BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington University softball team opens postseason play Thursday as the No. 3 seed in the GNAC Softball Championships.

 

The Vikings begin defense of their GNAC Championship title as defending champions on Thursday playing No. 2 seed Saint Martin's at 10 am in Ellensburg. The four-team tournament runs Thursday-Saturday and was originally scheduled to be played in Lacey, but rain shifted the championship over the mountains to Frederick Field in Ellensburg.

 

WWU enters the postseason with a 29-22 overall record and finished 3rd during the GNAC regular season with a 15-9 record. After starting 5-11 through the first month of the season, the Vikings rebounded to win 24 of the final 35 games in March-April-May (24-11).

 

The Vikings are led by a pair of First Team All-GNAC selections in senior first baseman Dakota Brooks and senior second baseman Chantelle Shimabukuro. WWU also had three second-team All-GNAC players (Tatum Dow, Lauren Lo, Sydney Brown) and senior pitcher Kira Doan was an honorable mention pick.

 

Western heads into the postseason ranked 3rd in the conference in team batting (.293), 2nd in pitching (3.15 ERA) and is the top fielding team in the GNAC (.969 fielding percentage). Over the final four series of the GNAC season (since April 9), WWU's pitchers combined for a 1.95 ERA (32 ER, 115.0 IP). The surge in the circle lowered the season ERA from 3.76 to the current mark of 3.15. WWU's offense has recorded a league-best 124 extra-base hits, including a program single-season record 85 doubles.

 

At the plate the Vikings are paced by the .389 batting average of Shimabukuro, who is 58-for-149 with 28 runs scored, 8 doubles, 3 triples, 3 home runs and 30 RBI in 49 games. Brooks leads the GNAC with 16 doubles and has one of the highest OPS in the conference at 1.038 (.625 SLG, .413 OBP). Dow is batting .333 (59-for-177) while starting all 51 games and Lo is hitting .304 (51-for-168). Senior left fielder Rylie Wales is also batting .300 (33-for-110) with 12 doubles.

 

Doan leads the Vikings in the circle with a 13-7 record and 2.57 ERA, including current streak of recording a the win in her last five starts heading into the postseason. Brown emerged as a dominating force midway through the season and is 8-6 with a 2.26 ERA and a league-leading .196 opponent batting average.

 

All games of the GNAC Softball Championships will be live streamed at GNAC.tv.

 

The four-team, double-elimination tournament moved from Lacey to Ellensburg due to heavy rain in the forecast. The late shift in venues also changed the game format, with three games on Thursday. Here is a look at the tournament schedule with all games streamed live online at GNAC.tv.

 

Thursday, May 5:

Game 1: No. 2 Saint Martin's vs. No. 3 Western Washington, 10 am

Game 2: No. 1 Northwest Nazarene vs. No. 4 Central Washington, 12:30 pm

Game 3: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 3 p.m. (elimination game)

 

Friday, May 6:

Game 4: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 11 am

Game 5: Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 1:30 pm (elimination game)

 

Saturday, May 7:

Game 6: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5, Noon

Game 7: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6 (if necessary), 2:30 pm

 

WWU has won two of the last four GNAC Championship Tournaments (2017 & 2021) and are 8-4 all-time in GNAC Championships play. The Vikings are making their fifth tournament appearance in 2022. The Vikings carry a six-game GNAC Tournament winning streak in to Thursday's game, a streak that goes back to 2017. The Vikings also qualified for the conference tournament in 2014 and 2015, including playing in the championship game in 2015.

 

Here is a look at the final GNAC Softball standings from the 2022 regular season, with the top four teams advancing to the conference championships. WWU completed the regular season with a 29-22 overall record and placed 3rd with a 15-9 record in the GNAC:

 

 

Here is a look at WWU's all-time and 2022 record against the three teams that complete the GNAC Championships field in Ellensburg:

 

• #1 Northwest Nazarene: The Vikings lead the all-time series vs. NNU 88-22 going back to the first game in 2002…the Vikings and Nighthawks played eight times during the regular season, with NNU winning five of the eight games…GNAC series in Bellingham March 10-11 was split 2-2…WWU defeated NNU twice during the GNAC Championships last season to win the title, 9-0 and 3-1.
• #2 Saint Martin's: WWU leads the all-time series 100-44 dating back to the 1995 season…WWU went 4-2 vs. the Saints this season, including a 2-2 split in conference games.
• #4 Central Washington: Vikings and Wildcats split the season series 2-2 April 15-16 in a GNAC series in Bellingham…WWU leads all-time series over CWU 84-73.

 

The Vikings lead the GNAC with 124 extra-base hits (2B-85, 3B-14, HR-25), second-most in single-season program history and only two off the record of 126 set in 2017. WWU's 85 doubles are already the most in a season in the 30 seasons of program history passing the old mark of 78 doubles in 2017.

 

Here is more information on the Vikings heading into the 2022 GNAC Championships:

 

·         Winning Ways – Since March 1 has gone 24-11 after starting the season 5-11.

·         Last Time in Ellensburg – The last time WWU played a game at Frederick Field was in early in the 2021 season, setting several offensive records scoring 34 runs in the final doubleheader of the non-conference series.

·         GNAC Tournament Winning Streak – WWU has won its last six GNAC Tournament games, sweeping both the 2017 and 2021 versions of the tournament to win titles.

·         Extra Base Brooks – Dakota Brooks has hit 25 extra-base hits this season (2B-16, 3B-2, HR-7) and has 45 in her career to tie for 7th-most.

·         Multi Hit Lo – Lauren Lo is 5th in WWU history with 50 career multi-hit games (17 this season to rank 2nd on the team)…7th in program history with 170 hits, 6th with 34 doubles and is a career .314 hitter (170-for-542).

·         Grand Salami for Brooks – Dakota Brooks hit a grand slam Feb. 19 at UPS for the 30th grand salami in program history and first since 2019 (Paityn Cyr).

·         Stingy Sydney – Sydney Brown leads the GNAC with a .196 opponent batting average.

·         Wales Walks – Rylie Wales ranks 6th in WWU history with 69 career walks…also tied for 9th with 30 doubles and 18th with a .383 career on-base percentage.

·         Winning Streak – Recorded a season-high 7-game winning streak March 4-10, tied for the 8th-longest winning streak in program history.

·         Freshman Strikeouts – Joie Baker tied the WWU single-game record with 16 strikeouts in the first game on Feb. 19 at UPS…16 punchouts 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).

·         Don't Run on Rachel – Catcher Rachel Christensen has thrown out 19 attempted base stealers this season.

·         20 Win Seasons – WWU has secured its 23rd 20-win season in the 30-year history of the program.

·         The Head Coach – Sheryl Gilmore is in her fourth season as the WWU head coach…owns 89-66 (.574) record at the helm of the Vikings.

·         Team 30 – 2022 is the 30th season in program history…WWU has an all-time record of 722-595-1 (.548).

 

Chantelle Shimabukuro (32-game streak) and Tatum Dow (20-game streak) recorded two of the longest streaks in program history reaching base safely during the 2022 regular season. Shimabukuro's 32-game streak, which included a 19-game hitting streak, is the 2nd-longest in program history. Here is a look at the longest on-base streaks in WWU history:

 

 

Sydney Brown recorded the 13th no-hitter in WWU Softball History and 28th individual no-hitter in GNAC history on April 3 vs. the Academy of Art in Turlock, California. The no-hitter came on just 90 pitches andwas just the fourth in program history pitching at least 7.0 innings. Here is a listing of all the no-hitters in WWU Softball history:

 

 

Senior Kira Doan is 13-7 with a 2.57 ERA (54 ER, 147.1 IP) in 32 appearances/19 starts this season. Her 32 pitching appearances are tied for 3rd-most in the 30-season history of the program. Heads into the postseason recording a win in each of her last five starts and has a current string of 12.0 consecutive scoreless innings. Over her last seven outings (6 GS) Doan has combined for a 1.06 ERA (7 ER, 46.0 IP). In her five-year collegiate career, Doan ranks tied for 10th in program history with 29 wins and one of 11 Viking pitchers to record 200 strikeouts (currently 9th with 255).

 

WWU has had five players earn GNAC Softball Weekly awards this season:

 

·         February 28-March 6 – Tatum Dow (Player) and Kira Doan (Pitcher)

·         March 21-27 – Chantelle Shimabukuro (Player) and Sydney Brown (Pitcher)

·         April 25-May 1 – Kira Doan (Pitcher)

·         Team of the Week – March 21-27

 

Chantelle Shimabukuro earned a coveted spot on the 2022 Tournament of Champions All-Tournament Team after batting .706 (12-for-17) with three runs scored, three doubles, one triple and seven RBI in the five-game tournament. She was one of 11 position players selected to the All-Tournament Team with the Vikings going 3-2 in the tournament in Turlock, California that featured 25 teams. 

 

Senior Dakota Brooks has hit 16 career home runs to tie for the 7th-most in WWU history. In 107 career games Brooks has combined to hit .326 (106-for-325) with 25 doubles, 4 triples, 16 home runs and ranks 3rd in program history with a .575 slugging percentage.

 

 

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).