BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington University softball team won two of three games over Montana State Billings during a rare Great Northwest Athletic Conference tripleheader Friday at Viking Field.

 

WWU (14-5, 5-2 GNAC) won the first two games by identical scores of 3-1, before MSUB (6-17, 2-5 GNAC) rallied for a 6-4 win in the finale. The two teams complete the four-game conference series Saturday with a single game scheduled to start at 10 am. Friday was a scheduled doubleheader, but with rain in the forecast Saturday, it was decided to play three games on Friday.

 

Junior shortstop Tatum Dow combined to go 6-for-9 with a pair of doubles in the three games and sophomore Brooke Fesenbek went 4-for-10 with a home run. 

 

Kira Doan recorded a win in relief and took the loss in the finale, combining to allow six runs in 8.2 innings. Anna Kasner combined to allow one run in 8.0 innings in two appearances, including earning the save in the first game. Freshman Sydney Brown recorded a win allowing one unearned run in 4.0 innings.

 

 

The Vikings received a pair of clutch two-out run-scoring singles from Rylie Wales (4^th inning) and Brooke Fesenbek (5^th inning), and another dominating pitching performance in a 3-1 victory in the first. 

 

Freshman starting pitcher Sydney Brown (2-1) earned the win scattering five hits and allowing one unearned run in 4.0 innings. Senior Anna Kasner finished the win retiring nine of the 10 batters she faced, with six strikeouts, to earn her second career save.

 

Trailed 1-0, WWU tied the game in the bottom of the 3^rd inning on a one-out sacrifice fly by first baseman Dakota Brooks. A leadoff walk to second baseman Chantelle Shimabukuro and a double down the left field line by center fielder Lauren Lo set up the game-tying run.

 

Western forged ahead in the 4^th inning when right fielder Mackenzie Palmer drilled a two-out double down the left field line and then scored when Wales hit a soft line drive to left-center field on a 1-2 pitch to plate the go-ahead run. Fesenbek added an insurance run with a two-out RBI single to score Lo in the bottom of the 5^th inning.

 

Making her first relief appearance of the season, Kasner retired the first eight batters she faced before allowing a two-out walk in the top of the 7^th inning.

 

MSUB leadoff hitter Taylor Anderson went 2-for-4 with a run scored to lead the Yellowjackets at the plate. Starting pitcher Alyssa Etheridge (2-3) recorded the complete-game loss allowing three runs in 6.0 innings (3 BB, 5 K).

 

 

 

Left fielder Tori McDowell broke a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the 6^th inning with a 2-run single up the middle to send the Vikings to a 3-1 win in the second game of Friday's tripleheader.

 

WWU won its fourth consecutive behind yet another solid pitching performance, with starter Anna Kasner (5.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 3 K) and Kira Doan (2.0 IP, H, 2 K) combining to allow one run on five hits. Doan earned the win in her fourth consecutive appearance to improve to 6-2 on the season.

 

The Vikings took the early lead on back-to-back two-out doubles by right fielder Mackenzie Palmer and second baseman Chantelle Shimabukuro. 

 

MSUB tied the game in the top of the 3^rd inning on a two-out single by Taylor Anderson, which would stand as the lone run of the game for the Yellowjackets. Freshman starting pitcher Jenna Kister (2-4) was saddled with the loss allowing eight hits and three runs (2 ER) in the complete-game effort. She struck out four and did not walk a batter.

 

 

 

The Vikings held a 4-2 lead heading into the final inning of play, but MSUB rallied for four runs in the top of the 7^th inning to take the final game of the tripleheader 6-4.

 

WWU built a 4-2 lead with a pair of runs in the 1^st inning, and single tallies in the 5^th and 6^th innings. Brooke Fesenbek went 2-for-4 a solo home run and Tatum Dow was 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles.

 

MSUB first baseman Brittanee Fisher went 2-for-4 with a pair of home runs, including a game-tying 2-run homer to right-center field in the top of the 7^th inning. Catcher Skyler Jenkins broke the 4-4 tie with a 2-run double to left-center field to give the Yellowjackets a 6-4 lead. 

 

Julia Qualteri earned the complete-game victory, scattering 10 hits and four runs (3 ER) in 7.0 innings.

 

WWU starter Kira Doan (6-3) took the loss allowing 10 hits and six runs (5 ER) in 6.2 innings. She struck out five and walked two batters.

 

 

The Vikings (14-5, 5-2 GNAC) close out the four-game series vs. MSUB Saturday with a single game starting at 10 am. 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.

 

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.