BELLINGHAM, Wash. – After winning seven of the final 10 games of the regular season, the red-hot Western Washington University softball program heads into the postseason as the No. 3 seed in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships.

 

WWU is the No. 3 seed in the four-team postseason tournament that will be held Thursday through Saturday at Beedie Field on the campus of Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia.

 

The Vikings open the double-elimination tournament Thursday at noon taking on No. 2 seed Saint Martin's, with No. 1 seed Northwest Nazarene facing No. 4 Western Oregon at 2:30 pm. An elimination game will be held later Thursday afternoon. The winner of the GNAC Championships will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Championships West Regional.

 

WWU completed the regular season with a 24-21 overall record and placed third in the conference with a 13-11 GNAC record. A strong finish to the season included six wins over the last seven games (and 7 of 10) to move up in the standings to earn one of the four spots in the GNAC Championships.

 

Western features an active roster of 17 players, with eight earning All-GNAC honors. Senior pitcher Mareena Ramirez is an All-America candidate earning unanimous First Team All-GNAC honors in addition to being selected as the GNAC Pitcher and Newcomer of the Year. Freshman shortstop Hailey Rath was also a unanimous first-team selection and was voted the GNAC Freshman of the Year. Senior first baseman Brooke Fesenbek and senior designated player Kinzey Williams also earned First Team All-GNAC honors.

 

The Vikings have now advanced to each of the last three GNAC Championships, marking the first time the program has secures three straight postseason bids in the 10-year history of the event. WWU won the GNAC postseason title in 2017 and 2021.

 

The four-team, double-elimination tournament will be played at Beedie Field on Burnaby Mountain in British Columbia. Here is a look at the tournament schedule with all games streamed live online at GNAC.tv. The winner of the double-elimination tournament will receive the GNAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Championships West Regional. The following schedule has been updated since the tournament seeds were announced, due to possible rain in the forecast on Friday:

 

Thursday, May 4:

Game 1: No. 2 Saint Martin's vs. No. 3 Western Washington, 12:00 pm

Game 2: No. 1 Northwest Nazarene vs. No. 4 Western Oregon, 2:30 pm

Game 3: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 5 pm (Elimination Game)

 

Friday, May 5:

Game 4: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 12:00 pm

Game 5: Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 2:30 pm (Elimination Game)

 

Saturday, May 7:

Game 6: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5, 12:00 pm

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

 

Tickets are available now by visiting GNACTickets.com. Single-session tickets are $12 (USD) for adults and $7 (USD) for seniors (60 and over), students and youth ages 6-14. Children five and under are admitted free. 

 

All games of the GNAC Softball Championships will be live-streamed through the conference's YouTube page at GNAC.tv. All games will also feature live statistical updates with links at GNACSports.com.

 

WWU has advanced to play in six of the 10 GNAC Championship tournaments, winning titles in two of the last five seasons (2017 & 2021). The Vikings are 8-6 all-time in GNAC Championships play. Western had a six-game GNAC Championships winning streak snapped last season going 0-2 in the postseason tournament held in Ellensburg.

 

Here is a look at WWU's all-time and 2023 record against the three teams that complete the GNAC Championships field in Burnaby:

 

• No. 1 Northwest Nazarene: The Vikings lead the all-time series vs. NNU 89-26 going back to the first game in 2002…WWU went 1-3 at NNU in a GNAC series this season…WWU beat NNU in 2021 to win the GNAC Championship.
• No. 2 Saint Martin's: WWU leads the all-time series 102-49 dating back to the 1995 season…the Vikings played the Saints six times this season, going 2-4 overall and 2-2 in GNAC contests.
• No. 4 Western Oregon: The Vikings lead the all-time series 77-49 dating back to 1995…WWU and WOU split the regular-season series 2-2 in a four-game series played in Bellingham.

 

The Vikings had nearly half of the 17-player active roster earn All-GNAC honors, with seven players selected to the All-Conference team. WWU tied Northwest Nazarene with four first-team selections:

 

• Mareena Ramirez – First Team All-GNAC, Pitcher of the Year, Newcomer of the Year
• Hailey Rath – First Team All-GNAC, Freshman of the Year
• Brooke Fesenbek – First Team All-GNAC
• Kinzey Williams – First Team All-GNAC
• Kanilehua Pitoy – Second Team All-GNAC
• Isabel Cargill – Honorable Mention All-GNAC
• Amaya Davis – Honorable Mention All-GNAC

 

Western's 24-21 overall record came largely on the road during the 2023 season, with only eight games played at Viking Field, having a four-game series washed out in early March and GNAC series vs. Montana State Billings moved across the state to Yakima due to unfavorable weather conditions. WWU went 18-18 in games away from Bellingham, including a 11-4 mark in neutral-site games.

 

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

 

 

Here is a look at the final GNAC Softball standings from the 2023 regular season, with the top four teams advancing to the conference championships. WWU completed the regular season with a 24-21 overall record and placed 3rd with a 13-11 record in the GNAC:

 

 

Freshman shortstop Hailey Rath has set the WWU freshman record for extra-base hits in a season with 22 (2B-15, 3B-2, HR-5). Heading into the GNAC Championships, the GNAC Freshman of the Year is tied for 2nd in the conference with her 22 extra-base hits trailing only 26 by Abby McGlynn of Simon Fraser (2B-17, 3B-3, HR-6). The previous WWU freshman record for extra-base hits was 16 by Alexie Levin in 2013 and Makinlee Sellevold in 2015. Overall Rath is batting .345 (51-for-148) with 31 RBI.

 

Senior pitcher Mareena Ramirez has been dominant throughout the 2023 season going 16-6 with a 1.87 ERA (42 ER, 157.1 IP) in 27 appearances (22 starts). The GNAC Pitcher of the Year has logged 15 complete games and four shutouts to build a strong resume for All-America honors. Ramirez' current ERA is the lowest by a WWU pitcher since Jessica Rosencrants in 2008 (1.89) and the 16 wins are tied for 5th-best in program history. Additionally, her 162 strikeouts are currently 4th-most in single-season program history and 7.21 strikeouts per 7.0 innings ranks No. 6 in WWU history.

 

Junior center fielder Taylor Khorrami is a nominee for the NFCA Gold Glove Award for her spectacular play in the outfield. Khorrami has not recorded an error in 101 games played while patrolling center field, which includes a perfect fielding percentage with 66 total chances this season.

 

The Vikings scored 175 runs in the regular season, yet only hit 6 home runs. Of the six homers, freshman shortstop Hailey Rathhas recorded five of them with freshman infielder Isabella Bay connecting on the other longball. The six home runs are the fewest since hitting five during the 2000 season. WWU clubbed 27 home runs last season.

 

Sophomore pitcher Joie Baker missed the first half of the season recovering from off-season knee surgery, not making her season debut until March 26 in a GNAC contest vs. Western Oregon. Baker has helped solidify the starting rotation going 5-5 with a 3.88 ERA (31 ER, 56.0 IP) in 12 appearances (11 starts). Baker has limited opponents to a .230 opposing batting average.

 

The Vikings head into the postseason leading the GNAC in team batting average (.301), while also listed 2nd in hits (380). The Vikings were one of the most clutch teams in the GNAC, leading the conference in batting average with two outs (.319), well ahead of second-place Saint Martin's (.270), batting with runners in scoring position (.313) and average with runners on base (.312).

 

Senior first baseman Brooke Fesenbek has recorded career-highs in several offensive categories during her super senior season to earn First Team All-GNAC honors. Fesenbek totaled single-season career-highs in hits (41), doubles (7), triples (2), RBI (26) and total bases (52). Fesenbek is a career .292 hitter (106-for-363) in 142 games as a Viking.

 

Senior pitcher Mareena Ramirez and junior outfielder Isabel Cargill transferred to WWU from Idaho State and have made an instant impact in their first season in Bellingham. Ramirez leads the Vikings pitching attack, while Cargill has helped round out a balanced lineup batting .318 (42-for-132) with six doubles and 18 RBI. Sophomore outfielder McKenna Crum also transferred to Western this season after one year at Seattle U, and has appeared in 37 games (31 starts) batting .302 (26-for-86) with six stolen bases.

 

Led by four-time selection Rachel Christensen, WWU placed eight players on the 2023 GNAC Softball All-Academic Team. Christensen, a senior carrying a 3.37 GPA as a Physical Education & Health major, was one of six four-time selections as GNAC Academic All-Stars. Junior Taylor Khorrami became a three-time selection, joining senior Brooke Fesenbek and junior Emily Paulson as two-time selections that are part of a group of 35 student-athletes that are repeat honorees. First time award winners included sophomores Joie Baker and Lexi Barcomb, and seniors Kinzey Williams and Mikayla Liljenberg. WWU had 12 players earn GNAC All-Academic honors last season and set a record with 14 award winners in 2021, totaling 34 academic award winners over the last three seasons.

 

Fifth-year head coach Sheryl Gilmore has recorded a 113-89 record (.559) at the helm of the program, with a 60-46 (.566) mark in GNAC play. 

 

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).