BELLINGHAM, Wash. – A comeback for the ages lifted the Western Washington University softball team to a 7-6 victory over Cal State Dominguez Hills in the third and final game of the NCAA West Super Regional Wednesday afternoon at Viking Field.

 

The Vikings trailed 6-0 heading into the bottom of the 4th inning and were down 6-2 going into their final at-bat in the winner-take-all game resulting in a trip to the NCAA Division II World Series in Longwood, Florida.

 

Junior second baseman Kanilehua Pitoy hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the 7th inning to pull the Vikings to within one run at 6-5 and WWU pushed across the tying run on a groundout to even the score at 6-6.

 

In the first extra inning, CSUDH put the potential go-ahead run in scoring position in the top of the 8th, but freshman relief pitcher Kaiana Kong got out of the jam with a ground out to send the Vikings back to the plate. 

 

Freshman third baseman Maleah Andrews led off the bottom of the 8th inning with a home run to left-center field to send Viking Field into a frenzy capping the comeback and delivering the 7-6 walk-off victory.

 

Dominguez Hills forced a decisive Game 3 of the best-of-three Super Regional series with a 3-2 victory in the first game Wednesday.

 

WWU is the first program from the Great Northwest Athletic Conference to advance to the NCAA Softball National Championships Series.

 

Game 1 – Cal State Dominguez Hills 3, Western Washington 2

Toro starting pitcher Mariah Ramirez, who had thrown every inning of the Toros NCAA championships run up to this point, held the Vikings without a hit across the first three frames. Ramirez then shot a double to left center in the bottom of the third, setting a two-run burst to give the Toros the early 2-0 advantage. Kaylee Hull and Alani Nguyen supplied the RBIs in the inning, with both knocks coming with two outs.

 

Andrews drew a leadoff walk in the fourth, and Emma Andrewjeski-Ramirez came through with a two-out, RBI-triple to give the Vikings their first run of the game and make the score 2-1. The Toros responded in the bottom of the frame however, using a walk, a single and an RBI-ground out by Jay Ross to increase their lead back to two runs.

 

After a quiet fifth inning, the top of WWU's order delivered as Andrews led off the sixth with a base hit to center field. GNAC Player of the Year Hailey Rath followed with an RBI-single, bringing the Vikings back within a run.

 

That's as close as WWU got however, as Ramirez retired five of the final six batters she faced to help the Toros force the elimination game.

 

Game 2 – Western Washington 7, Cal State Dominguez Hills 6 (8 Innings)

 

WWU quickly had its back against a wall in the regional finale, when Ramirez sent a towering grand slam over the fence to stun the crowd and make the score 4-0 in the top of the second inning. After a quiet third frame, things got worse for the Vikings when Ramirez drove in her fifth run of the game with a ground out and Hull made the score 6-0 with an RBI-ground out.

 

Andrewjeski-Ramirez sent her GNAC-leading 17th home run of the season over the fence in the bottom of the fourth, and a two-out, RBI-single by Kanilehua Pitoy in the fifth got the deficit to four runs. The Vikings failed to score in the sixth however, moving within three outs of being eliminated.

 

McKenna Crum and Andrews led off the bottom of the seventh with singles, before Pitoy became the first hero of the day. Working the count to 2-1 against Ramirez, she launched a three-run home run to left field that brought the Viking dugout back to life and made the score 6-5 and chased Ramirez from the game. An ensuing error by the Toros and a single by Andrewjeski-Ramirez moved the tying run into scoring position, and Ashley Jacobson beat out a ground ball to second base that allowed Lexi Barcomb to score the tying run.

 

Kaiana Kong, who pitched six strong innings in relief, was tested in the eighth as Kianna Abellera led off with a single and another knock by Ross put runners on the corners. The freshman right-hander handled the pressure well, getting Ramirez to ground out and strand two runners on base.

 

Andrews worked the count to 2-1 in her favor, before kicking off the celebration by sending her seventh home run over the fence in left field to end the series punching the Vikings ticket to Florida.

 

Kong improved to 15-1 on the season allowing three hits and two runs (1 ER) in 6.0 innings. Andrews finished 3-for-4 with a walk and Pitoy went 2-for-4 with four RBI.

The Vikings (48-9) advance to the eight-team national championship tournament, which runs May 19-25 in Longwood, Florida at Boombah-Soldiers Creek Park. The Vikings are in a four-team pod with Auburn Montgomery (46-12), Lenoir-Rhyne (50-16) and UT Tyler (53-8) who each won their regions. The second four-team pod of regional winners includes Augustana (49-13), Charleston (51-6), Wilmington (45-14) and the winner of U-Indy (57-4) and Trevecca Nazarene (46-13) who wrap up their regional on Thursday. The two winners of the four-team pods will meet in a best-of-three series to determine the 2024 national champion. The complete schedule for the national tournament will be posted online at NCAA.com.

 

Here is a look at the Vikings record breakdown for the 2024 season:

 

 

Here are links on how to follow the 2024 NCAA Division II Softball Championships:

 

• NCAA Spring Sports Festival
• Super Regional Website
• NCAA Tournament Scoreboard
• NCAA Bracket
• Digital Gameday Program
• NCAA Softball

 

WWU is making its sixth all-time appearance in the NCAA Division II Softball Championships and first since 2021. The Vikings are 7-12 all-time in the NCAA Championships, going 3-1 so far during the 2024 NCAA Tournament. Here is a look at the Vikings game-by-game listing in the NCAA Championships. Prior to moving to the NCAA level in 1999, WWU won the NAIA World Series for the first team title in WWU Athletics history:

 

2003 (Bakersfield, CA):

Lost to UC Davis, 4-2

Lost to Humboldt State, 7-1

 

2007 (Turlock, CA):

Lost to Stanislaus State, 2-0

Lost to Sonoma State, 3-1

 

2011 (Chico, CA):

Lost to Chico State, 3-1

Lost to Central Washington, 8-4

 

2017 (Seaside, CA):

Defeated Cal State Monterey Bay, 5-3

Lost to Dixie State, 5-0

Lost to Sonoma State, 6-4

 

2021 (Irvine, CA):

Lost to Hawai'i Hilo, 3-0

Lost to Central Washington, 9-5

 

2024 (Bellingham, WA):

Defeated Azusa Pacific, 1-0

Lost to Cal State San Marcos, 4-3

Defeated Azusa Pacific, 3-0

Defeated Cal State San Marcos, 7-1

Defeated Cal State San Marcos, 2-1

Defeated Cal State Dominguez Hills, 4-3 (Super Regional)

Lost to Cal State Dominguez Hills, 3-2 (Super Regional)

Defeated Cal State Dominguez Hills, 7-6 (West Region Champions) – 8 innings

 

WWU has set the program record for wins in a season with 48 (and counting), passing the 36 wins achieved by the 2011 squad (36-16/.692). This is the 10th 30-victory season in program history.