runners in scoring position and were 12-for-21 (.571) with two outs against the Saints. WWU is batting a GNAC-best .363 (82-for-226) with runners in scoring position this season and are 16-for-34 (.471) with the bases loaded.

 

Senior starting pitcher Makinlee Sellevold (Game 1) and Shearyna Labasan (Game 2) each recorded complete-game victories, combining for a 1.75 ERA (3 ER, 12.0 IP) on the day. Sellevold notched her GNAC-leading ninth win of the season and 53^rd of her career to gain sole possession of 5^th in GNAC history. 

 

WWU will take next week off for final exams and returns to the diamond on Monday, March 25 with a GNAC doubleheader at Simon Fraser in Burnaby with games at 2 and 4 pm. The games vs. SFU begins a busy spring break for the Vikings that features nine games, including a non-conference doubleheader at Sonoma State (3/27) and five games in the Tournament of Champions in Turlock, California.

 

"We have some things to work on, but our goal is to continue to get better each time we step on the field," added Gilmore. "The best is still ahead for this group."

 

 

The Vikings opened the doubleheader with a 9-1 victory in 5 innings with the 8-run mercy rule coming into play.

 

WWU scored eight runs in the first two innings, getting off to a quick start with five runs in the 1^st and three more in the 2^nd inning.

 

The Vikings jumped out to an early lead scoring five runs in their first at-bat. Emily Benson got the scoring started with a two-out single up the middle to score leadoff hitter Shearyna Labasan. After an infield single by Paityn Cyr and walk by Kira Doan, Richards drilled a 0-1 pitch over the center field fence for her first career grand slam.

 

SMU got on the board in the top of the 2^nd with a run-scoring single by Emery Norwood down the left field line.

 

WWU answered with three more two-out runs in the bottom of the 2^nd inning to extend the lead to 8-1.Makinlee Sellevold drove in a run with a single to center field and Emily Benson followed with a homer to left-center field.

 

Labasan ended the game with a bases loaded single with one out in the bottom of the 5^th inning to give the Vikings a walk-off win leading by at least eight runs after five complete innings.

 

Sellevold recorded the complete-game victory allowing 4 hits and one run in 5.0 innings, improving to 9-6 on the season. It was also her 52^nd career victory, extending her WWU all-time record, and gaining sole possession of 5^th-place in the GNAC record book.

 

Benson led WWU's 10-hit attack going 3-for-3 for her team-leading 11^th multi-hit game of the season.Cyr (2-for-3, R) and Richards (2-for-3, 2 R, HR, 4 RBI) also tabbed multi-hit games. Sellevold went 1-for-3 with one RBI to extend her hitting streak to 11 consecutive games.

 

All but one of the Vikings runs came with two outs, going 8-for-12 at the plate with two outs on the scoreboard and 5-for-7 with runners in scoring position.

 

SMU junior Lauren Maley (1-7) recorded the loss in the circle allowing 8 hits and 8 runs in 4.0 innings.

 

 

 

The Vikings battled back from a 5-3 deficit, scoring nine unanswered runs over the final three innings, to cap the doubleheader sweep with a 12-5 victory.

 

Sophomore Lauren Lo broke a 5-5 tie with a 3-run home run in the 5^th inning, her first longball of the season, to put the Vikings ahead for good.

 

The Saints got on the board first with three runs in their first at-bat, with shortstop Sabrina Hicks hitting a 3-run home run for her team-leading fifth home run of the season. 

 

WWU answered with Emily Benson plating a pair of runs in the bottom of the 1^st inning with her eighth home run of the season, a two-run shot to left-center field for her third homer of the weekend.

 

The Vikings knotted the game 3-3 in the bottom of the 2^nd on a bad-hop single with two outs by Shearyna Labasan. 

 

SMU forged back ahead with a pair of unearned runs in the top of the 3^rd inning, with a pair of WWU errors proving to be costly.

 

Western cut into the lead and nearly tied the game in the bottom of the 4^th inning. Paityn Cyr followed an intentional walk to Benson with a double off the left field wall to bring in a run. Benson was thrown out at home plate trying to score the game-tying run from first base.

 

WWU tied the game in the bottom of the 5^th inning with a pinch-hit RBI single by Makinlee Sellevold that glanced off the glove of SMU shortstop Sabrina Hicks. Lo followed with a long drive to right-center field for her second career home run to give the Vikings an 8-5 lead.

 

With starting pitcher Shearyna Labasan in cruise control, the Vikings added four more runs in the 6^thinning to put the game away for the 12-5 victory.

 

Labasan improved to 4-2 on the season, allowing 5 runs (2 ER) and only 3 hits in the complete-game victory.

 

Freshman third baseman Brooke Fesenbek went 3-for-4 with a double, 2 runs scored and a pair of RBI to lead the Vikings 13-hit attack. Lo was 2-for-4 with a career-high 4 RBI and Labasan helped her own cause going 2-for-4 with 2 runs scored. Benson went 1-for-1 and tied a WWU single-game record with three intentional walks.

 

Saint Martin's junior starting pitcher Brandi Schoessler entered the day as the GNAC's wins leader at 9-1, but the Vikings handed the right-hander her second loss of the season. Schoessler (9-2) allowed 13 hits and 12 runs (10 ER) in 6.0 innings.

 

 

WWU (15-8, 9-3 GNAC) will take next week off for final exams for the winter quarter and returns to play on Monday, March 25 with a road GNAC doubleheader at Simon Fraser (2 & 4 pm). Both games will stream and feature live statistical updates on GNAC.tv.

 

Here is an updated look at the standings in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference through games played on Sunday. WWU is 9-3 in conference play 12 games into the 28-game conference schedule.

 

 

Up-to-date season information, including season statistics, bios, roster, schedule and historical information can be viewed online at WWUVikings.com/Softball. WWU Softball also has a strong social media presence on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, so give them a follow!

 

If you can't make it to Viking Field to watch the home games in person, you can tune in to VikingsTV to catch all the action…all GNAC games, home and road, will stream live and feature live stats at GNAC.tv, with home games also streamed live on YouTube…in addition to being available online, all conference matches are available via the GNAC channel on Roku, Apple TV, Android TV and Amazon Fire TV…live links can be accessed through WWUVikings.com/Live.

 

The WWU softball program is in its 27^th season, with the Vikings posting 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 ever team national title. Over the last five seasons leading up to the 2019 season, the Vikings recorded a 135-104 (.565) record 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. Head coach Sheryl Gilmore is in her first season at the helm of the program.