BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington University softball team takes a break from conference play this week with five games in the 2023 Tournament of Champions, presented by the City of Turlock.

 

WWU is 14-14 overall heading into the final non-conference games of the season, taking on West Region opponents Academy of Art, No. 13 Sonoma State, San Francisco State, Cal State East Bay and Cal State San Bernardino. The Vikings will play two games each Friday and Saturday, and close out tournament play Sunday with one game.

 

Following the 20th Annual Tournament of Champions, the Vikings will have a busy finish to the Great Northwest Athletic Conference schedule with three consecutive weeks of four-game series at Northwest Nazarene (April 7-8), at Saint Martin's (April 15-16) and hosting Montana State Billings (April 22-23). WWU is tied for 4th place in GNAC play with a 6-6 record through the first half of the conference slate. The top four teams in the standings at the end of the regular season qualify to play in the GNAC Championships held May 4-6 in Burnaby, B.C.

 

The Vikings are coming off a four-game series split vs. Western Oregon and are 6-6 over the last 12 games. 

 

WWU heads into the TOC ranked 4th in the GNAC with a 3.27 team ERA, 2nd with a .289 batting average and 5th with a .956 fielding percentage. 

 

Senior designated player Kinzey Williams leads the team batting .344 (32-for-93) with 10 multi-hit games. Freshman Hailey Rath has hit all five of the Vikings home runs this season and is batting .341 (31-for-91) with 15 extra-base hits (2B-8, 3B-2, HR-5) and leads the team with 20 RBI. Lexi Barcomb (.319/15-for-47), Amaya Davis (.316/25-for-79, 8 2B) and Brooke Fesenbek (.304/24-for-79) are all batting over .300.

 

Senior right-handed pitcher is one of 15 players in the West Region up for the NFCA Player and Pitcher of the Year with a 10-4 record with a 2.01 ERA (40 ER, 97.2 IP). Ramirez leads all West Region pitchers with 105 strikeouts. Sophomore Joie Baker made her return to the circle last weekend making a pair of impressive starts allowing four runs in 12.0 innings with 11 strikeouts.

 

The complete 2023 WWU Softball schedule can be found online at wwuvikings.com/SB_23, complete with information on how to follow Team 31 on the road and in home games with direct links to available webcasts and live stats.

 

Here is a look at the Vikings five-game schedule in the 2023 Tournament of Champions, presented by the City of Turlock. WWU will play two games each Friday and Saturday and close out play in the TOC Sunday with one game. Check wwuvikings.com/Live for the up-to-date schedule and live links on how to follow WWU Softball online:

 

 

Here is a look at the Vikings record breakdown for the 2023 season:

 

 

WWU has played in every Tournament of Champions hosted by Stanislaus State University since the first tournament in 2002. During the 19-year history of the TOC the Vikings have combined to go 63-54 as the only GNAC team to post a winning record in the tournament. WWU went 3-2 at the TOC last season and was perfect at 5-0 during the 2019 edition of the tournament. Vikings have posted a .500 or better record at the TOC in 12 of the 19 trips to Turlock, including six of the last seven dating back to the 2014 season. Overall the GNAC has posted a 291-398-1 record at the Tournament of Champions, with WWU, Western Oregon and Central Washington playing in all 19 previous tournaments.

 

Here is a look at the series history against the five teams WWU will face in the Tournament of Champions:

 

• Academy of Art: WWU leads series 6-2 vs. Art U with the last meeting a 6-0 victory over the Urban Knights during the 2022 TOC…Vikings have won three of last four in the series…six of eight meetings have been in Turlock.
• Sonoma State: WWU trails the series 22-9 vs. SSU…Seawolves have won 12 of the last 13 in the series that dates back to 1999.
• San Francisco State: WWU leads the all-time series 13-10…Vikings have won seven of the last 10 in the series that dates back to 2003…12 of 23 meetings between the two schools played in Turlock.
• Cal State East Bay: WWU leads the all-time series 7-2 winning four of the last five in the series…CSUEB won the last meeting in the 2022 CUI Kickoff Classic.
• Cal State San Bernardino: WWU leads the all-time series vs. the Coyotes 12-8…Vikings defeated CSUSB 2-1 earlier this season at the CUI Kickoff Classic…WWU has a three-game win streak in the series after losing seven consecutive games from 2012-18.

 

Here is a look at the GNAC Softball team records heading into the Tournament of Champions. The top four teams in the standings at the completion of the regular season advance to play in the GNAC Championships May 4-6 in Burnaby, B.C.

 

 

Here is a complete look at the 2023 GNAC Softball Preseason Coaches Poll:

 

 

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 is in 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).