BELLEVUE, Wash. – The Western Washington University softball team picked up a doubleheader sweep over Northwest University Tuesday evening under the lights at Bellevue College.
WWU won the opening game 2-1 and clinched the sweep with 10-2 run-rule-shortened six-inning game in the nightcap.
The Vikings improved to 13-13 on the season the pair of victories and are now 8-2 over the last 10 games. The Eagles dropped to 7-17 on the season and 0-4 all-time vs. WWU.
The winning pitchers for the Vikings were sophomore Sydney Brown (7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 9 K) in the first game and freshman Joie Baker (3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K) in the second game.
WWU tallied 19 hits on the day and the Vikings have now recorded at least seven hits in 11 consecutive games, going 8-3 in that stretch.
Senior shortstop Tatum Dow went 4-for-7 with a double and one RBI. Freshman Amaya Davis went 2-for-4 with a double and four RBI in the second game to lead WWU at the plate. Senior Dakota Brooksposted a 2-for-6, three-RBI day including a two-run double in the first game for the game-winning RBI.
The Vikings (13-13, 2-2 GNAC) return to conference play this weekend with a four-game Great Northwest Athletic Conference series at Montana State Billings. WWI will travel to play MSUB with doubleheaders scheduled for Saturday and Sunday at Avitus Group Stadium in Billings. Follow all the action and check game times at wwuvikings.com/Live.
WWU defeated Northwest in the first game of Tuesday's doubleheader, coming out ahead 2-1 victors in a pitching duel.
The Vikings out-hit the Eagles 8-3 and were perfect in the field to secure the low-scoring victory. Six of the nine Vikings batters in the game tallied a hit.
WWU starter Sydney Brown fired a complete-game gem to earn her third win of the season (3-2). Brown went the distance for the first time in her WWU career, surrendering just one run on three hits and tallying a career-high nine strikeouts without allowing a walk.
NU starter freshman Bella King also pitched the full 7.0 innings, allowing two runs on eight hits and ending up saddled with the loss (4-8).
Senior Tatum Dow bounced back from just her second hitless game of the season on March 11 against Northwest Nazarene with a 3-for-4 performance. Dow tallied a double and came in to score the go-ahead run in the 5th inning.
The Eagles opened the scoring in the bottom of the 2nd inning, taking a 1-0 lead on an RBI double from senior Jessica Nunes.
The Vikings had traffic on the basepaths for most of the game, but their scoring breakthrough wouldn't come until the 5th inning. A two-out, two-RBI double to right-center field from senior Dakota Brooks gave Western a 2-1 lead that they would not relinquish.
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WWU 2, NU 1 (March 22, 2022 at Bellevue, WA) – Game 1
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Score by Innings
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1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
-
|
R
|
H
|
E
|
LOB
|
Record
|
|
Western Washington
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0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
-
|
2
|
8
|
0
|
5
|
12-13
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|
Northwest
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0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
-
|
1
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
7-16
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WWU – Brown and Christensen
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NU – King and Blahut
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Win: Brown (3-2) Save: None Loss: King (4-8)
WWU HR: None NU HR: None
Time of Game: 1:39
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The Vikings secured the doubleheader sweep with a 10-2 in in the nightcap in a six-inning run-rule shortened contest.
The Vikings outhit the Eagles 11-5 with nine different batters recording a hit in an all-around showing at the dish.
Freshman Amaya Davis led the Vikings in run production, going 2-for-4 with a double and four RBI. Senior Lauren Lo added her team-leading ninth multi-hit game going 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI. Freshman Ellie Jespersen also drove in a pair of runs.
Western senior starting pitcher Kira Doan allowed two runs on three hits and struck out four in 3.0 innings of work. Freshman Joie Baker was lockdown in relief and picked up the win (5-6) recording 3.0 scoreless innings while surrendering two hits and striking out five batters.
The WWU bats woke up early this time, putting two runs in the top of the 1st inning on RBI singles from Dakota Brooks and Jespersen.
Western would blow it open in the 3rd inning, scoring five runs by sending 11 batters to the plate to extend the lead to 7-0. Davis picked up her first collegiate in the 3rd, knocking a two-RBI single up the middle to make it 5-0.
The Eagles would get a couple of runs back in the bottom of the 3rd on a Kayla Stanley two-run home run.
Davis would drive in another two runs with a double in the top of the 6th, her first extra-base hit as a Viking. Another run would score on a wild pitch to make it 10-2, and the game would end early after a scoreless bottom of the 6th from Baker.
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WWU 10, NU 2 (March 22, 2022 at Bellevue, WA) – Game 2
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|
Score by Innings
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
-
|
R
|
H
|
E
|
LOB
|
Record
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|
Western Washington
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2
|
0
|
5
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
x
|
-
|
10
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11
|
1
|
8
|
13-13
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Northwest
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0
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0
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2
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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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2
|
5
|
1
|
5
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7-17
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WWU – Doan, Baker (4) and Paulson
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NU – Maurer, Rennick (3) and Blahut
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Win: Baker (5-6) Save: None Loss: Maurer (3-4)
WWU HR: None NU HR: Stanley
Time of Game: 1:58 Att: 72
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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).
