LONGWOOD, Fla. – The Western Washington University softball was defeated 10-1 by UT Tyler Monday afternoon in a winners bracket game at the NCAA Division II Softball National Championship Tournament at Soldiers Creek Park.

 

UT Tyler, the No. 2 seed in the tournament and ranked No. 3 nationally heading into the postseason, scored five runs in the first two innings and held WWU off the scoreboard until the final inning. 

 

WWU (49-10) moves into the elimination game bracket where they will play Tuesday at 4 pm ET/1 pm PT against the winner of No. 1 Auburn University of Montgomery and No. 5 Charleston (WV) that will be played at 11 am ET/8 am PT Tuesday. UT Tyler improves to 55-8 with its seventh consecutive victory.

 

The Vikings were limited to three hits by UTT pitcher Christin Haygood, who improved to 20-1 on the season. WWU pushed across its lone run in the bottom of the 7th inning on a run-scoring fielder's choice by senior catcher Emily Paulson. 

 

Western starting pitcher Joie Baker (12-6) was saddled with the loss allowing five runs (4 ER) on three hits in 1.0+ innings of work. WWU freshmen pitcher Alli Kimball (2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R) and Kaiana Kong (4.0 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 2 ER) also saw action for the Vikings. 

 

 

The Vikings (49-10) fall into the elimination game bracket with the next game on Tuesday, May 21 at 4:00 pm ET/1:00 pm PT against the winner of the #1 Auburn University at Montgomery vs. #5 Charleston (WV) that will be played earlier Tuesday at 11am ET/8 am PT. Games will be played at Boombah-Soldiers Creek Park in Longwood, Florida as part of the 2024 NCAA II Spring Championships Festival in Orlando. All games in the Softball Championships feature a free webcast live on NCAA.com.
 

 

The NCAA II Softball National Championship format consists of two four-team brackets that will play a double-elimination tournament May 19-22. The winner of each four-team bracket will square off in a best-of-three championship final round held May 24-25. All games during the DII Softball National Championship will be played at Boombah-Soldiers Creek Park in Longwood, Florida. Here is a detailed look at the game schedule (and results) for the NCAA DII Softball National Championship:

 

Sunday, May 19:

Game 1 – #8 Lenoir-Rhyne 1, #1 Auburn Montgomery 0 (9 inn.)

Game 2 – #4 UIndy 9, vs. #5 Charleston 0 (5 inn.)

Game 3 – #2 UT Tyler 2, #7 Augustana 1 (8 inn.)

Game 4 –#6 Western Washington 2, #3 Wilmington 1

 

Monday, May 20:

Game 5 – #4 UIndy 1, #8 Lenoir-Rhyne 0

Game 6 – #2 UT Tyler 10, #6 Western Washington 1

 

Tuesday, May 21:

Game 7 – #1 Auburn Montgomery vs. #5 Charleston, 11 am ET/8 am PT - Elimination Game

Game 8 – #7 Augustana vs. #3 Wilmington, 1:30 pm ET/10:30 am PT - Elimination Game

Game 9 – #6 Western Washington vs. Winner Game 7, 6:30 pm ET/3:30 pm PT - Elimination Game

Game 10 – #8 Lenoir-Rhyne vs. Winner Game 8, 4 pm ET/1 pm PT - Elimination Game

 

Wednesday, May 22:

Game 11 – #4 UIndy vs. Winner Game 9, 11 am ET/8 am PT

Game 12 – #2 UT Tyler vs. Winner Game 10, 1:30 pm ET/10:30 am PT

Game 13 – First bracket if necessary, 4 pm ET/1 pm PT

Game 14 – Second bracket if necessary, 6:30 pm ET/3:30 pm PT

Winner of each 4-team bracket advances to National Championship best-of-three series

 

Thursday, May 23:

Off Day / Practice for final two teams

 

Friday, May 24:

Championship Game 1 - 12 pm ET/9 am PT

 

Saturday, May 25:

Championship Game 2 - 12 pm ET/9 am PT

Championship Game 3 - 2:30 pm ET/11:30 am ET - if necessary

Winner of each best-of-three series wins national title

 

All games during the 2024 NCAA Division II Softball National Championship will be streamed live and FREE online by visiting NCAA.com/liveschedule. Once visiting that link fans will be able to choose from all NCAA events that will stream that day…just find the Viking logo and click to watch the game live online. A direct link will also be available by bookmarking wwuvikings.com/SB_Watch.

 

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 with the original 64-team field now down to the final eight teams at the DII College World Series in Longwood, Florida:

 

• NCAA Spring Sports Festival
• Championships Festival Schedule
• Live Webcast on NCAA.com (FREE)
• NCAA Tournament Scoreboard
• NCAA Bracket
• Digital Gameday Program
• NCAA Softball
• WWU Softball Statistics
• Super Regional Website

 

WWU is making its sixth all-time appearance in the NCAA Division II Softball Championships and the first in the NCAA II World Series (final 8 teams). Entering the 2024 postseason with one NCAA Tournament victory, the Vikings are 7-3 during the current playoff run and are 8-13 all-time 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. Here is a look at the Vikings game-by-game listing in the NCAA Championships with the regional host site listed next to the year:

 

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

Defeated Wilmington (DE), 2-1 (NCAA Championship Finals) – Longwood, FL

Lost to UT Tyler, 10-1 (NCAA Championship Finals) – Longwood, FL