BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington University softball swept Central Washington University in a doubleheader Saturday at Viking Field, winning by scores of 4-2 and 3-1.

 

WWU earned a series split with the wins after dropping a couple of heartbreaking one-run losses Friday. The Vikings improved to 25-18 on the season and 11-5 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play, remaining in third place in the conference standings with two weeks to go in the regular season. 

 

CWU fell to 18-22 on the season with the losses and 9-11 in the GNAC, fourth overall in the conference.

 

Although being outhit 18-12 on the day, Western pitchers Sydney Brown and Kira Doan found a way to pitch out of jams and allow only three Wildcat runs while the Vikings offense plated runs in clutch situations.

 

At the plate, WWU was led by 3-for-4, two RBI days from both freshman Kanilehua Pitoy and senior Dakota Brooks. Both Pitoy and Brooks reached base in all but one of their plate appearances in the doubleheader, with Pitoy drawing one walk and Brooks drawing two.

 

Senior Chantelle Shimabukuro reached base in both games to extend her on-base streak to 30 consecutive games, currently second place in WWU history behind only Michelle Wrigley's 36-game mark set in 2010-2011.

 

The Vikings (25-18, 11-5 GNAC) head into the penultimate week of GNAC play next weekend returning to the road for a four-game conference series Saturday-Sunday (April 23-24) at Western Oregon in Monmouth, Oregon. A live webcast and statistical updates will be provided for all four games at WOU with links at wwuvikings.com/Live.

 

 

The Vikings earned a 4-2 victory over CWU in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader.

 

WWU sophomore starting pitcher Sydney Brown picked up the win (8-3) in a complete-game performance, allowing two runs on just five hits and striking out four.

 

CWU starter senior Rhaney Harris was saddled with the loss (10-10) as she pitched 4.0 innings, scattering four runs on five hits.

 

Seniors Dakota Brooks and Rylie Wales both went 2-for-3 at the plate with an extra-base hit. Brooks also drove in a couple of runs to go along with RBIs from freshman Kanilehua Pitoy and junior transfer Kinzey Williams.

 

WWU struck first as a couple of walks in the bottom of the 3rd set up a two-run triple to deep left-center field off the bat of Brooks, giving the Vikings a 2-0 lead.

 

Western started off the bottom of the 4th with back-to-back hits on a single by Brown and a double by Wales. A squeeze bunt from Pitoy plated a run, followed by an RBI single from Kinzey Williams to extend the lead to 4-0.

 

Central Washington junior Alyssa Benthagen hit her third home run of the series, an opposite-field solo shot, in the top of the 6th to put the Wildcats on the board. Later in the inning, a two-out triple from CWU sophomore Makenna King followed by an RBI single from Jillian Hampson cut the WWU lead to 4-2.

 

Brown however would retire the side in order in the 7th to lock up the 4-2 win for the Vikings.

 

 

 

Senior Kira Doan matched the earlier pitching performance of Sydney Brown limiting the Wildcats to one run to complete the doubleheader sweep with a 3-1 victory in the nightcap.

 

In a statistical anomaly, the Wildcats outhit the Vikings 13-5, including 11-1 through the first four innings, but only managed to get one run across. Doan pitched her way out of several tough spots to log the complete-game victory improving to 9-7 on the season. It was her 10th complete game of the season and 21st of her career to tie for 21st-most in program history. 

 

CWU starter Isabel Womack picked up the loss (7-7) allowing three runs on five hits, while striking out six. Central's offense was led by 3-for-4 games from both Harlee Carpenter and Alyssa Benthagen.

 

WWU freshman Kanilehua Pitoy went 2-for-3 with a run scored, double and RBI. Senior Dakota Brooksreached base in all three of her plate appearances, singling once and drawing a pair of walks.

 

This time the Wildcats would get on the board first, as Benthagen would pick up her second RBI of the day on a run-scoring single through the left side in the top of the 1st inning to make it 1-0. It was Benthagen's fifth RBI of the series. Doan however would pitch out of a bases-loaded jam in the inning to limit the damage to just one run.

 

The Vikings response would come in the bottom of the 5th inning.  Senior left fielder Rylie Wales led off with a single and a Pitoy doubled off the left field fence to put a pair of runners in scoring position. A wild pitch would score pinch-runner Megan Marino with the game-tying run and pinch-hitter Amaya Davis delivered a sacrifice fly for the eventual game-winning RBI. 

 

WWU's lead was extended in the bottom of the 6th when the Vikings loaded the bases and Pitoy cashed in with an RBI single to make it 3-1.

 

The Wildcats would get two on with one out in the 7th, but Doan would shut down the rally to secure the 3-1 win and doubleheader sweep.

 

 

Here is an updated look at the GNAC standings following play on Saturday with the Vikings remaining in third place in the conference standings behind Saint Martin's and Northwest Nazarene:

 

 

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).