IRVINE, Calif. – The Western Washington University softball team concluded a successful opening weekend of the 2023 season, shutting out Dominican University on Sunday 2-0 to go 3-2 at the Concordia Kickoff Classic.
After dropping a pair of tightly-contested games to ranked opponents on Friday (1-0 vs. #19 CUI, 2-0 vs. #2 Cal State Dominguez Hills), the Vikings rebounded with three consecutive victories, capped by Sunday's shutout performance.
Junior starting pitcher Mareena Ramirez concluded her dominating debut as a Viking, tossing 5.2 innings of scoreless relief to earn the win. Ramirez went 2-0 with a 0.32 ERA (1 ER, 21.2 IP) in three appearances (2 starts) while recording 26 strikeouts.
Overall, WWU's pitching (1.16 ERA, 1.18 WHIP) and defense (.980 fielding pct.) led the way to the Vikings 3-2 start to the season.
Western freshman starting pitcher Alexis Slater made her collegiate debut in the circle, not allowing a run in 1.1 innings. Slater wiggled out of a bases loaded jam in the first inning, striking out a pair of Dominican batters with the bases loaded. Ramirez inherited a pair of runners when the right-hander entered in the 2nd inning, but got a lineout and strikeout to keep the game scoreless.
The Penguins had the leadoff batter reach in each of the first four innings, but the WWU defense and pitching kept the game scoreless. Western broke through in the top of the 5th inning scoring a pair of runs that would standup for the final score.
Taylor Khorrami, McKenna Crum and Kinzey Williams loaded the bases on three consecutive bunt singles. Isabel Cargill drove home the first run of the game with a deep sacrifice fly to center field. The second run scored on a stolen base and throwing error by Dominican.
After the Vikings scored the pair of runs, Ramirez shut the Penguins down retiring the final nine batters she faced to preserve the shutout victory.
Williams went 3-for-4 to finish the opening weekend batting .500 (9-for-18) and Khorrami went 2-for-3.
Dominican was limited to four hits to fall to 2-3 on the season. Starting pitcher Shelby Keltner (2-2) recorded the loss allowing eight hits and two runs (1 ER) in a complete-game effort.
Western Washington 2, Dominican 0 (Feb 05, 2023 at Irvine, CA)
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Western Washington... 000 020 0 - 2 8 1 (3-2)
Dominican............ 000 000 0 - 0 4 3 (2-3)
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WWU Pitchers - Slater; Ramirez (2) and Paulson.
DUC Pitchers - Keltner and Salas.
Win-Ramirez (2-0) Loss-Keltner (2-2) T-1:55 A-57
PITCHING TO NEAR PERFECTION
Through the first five games of the season, WWU's pitchers have compiled a 1.16 ERA (6 ER, 36.1 IP), .203 opponent batting average (27-for-133) and a 1.18 WHIP. Junior Mareena Ramirez, a transfer from Idaho State, led the way going 2-0 with a 0.32 ERA (1 ER, 21.2 IP) and 26 strikeouts (8.4 K/7.0 IP).
CONCORDIA KICKOFF CLASSIC RESULTS
Here is a look at WWU's results in the five-game CUI Kickoff Classic to open the 2023 season. An informative tournament website complete with all results and information is available at CUIEagles.com:
|
Date
|
Opponent
|
Results
|
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Friday, 2/3
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CUI (#19)
|
L, 1-0 (10 inn.)
|
|
Friday, 2/3
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Cal St. Dominguez Hills (#2)
|
L, 2-0
|
|
Saturday, 2/4
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Cal State San Bernardino
|
W, 2-1
|
|
Saturday, 2/4
|
Chico State (RV)
|
W, 4-3
|
|
Sunday, 2/5
|
Dominican
|
W, 2-0
|
The Vikings (3-2) return to the Northwest and will face the University of British Columbia next Saturday (2/11) in a doubleheader starting at 11 am in Vancouver. For links to follow the games and updated information on the Vikings, visit wwuvikings.com/SB_23.
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 31st season in 2023. 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 19 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 nine-season span from 2014-2022, the Vikings have combined to go 224-172 and won a pair of GNAC Tournament titles (2017 & 2021).
