MONMOUTH, Ore. – The Western Washington University softball team opened Great Northwest Athletic Conference play with a pair of road shutouts over Western Oregon University on Saturday at WOU Softball Field.

 

The Vikings improved to 11-3 on the season and have won eight of their last nine games, defeating the Wolves 8-0 in 5 innings in the first game and 3-0 in the nightcap. WWU out-scored WOU 11-0 in the pair of GNAC games.

 

Senior Anna Kasner and junior Kira Doan combined to allow only seven hits in the pair of shutouts, with each player contributing key hits to help their own cause. The duo combined to walk only one batter and record 16 strikeouts in 12.0 innings. 

 

In the opening game Kasner hit a 3-run home run to go along with a 10-strikeout performance and in the nightcap Doan went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI while tossing a 4-hit shutout with 6 strikeouts.

 

The consecutive shutouts marked just the second time that WWU has recorded a doubleheader sweep on the road over a conference opponent without allowing a run in the 20-year history of playing in the GNAC (since 2002). WWU also shut out WOU 5-0 and 6-0 in a conference doubleheader on April 30, 2003. It is also the first back-to-back road shutouts (not doubleheader) in GNAC play for the Vikings since March 5-6, 2010 at Northwest Nazarene.

 

The accomplishment for Kasner (Milton, WA/Fife) and Doan (Brier, WA/Mountlake Terrace) is something they have done before, only in home games. The duo both threw 1-hit shutouts against NNU on March 7, 2020 at Viking field with wins of 4-0 and 6-0.

 

Junior first baseman Dakota Brooks (Pe Ell, WA/Centralia College) went 3-for-5 with her team-leading third home run during the day and junior shortstop Tatum Dow (Issaquah, WA/Bellevue College) was 3-for-6 with a double.

 

The Vikings (11-3, 2-0 GNAC) and Wolves (3-3, 0-2 GNAC) complete their four-game GNAC series Sunday with first pitch scheduled for 11 am at WOU Softball Field. The game will feature a live webcast with direct links available at WWUVikings.com/Live.

 

The Vikings run-ruled the Wolves in a 8-0, 5-inning victory to open the doubleheader, with Anna Kasner leading the way at the plate and in the circle.

 

Kasner went 2-for-3 with a 3-run home run and threw 3-hit shutout with 10 strikeouts for her sixth win of the season. 

 

Shortstop Tatum Dow collected three hits (3-for-4) and drove in a pair of runs and first baseman Dakota Brooks was 2-for-2 with a walk and hit her team-leading third home run of the season. Designated player Brooke Fesenbek continued her hot hitting going 2-for-3 and drilled her sixth double of the season.

 

After leaving the bases loaded in the top of the 1^st inning, the Vikings made sure to not squander many opportunities the rest of the way scoring in each of the next three innings.

 

Western scored the go-ahead run in the 2^nd inning when WOU shortstop Sydney Bowers dropped an infield fly and went up 2-0 on a one-out solo home run by Brooks in the 3^rdinning. 

 

The Vikings pulled away with four runs in the top of the 4^th inning, with Dow driving in a run with an infield single and Kasner hitting a 3-run home run over the left field fence. Pinch-hitter Tori McDowell and Dow hit back-to-back run-scoring doubles in the top of the 5^th inning to give the Vikings the 8-run cushion to invoke the run rule.

 

WOU starting pitcher Chandler Bishop (0-1) was saddled with the loss allowing 11 hits and 8 runs (4 ER) while pitching all 5.0 innings. 

SB🥎 | Anna Kasner helps her own cause with a 3-run home run, as part of a 4-run 4th inning to put @WWU_Softball up 6-0 over Western Oregon in the first game of a #GNACSB doubleheader.

Bottom 4th
WWU - 6
WOU - 0

📺 https://t.co/xqN77YSOc1
📊 https://t.co/wrHNf7yoAm pic.twitter.com/zbWLMCRVMx
— WWU Athletics (@WWUAthletics) March 20, 2021
  

 

 

 

The Vikings completed the doubleheader sweep with a pitching gem from junior Kira Doan, who scattered four hits in the complete-game victory to improve to 4-2 on the season.

 

Doan struck out six batters and only walked one, and helped her own cause going 2-for-4 and drove in the game-winning run with a 2-run single in the top of the 6^th inning.

 

Doan and WOU starter Reilly Tidwell were locked in a pitcher's duel with the game scoreless through the first five innings. 

 

WOU threatened in the bottom of the 5^th inning putting a pair of runners in scoring position with zero outs, but Doan worked out of the jam with a groundout, strikeout and lineout that left fielder Rylie Wales made a nice play on to keep the game scoreless.

 

WWU scored the only runs it would need in the top of the 6^th inning when Doan delivered a 2-run single to left-center field and junior second baseman Chantelle Shimabukuro plated a run with a sacrifice fly to center field.

 

Senior center fielder Lauren Lo went 2-for-4 to record her team-leading seventh multi-hit game of the season.

SB🥎 | Kira Doan helping her own cause with a huge 2-run single to break up the scoreless game in the top of the 6th inning.

🔝6
WWU - 2 (still batting)
WOU - 0

📺 https://t.co/xqN77YSOc1
📊 https://t.co/wrHNf7yoAm pic.twitter.com/cw8ATYOq2Y
— WWU Athletics (@WWUAthletics) March 21, 2021
  

 

 

The Vikings (11-3) complete their four-game series vs. Western Oregon on Sunday with first pitch of the GNAC doubleheader scheduled for 11 am in Monmouth. With no fans allowed due to GNAC and COVID protocols, fans can follow the action online with a direct link available for your computers and devices at WWUVikings.com/SB_Watch.

 

Senior Anna Kasner recorded 10 strikeouts in her game one victory, recording the 15^th double-digit strikeout game of her career. She remains in 2^nd place in WWU history with 456 strikeouts, now 22 short of the record held by Jackie Quint (478, 2004-07). Kasner is also 5^th in the 20-year history of the GNAC in total strikeouts and 2^nd averaging 8.92 K/7.0 IP. The shutout was also the 17^th of her career, moving her alone into 2^nd in WWU history one away from the record 18 set by Amanda Grant from 2000-03 (6^th in GNAC history). Here is a look at where Kasner ranks in both WWU and GNAC history for strikeouts:

 

 

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 its 29^th season in 2021, with the Vikings posting a winning record 17 times. WWU won the 1998 NAIA National Championship in only its sixth season 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 172-134 and won the 2017 GNAC Tournament to advance to the NCAA II West Regional in Monterey, California. Head coach Sheryl Gilmore is in her third season at the helm of the program in 2020 after leading WWU to 27 wins, tied for the 10^th-most in program history, in her first campaign in 2019.