ST. GEORGE, Utah – The Western Washington University softball team closed out a season-opening 10-game road trip splitting a pair of games on Saturday at the Dixie State Courtyard Classic at Canyons Softball Complex.

WWU opened the day with an 8-6 win over St. Mary's (TX) and closed tournament play with a narrow 2-1 loss to host Dixie State. The Vikings completed the three-day tournament with a 3-2 record and are 4-6 through the first 10 games of the season. 

Junior third baseman Megan Marino combined to go 3-for-5 with a double, home run and 6 RBI in the two games on Saturday to lead the Vikings offensively.

Junior second baseman Chantelle Shimabukuro recorded a hit in each game to extend her hitting streak to eight consecutive games.

Junior pitcher Anna Kasner recorded her first career save in the win over St. Mary's and was saddled with the tough-luck loss in a complete-game effort vs Dixie State (6.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 5 SO). Overall she was 2-1 with a 1.05 ERA (3 ER, 20.0 IP) in the tournament with 31 strikeouts and threw the 10^thno-hitter in program history.

WWU started the day with an 8-6 victory, jumping out to an early 7-1 lead, and then held on for the victory.

The Vikings got off to a quick start with four runs in the top of the 1^st inning, benefiting from five walks, and a 2-run single by third baseman Megan Marino. 

Marino came up with the big hit again with a 3-run home run to center field in the bottom of the 3^rdinning to extend the lead to 7-1.

The Rattlers rallied with five runs in the top of the 5^th inning, including a 3-run home run by Abigail Carney to cut the lead to 8-6.

Junior pitcher Anna Kasner entered the game in relief in the 6^th inning, wiggling her way out of a bases loaded jam to keep the two-run lead. She worked around a one-out walk in the 7^th inning to record her first career save. 

Marino went 2-for-3 with a career-high 5 RBI and hit her first career home run to lead the Vikings 9-hit attack. Sophomore catcher Rachel Christensen added a pair of hits going 2-for-3 with 2 runs scored and junior left fielder Rylie Wales reached base three times, going 1-for-2 with 2 runs scored and 2 walks.

Junior Kira Doan (1-2) picked up her first win of the season allowing 10 hits and 6 runs (3 ER) in 5.0 innings and Kasner closed out the win with 4 strikeouts in 2.0 scoreless innings. 

The Vikings rallied to score a run on a pair of doubles in the top of the 7^th inning, but couldn't complete the comeback falling 2-1 to tournament host Dixie State in the final game of the Courtyard Classic.

Dixie State redshirt freshman Ashtyn Bauerle recorded the complete-game shutout to lead the Trailblazers to the narrow victory, allowing 5 hits in 7.0 innings.

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WWU junior Anna Kasner gave another solid pitching performance allowing only two runs in the complete-game effort, scattering six hits. She recorded the tough-luck loss to fall to 3-3 on the season.

Dixie State took the lead on a two-out, run-scoring single by right fielder Shea Clements in the bottom of the 4^th inning. The Trailblazers added an insurance run in the 6^th inning with another two-out single, this time with center fielder Kasey Crawford shooting a ball up the middle to extend the lead to 2-0.

Down to their final at-bat, senior center fielder Jackie Lucido drilled a one-out double to left-center field and scored on another double to the gap by junior third baseman Megan Marino. With the tying run on second base, Vikings leading hitter Chantelle Shimabukuro struck out on a 2-2 pitch to end the contest. 

WWU played error free in the field for the first time in 10 games this season.

The Vikings (4-6, 0-0 GNAC) return home from their lengthy 10-game road trip to California and Utah, and will host the University of British Columbia in a doubleheader on Friday (Feb. 14) at Viking Field. First pitch for the non-conference doubleheader vs. the Thunderbirds is scheduled for 11 am.

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 28^th 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 10^th-most in program history, in her first campaign in 2019.