BELLINGHAM, Wash. – After taking a week off for final exams and an off weekend from conference play, the Western Washington University softball team returns to the diamond with six games in six days.
 
The Vikings are scheduled to play a non-conference doubleheader Tuesday evening against Northwest University in games that will be played under the lights on the turf at Bellevue College (5 & 7 pm). WWU will then make the trek to Billings, Montana for a four-game GNAC series vs. Montana State Billings with doubleheaders scheduled for Saturday at Avitus Group Stadium.
 
WWU heads into the busy week with a 11-13 overall record and are off to a 2-2 start in GNAC play. The Vikings were last in action March 10-11 hosting Northwest Nazarene in a four-game series at Viking Field. WWU swept the GNAC-opening doubleheader 3-2 and 10-1, but were dealt a pair of losses the following day against the Nighthawks 9-6 and 11-5.
 
The Vikings are led at the plate by senior All-American shortstop Tatum Dow, who ranks 10th in the GNAC batting .380 (30-for-79) with 18 runs scored, seven doubles, two home runs and 13 RBI. Dow recently had her school-record 20-game hitting streak snapped, the 13th hitting streak of 20-or-more games in GNAC history.
 
Catcher Rachel Christensen (.325/19-for-58), center fielder Lauren Lo (.325/25-for-77), first baseman Dakota Brooks (.323/21-for-65, 3 HR, 20 RBI) and designated player Macy Tarbox (.315/17-for-54, 4 HR) are all hitting over .300 for the Vikings.
 
Sophomore Sydney Brown has emerged as a weekend rotation regular leading the team with a 3.42 ERA (14 ER, 28.2 IP) going 2-2 in eight appearances (4 starts). Senior Kira Doan is 5-4 with a 3.91 ERA and freshman Joie Baker is 4-6 with a 4.78 ERA.
 
WWU is the top fielding team in the conference with a .966 fielding percentage (22 E, 654 TC) and has made only six errors over the last 12 games.
  Here is a look at the Vikings schedule this week and how to follow the games online. Please check wwuvikings.com/Live for the up-to-date schedule and live links on how to follow WWU Softball online.
 

THIS WEEK IN WWU SOFTBALL
Tuesday, March 22	Live Coverage
at Northwest  »  5:00 pm (Doubleheader)  »  Bellevue, WA  »  Bellevue College	📊  LiveStats   🎥 Webcast
Saturday, March 26	Live Coverage
at MSU Billings  »  1:00 pm MT (Doubleheader)  »  Billings, MT  »  Avitus Group Stadium	📊  LiveStats   🎥 Webcast
Saturday, March 27	Live Coverage
at MSU Billings  »  12:00 pm MT (Doubleheader)  »  Billings, MT  »  Avitus Group Stadium	📊  LiveStats   🎥 Webcast

  WWU is 2-0 all-time against the Northwest Eagles, sweeping a doubleheader in February 2014 (9-0, 14-0) at Viking Field. The Vikings and Eagles were scheduled to play a season-opening doubleheader last season, but the games were snowed out and never made up.
  WWU trails the all-time series vs. the Yellowjackets 43-36, but the Vikings have had the upper hand in the recent series winning seven of the last eight games dating back to the 2019 season. Western is 11-19 all-time in away games vs. MSUB and have not played in Billings since the 2018 season.
  WWU will play Northwest in a doubleheader Tuesday at Bellevue College where the BC Softball Field is no stranger to several WWU players and coaches. Shortstop Tatum Dow, third baseman Megan Marino and twins Tori and Carissa McDowell all starred for Bellevue College in recent years. Assistant coach Leah Francis spent 15 seasons as the head coach at BC, recording a 542-152 record for a. 781 winning percentage. Current WWU head coach Sheryl Gilmore also coached several times on the BC Softball Field when she was head coach at Edmonds College from 2015-18. WWU opened the 2021 season with a doubleheader sweep over the University of Puget Sound at BC Softball Field.
  Senior All-American shortstop Tatum Dow has recorded a hit in 22 of 24 games this season, including a recent 20-game hitting streak to set the all-time WWU record. Dow tallied a hit in 20 consecutive games from February 5 through March 11, combining to go 28-for-65 (.431) during the streak. She bettered the previous school record 18-game hitting streak by Jen Brandolini in 1998 and a season-spanning streak by Michelle Wrigley in 2010-11. It is the 13th hitting streak of at least 20 games in GNAC history. Through 24 games, Dow is batting .380 (30-for-79) to rank 10th in the GNAC. In 78 career games she is batting .381 (90-for-236).
  Senior Kira Doan is 5-4 with a 3.91 ERA (35 ER, 62.2 IP) in 17 pitching appearances (7 starts) this season. For her career Doan is 13th in program history with 21 wins (21-19) and 8th averaging 4.97 strikeouts per 7.0 innings (188 total strikeouts).
  Sophomore Macy Tarbox hit a pair of home runs in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader at NNU, the first two homers of her WWU career. Marked the first multi-homer game for a Viking since the 2019 season. Tarbox leads the team and ranks tied for 6th in the GNAC with four home runs.
  Freshman Joie Baker tied the WWU single-game record with 16 strikeouts in game one of the February 19 doubleheader at Puget Sound. Baker's 16 strikeouts included eight looking and a string of seven consecutive strikeouts (1st thru 3rd innings) to tie for the second-longest consecutive K streak in WWU history. Her 16 strikeouts match the single-game WWU record by Erika Quint on March 13, 2011 vs. Western Oregon (game played in Anacortes, WA). The 16 strikeouts are also tied for the eighth-most by a pitcher in a single game in NCAA Division II this season.
  Senior Dakota Brooks hit a grand slam in the opening game of the doubleheader at Puget Sound on February 19, her 11th career home run to tie for 11th in all-time program history. The grand slam was 30th in program history and the first since Paityn Cyr cleared the bases on April 6, 2019 at Saint Martin's.
  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 30th season in 2022. WWU advanced to the NCAA Division II Championships for the fifth time in program history in 2021 after winning the GNAC Tournament. WWU has posted a winning record 18 times during the 30-year history of the program, which won the 1998 NAIA National Championship in only its sixth season to record the school's first ever team national title. During the eight-season span from 2014-2021, the Vikings combined to go 195-148 and won a pair of GNAC Tournament titles (2017 & 2019).