LACEY, Wash. – The Western Washington University softball team split its Great Northwest Athletic Conference doubleheader against Saint Martin's on Saturday, winning the first game 11-3 and falling on a walk-off home run 6-4 in the second game. 

 

WWU had its six-game winning streak snapped in the second game of the doubleheader, but opened the second half of conference play with the road split and is in 2^nd place in the GNAC with a 12-4 record heading into tomorrow's doubleheader with rival and first-place Central Washington (11-3) in Ellensburg. WWU is 23-10 overall and has won 18 of its last 23 games.

 

Senior Makinlee Sellevold recorded both pitching decisions in the doubleheader, allowing 5 runs on 8 hits in 10.2 innings. She also went 2-for-9 with 3 runs scored and one RBI at the plate.

 

Senior first baseman All-America candidate Emily Benson was intentionally walked in seven of her eight plate appearances, as Saint Martin's was careful to not have the defending National Player of the Week hurt them at the plate.

 

Overall WWU batted .304 (17-for-56) on the day, including a .316 mark with runners in scoring position (6-for-19) and .421 (8-for-19) with two outs.

 

Senior Shearyna Labasan was 2-for-4 with 3 runs, 3 walks and 2 RBI in the doubleheader and sophomore outfielder Lauren Lo was 3-for-7 with 2 runs scored.

 

Junior designated player Paityn Cyr went 2-for-6 with a grand slam and 5 RBI. It was her second grand slam of the season and the fourth by WWU in 2019 to tie the season-season record set in 2017.

 

WWU completes its 13-game road trip on Sunday in Ellensburg with a doubleheader vs. CWU starting at noon at Gary & Bobbi Frederick Field. Both games will stream online and feature live statistical updates at GNAC.tv.

 

 

The Vikings scored eight unanswered runs over the final two innings to handle the Saints 11-3 in the opening game of the doubleheader.

 

WWU took the early lead 3-0 in the top of the 3^rd inning when senior pitcher Makinlee Sellevold drilled a run-scoring double down the right field line and junior center fielder Jackie Lucido added to the lead with a 2-out, 2-run single up the middle. 

 

The Saints got back in the game with one swing of the bat when Sabrina Hicks hit a 3-run home run, her team-leading 7^th of the season, in the bottom half of the 3^rd inning to knot the game 3-3. 

 

Both teams were held scoreless in the 4^th and 5^th innings, with Sellevold wiggling out of a bases loaded jam in the bottom of the 5^th inning to keep the game tied. 

 

The Vikings erupted over the final two frames, with the 6-run 6^th inning proving to be the deciding factor. Sophomore left fielder Lauren Lo plated the go-ahead run with a single down the left field line to score Kira Doan, who reached with a one-out single. 

 

After Lo scored on a wild pitch, senior third baseman Shearyna Labasan and Sellevold tabbed two-out singles and senior first baseman Emily Benson drew her fourth intentional walk of the game. Junior designated player Paityn Cyr made the Saints pay with a no-doubt grand slam to right field for her fourth home run of the season and 15^th of her career.

 

Labasan brought the game to the final score of 11-3 with a 2-run home run, her first longball of the season, in the top of the 7^th inning.

 

Sellevold improved to 15-7 on the season with her fourth consecutive victory. The senior right-hander allowed 4 hits and 3 runs in the complete-game effort, striking out 8 while allowing 3 walks. After allowing the 3-run home run in the 3^rd inning, Sellevold gave up only one hit over the final 4.0 innings.

 

WWU recorded 10 hits, the 10^th time in the last 13 games with double-digits in the hit column, with Labasan (2-for-3, 3 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB), Sellevold (2-for-5, 2B, 2 R, RBI) and Lo (2-for-3, 2 R, BB) recording multi-hit games. 

 

SMU starter Brandi Schoessler was saddled with the loss to fall to 12-5 of the season, allowing 8 hits and 9 runs in 5.2 innings. She walked 8 batters and struck out 4.

 

 

 

The Vikings battled back to tie the game on a two-out, run-scoring single in the top of the 7^th inning, but Saint Martin's salvaged the doubleheader split with a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 7^thinning for a 6-4 victory.

 

The Saints built an early 2-0 lead after their first at-bat, but the Vikings tied the game with a pair of runs in the top of the 2^nd inning. Junior center fielder Jackie Lucido led off the frame with a home run down the left field line.

 

SMU extended its lead to 4-2 with a pair of runs off WWU starter Shearyna Labasan in the bottom of the 3^rd inning.

 

WWU chipped away at the lead with a run in the 5^th inning on a two-out RBI double by designated player Paityn Cyr, but stranded a pair of runners in scoring position to end the inning trailing 4-3.

 

Down to its last out in the top of the 7^th inning, senior shortstop Cylie Richards tabbed a run-scoring single on a 0-2 pitch to tie the game 4-4.

 

Relief pitcher Makinlee Sellevold (15-8) got two quick outs in the bottom of the 7^th inning looking to force the game into extra innings, but designated player Alyssa French ended the game with a 2-run, walk-off home run to left field.

 

Lucido went 2-for-4 at the plate as the Vikings were limited to 7 hits while having their six-game winning streak snapped.

 

Right fielder Emery Norwood (2-for-4), center fielder Lauren Diuco (2-for-4), French (2-for-3) and left fielder Regan Byrd (3-for-3) all tabbed multi-hit games for the Saints. Relief pitcher Brandi Schoessler (13-5) recorded the win allowing one run on two hits in 1.1 innings.

 

WWU finished the season series vs. the Saints 3-1, after Saint Martin's won all four games last season.

 

 

WWU (23-10, 12-4 GNAC) head East over the mountains to face rival Central Washington (20-12, 11-3) in a GNAC doubleheader starting at noon at Gary & Bobbi Frederick Field. The game will stream and feature live statistical updates at GNAC.tv.

 

Here is an updated look at the standings in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference through games played on Monday. WWU is in 2^nd place at 12-4 in conference play 16 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.