BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington University softball team returns to Great Northwest Athletic Conference play this weekend with a four-game series at Northwest Nazarene University Friday-Saturday in Nampa, Idaho.

 

The Vikings begin a tough 12-game stretch to conclude the regular season and the conference schedule with doubleheaders Friday and Saturday at Halle Softball Field. WWU is 17-16 overall and tied four 4th place in the GNAC with a 6-6 record in conference play. The top four teams in the standings at the end of the regular season advance to the GNAC Championships May 4-6 in Burnaby, B.C.

 

WWU is coming off a 3-2 performance in the Tournament of Champions in Turlock, California, recording wins over Academy of Art, No. 14 Sonoma State and Cal State East Bay. The Vikings concluded the non-conference schedule with an 11-10 record.

 

The Vikings were led at the TOC by senior starting pitcher Mareena Ramirez, who earned a spot on the All-Tournament team by going 2-0 with a 1.31 ERA (4 ER, 21.1 IP) in three appearances (2 starts) in the 22-team tournament. Ramirez led all players with 24 strikeouts and held opposing hitters to a .153 batting average.

 

The series at NNU jump starts a fast finish to the 2023 season with the Vikings playing 12 games over the next three weeks, all in conference play. WWU will play a four-game at Saint Martin's (April 15-16) and hosting Montana State Billings (April 22-23). Western will have a bye weekend during the final week of the GNAC season prior to the conference tournament on Burnaby Mountain.

 

WWU enters the second half of the GNAC schedule tied with Central Washington (4-4) for 4th place in the standings, trailing first-place NNU (7-1), Western Oregon (7-3) and Saint Martin's (4-2). Montana State Billings is in 6th place at 5-7 and Simon Fraser is in 7th with a 1-11 conference record.

 

The Vikings head into the final 12 games of the regular season leading the conference with a .293 batting average, currently the No. 11 mark in program single-season history. WWU is 2nd in the GNAC with 44 doubles and tied for 1st with six triples, but 7th with six home runs. Freshman Hailey Rath leads the team batting .349 (37-for-106) with 23 RBI and 17 extra-base hits. Rath and senior Brooke Fesenbek are tied for 4th in the GNAC with 23 RBI.

 

The pitching staff is 4th in the conference with a 3.16 ERA and rank 2nd with 184 strikeouts. Ramirez leads the team with a 12-4, 1.88 ERA record to pace the league in wins, ERA and strikeouts with 129.

 

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 weekly schedule with the four-game GNAC series at Northwest Nazarene featuring doubleheaders on Friday and Saturday in Nampa, Idaho. 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:

 

 

Freshman Hailey Rath has already broken the WWU freshman record with 17 extra-base hits, recording 10 doubles, five home runs and two triples through the first 33 games of the season. Rath broke the old mark of 16 extra base hits by Alexie Levin in 2013 (2B-11, 3B-3, HR-2) and Makinlee Sellevold in 2015 (2B-12, HR-4). Rath has hit five home runs to currently rank 4th in program freshman history with the record of nine homers set by Meghan Flem in 2007.

🚨 FRESHMAN RECORD 🚨

Hailey Rath has set an @WWU_Softball Freshman record with 17 extra base hits!

🔟 Doubles
2️⃣ Triples
5️⃣ Home Runs

Hailey breaks the previous freshman record of 16 by Alexie Levin (2013) and Makinlee Sellevold (2015).

And way more to come from #️⃣1️⃣! pic.twitter.com/goQGQkyaeW

— WWU Athletics (@WWUAthletics) April 6, 2023

Senior pitcher Mareena Ramirez was one of 12 players selected to the 2023 Tournament of Champions All-Tournament Team. Ramirez went 2-0 with a 1.31 ERA (4 ER, 21.1 IP) in three appearances (2 starts) in the 22-team Tournament of Champions, presented by the City of Turlock with WWU going 3-2. The right-handed pitcher led all players in the tournament with 24 strikeouts and held opposing hitters to a .153 batting average. Ramirez also earned a spot on the CUI Kickoff Classic All-Tournament Team to open the 2023 season.

 

WWU enters the four-game series at Northwest Nazarene leading the all-time series against the Nighthawks 88-23. The Vikings are 39-13 all-time vs. NNU in games played in Nampa, 43-8 in home games and 6-2 in neutral-site contests. NNU has won five of the last seven and nine of the last 15 in the series. NNU has won the last two series played in Idaho with a 6-2 record.

 

Through the first 33 games of the 2023 season, Mareena Ramirez is making a run for All-America honors as one of the top pitchers in the West Region. Ramirez is 12-4 with a 1.88 ERA (32 ER, 119.0 IP) in 21 pitching appearances (16 starts). Ramirez leads the West Region with 129 strikeouts, already tied for 8th-most in WWU single-season history and is one of 15 West Region players up for the NFCA Player and Pitcher of the Year Award for NCAA Division II.

 

Here is a look at the updated GNAC standings heading into the final month of the regular season. 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.

 

 

The 2023 Tournament of Champions, presented by the City of Turlock, featured 22 of the 26 West Region programs in a three-day tournament hosted by Stanislaus State University March 31-April 2. WWU has competed in all 20 versions of the Tournament of Champions and has an all-time 66-56 record in the tournament with a 3-2 final record in this year's tournament.

 

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 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 combined to go 224-172 and won a pair of GNAC Tournament titles in 2017 & 2021.