BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington University softball team split its Great Northwest Athletic Conference doubleheader vs. Simon Fraser University on Tuesday at Viking Field, with both games featuring tight 2-1 contests.

 

The Vikings remain in 2^nd place in the GNAC standings with a 24-13 overall record and 13-7 mark in conference play. WWU is 1-4 over its last five games after winning 10 of its previous 11 games. The Vikings took three of the four games from SFU in the season series. The doubleheader split vs. SFU ended a 15-day stretch where the Vikings played 14 games, with 12 on the road, going 9-5.

 

WWU won the opening game of the doubleheader on a pinch-hit, bases loaded, walk-off single by freshman Brooke Fesenbek and came within a few feet of sweeping the doubleheader in the 2-1 loss in the nightcap.

 

Junior designated player Paityn Cyr hit the top of the left field fence on a double, that would have given the Vikings a 3-2 lead with a home run, but the potential tying run was thrown out at the plate on the play. WWU also had a runner thrown out at home plate in the 4^th inning, with both outfield assists by SFU left fielder Hailey Gearey. 

 

Senior All-America candidate Emily Benson went 3-for-6 in the doubleheader, becoming WWU's all-time hits leader. Her single in the 4^th inning of the gave her 199 career hits to pas Michelle Wrigley (2008-11) for the most hits in program history. She later added her 200^th career hit with a single in the 6^th inning. 

 

Senior Makinlee Sellevold recorded the win in the circle in the first game, scattering seven hits and allowing one run in the complete-game victory. She improved to 16-9 on the season, the 59^th win of her career.

 

Simon Fraser freshman pitcher Anissa Zacharczuk pitched all 13.1 innings for the Clan in the doubleheader, allowing 11 hits and 3 runs.

 

The Vikings are off this weekend and return to action hosting Western Oregon and Concordia April 19-20 in the final home games of the season. WWU wraps up the 2019 regular season with a four-game series at Northwest Nazarene April 26-27. All remaining games, home and road, will stream online and feature live statistical updates at GNAC.tv.

 

 

Freshman Brooke Fesenbek delivered a one-out, pinch-hit single with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 7^th inning to send the Vikings to a 2-1 walk-off victory in the first game of the doubleheader.

 

Both teams were scoreless through the first four innings with WWU's Makinlee Sellevold and SFU's Anissa Zacharczuk locked in a pitchers' duel.

 

SFU struck first with a run in the top of the 5^th inning on a one-out RBI single by third baseman Alex Ogg. Threatening to add more runs, WWU senior shortstop Cylie Richards turned a nifty 6-3 double play tagging the runner advancing from second base and firing to first base to end the inning.

 

The Vikings knotted the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the 5^th on a run-scoring double to left field by sophomore Lauren Lo. 

 

Sellevold set the Clan down in order in the 6^th and 7^th innings, setting up the walk-off heroics for Fesenbek. Richards led off with a single down the right field line. A walk to junior center fielder Jackie Lucido and single by Lo loaded the bases with one out. Fesenbek pinch-hit for Mackenzie Palmer and delivered the game-winner on a 1-1 pitch with a drive to the right field gap to score Lucido. 

 

Sellevold (16-9) earned the complete-game victory scattering 7 hits while allowing only one run.

 

Lo was 2-for-3 and senior first baseman Emily Benson was 1-for-3 moving into a tie for the top spot on the program's all-time hits list with 198 in her career.

 

 

 

Simon Fraser jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the first three innings, and threw out a pair of runners at home plate, to secure a 2-1 victory over the Vikings in the second game of the doubleheader.

 

The Clan scored a run in the top of the 2^nd innings on a single by left fielder Hailey Gearey and added to their lead in the 3^rd inning on a two-out RBI single by catcher Amanda Janes. 

 

WWU pushed a run across in the bottom of the 4^th inning on a two-out double by senior shortstop Cylie Richards, but also had a runner thrown out at the plate earlier in the inning.

 

Western starting pitcher Shearyna Labasan allowed only two hits over the last four innings, but the two early runs by the Clan held up.

 

SFU starter Anissa Zacharczuk wiggled out of jams in the 6^th and 7^th innings to secure the victory.

 

Senior first baseman Emily Benson legged out an infield single with two outs in the bottom of the 6^thinning to put the potential tying run on base. Junior designated player Paityn Cyr nearly gave the Vikings the lead with a drive off the top of the left field fence, inches from a go-ahead home run, but Benson was thrown out at the plate on another great throw by SFU left fielder Geary.

 

WWU put the potential tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position with one out in the bottom of the 7^th inning, but Zacharczuk got a pop-out and flyout to end the game for the one-run victory. 

 

Benson went 2-for-3 setting the WWU all-time hits record and Cyr was 2-for-3 with her 9^th double of the season. 

 

SFU third baseman Alex Ogg went 3-for-4 to finish the day 5-for-7 at the plate.

 

 

WWU (24-13, 13-7 GNAC) is off this weekend and returns to action hosting Western Oregon (Friday, April 19, 1 pm) and Concordia (Saturday, April 20, 12 pm) in the final home games of the season at Viking Field. The Saturday doubleheader will be Senior Day for Emily Benson, Makinlee Sellevold, Shearyna Labasan and Cylie Richards.

 

Here is an updated look at the standings in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference through games played on Tuesday. WWU is in 2^nd place at 13-7 in conference play 20 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.