BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Playing the earliest home games in program, the Western Washington University softball team split a doubleheader against the University of British Columbia on Friday at Viking Field.
WWU dropped the opening game 4-1, but rebounded with a 4-0 victory behind a Anna Kasner shutout in the nightcap.
The Vikings are now 5-7 on the season and are off until opening Great Northwest Athletic Conference play on February 29 and March 1 with a home-and-home doubleheader against border rival Simon Fraser University.
Senior center fielder Jackie Lucido and junior left fielder Lauren Lo each went 3-for-6 in the doubleheader, with junior first baseman Dakota Brooks also recording a pair of hits in the two games.
In the circle, Kasner picked up the complete-game shutout in the nightcap to improve to 4-3 on the season with a 1.71 ERA. She struck out 9 batters to add to her already NCAA Division II leading season total (now with 61 strikeouts).
While totaling 11 hits in the two games, the Vikings were limited to five runs scored going 5-for-21 with runners in scoring position and left 17 total runners on base.
"We have plenty of things to work on, but we will keep building," said WWU head coach Sheryl Gilmore. "We are excited that we are figuring a lot of things out now and learning a lot about ourselves early. We will figure it out and put it all together."
The Vikings were limited to five hits and were 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position in the 4-1 loss in the opening game of the doubleheader.
UBC broke a scoreless tie with three runs off WWU freshman starter Kaelynn Simmons in the top of the 4th inning and added an insurance run in the top of the 6th.
WWU scored its lone run in the 5th inning on a RBI single by junior left fielder Lauren Lo.
Senior designated player Paityn Cyr recorded a 3rd-inning double for her 40th career extra-base hit, moving into a tie for 9th in WWU history with her 22nd career double.
The Vikings had a chance to score early in the game, but were just 1-for-8 with RISP through the first three inning and left 7 runners on base.
Simmons (0-2) took the loss, while UBC starter Shelby Kempel earned the win in the Thunderbirds season opener. UBC center fielder Mia Valcke was 2-for-4 and first baseman Olivia Malesku was 1-for-2 with a 2-run single.
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British Columbia 4, WWU 1 (Feb. 14, 2020 at Bellingham, WA) – Game 1
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Score by Innings
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1
|
2
|
3
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4
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
-
|
R
|
H
|
E
|
LOB
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Record
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British Columbia
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0
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0
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0
|
3
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0
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1
|
0
|
-
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4
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9
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2
|
8
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(0-0)
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|
Western Washington
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0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
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-
|
1
|
5
|
2
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12
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(4-6)
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UBC – Kempel, Hendrickson (5) and Britten-Yung, Trembath (5)
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WWU – Simmons, Doan (4) and Christensen
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Win: Kempel (1-0) Save: Hendrickson (1) Loss: Simmons (0-2)
WWU HR: None UBC HR: None
Time of Game: 2:16
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WWU junior starting pitcher Anna Kasner tossed a complete-game shutout, striking out nine batters in the 4-0 victory in the nightcap.
In addition to another strong performance in the circle, Kasner helped her own cause going 1-for-3 with a 2-run single.
The only scoring of the game came in the bottom of the 3rd inning with junior first baseman Dakota Brooks and Kasner tabbed consecutive 2-out, 2-run singles to give the Vikings the 4-0 lead. Junior left fielder Lauren Lo started the rally with a leadoff single, setting up the big hits by Brooks and Kasner.
Kasner scattered 6 hits while recording her 11th career shutout.
Senior center fielder Jackie Lucido went 2-for-3 to extend her hitting streak to three consecutive games and Lo went 1-for-3 to extend her hitting streak to six straight.
UBC first baseman Emily Horne went 3-for-3 to account for half of the Thunderbirds hits.
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WWU 4, British Columbia 0 (Feb. 14, 2020 at Bellingham, WA) – Game 2
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Score by Innings
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1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
-
|
R
|
H
|
E
|
LOB
|
Record
|
|
British Columbia
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0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
-
|
0
|
6
|
1
|
10
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(1-1)
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Western Washington
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0
|
0
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4
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0
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0
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0
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x
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-
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4
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6
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0
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5
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(5-7)
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UBC – Begin, Kempel (4) and Salas. Malesku (4)
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WWU – Kasner and Matthews
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Win: Kasner (4-3) Save: None Loss: Begin (0-1)
WWU HR: None UBC HR: None
Time of Game: 1:59 Attendance: 101
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The Vikings are off until Feb. 29 and March 1 when they open Great Northwest Athletic Conference play with consecutive doubleheaders against Simon Fraser University. WWU hosts the Clan on Saturday (2/29) with games starting at noon and then travels north of the border for a doubleheader on Sunday also starting at noon at Beedie Field.
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!
The WWU softball program enters the 28th season in program history, with the Vikings posting a winning record in 17 seasons. WWU won the 1998 NAIA National Championship to record the school's first ever team national title and has made four trips to the NCAA Division II Regional Championships, last in 2017. Over the last six seasons (since 2014), the Vikings are 162-122 (.555) and won the 2017 GNAC Tournament to advance to the NCAA II West Regional in Monterey, California. Head coach Sheryl Gilmore is in her second season at the helm of the program in 2019, leading WWU to 27 wins, tied for the 10th-most in program history, in her first campaign in 2019.
