BELLINGHAM, Wash. – A day after celebrating her birthday, junior second baseman Kanilehua Pitoy delivered a walk-off double to back a four-hit shutout by freshman starting pitcher Alli Kimball, and NCAA Regional Championship host No. 1 seed Western Washington claimed an opening-round 1-0 triumph over No. 8 seed Azusa Pacific on Thursday afternoon at Viking Field.

 

The Vikings were held in check through the first five innings while not recording a hit, but came alive late to win their seventh consecutive game to improve to 43-7 overall, extending the program single-season record for wins.

 

Sophomore shortstop Hailey Rath led off the bottom of the 7th inning with a single and senior designated player Emily Paulson kept the inning alive with a two-out single through the right side of the infield. Pitoy followed with the game-winning hit, a double that inched over the APU right fielder's glove to send the Vikings to victory.

 

The Vikings again used their recipe of shutdown pitching and solid defense to improve to 12-4 in one-run games.

 

"This was a gritty game, and from our experience we know in that first game you just have to get the nerves out a little bit," said WWU head coach Sheryl Gilmore. "It was cool to see the team come together, continue to fight and have that belief that they were going to get it done. I'm really proud of their fight and grit that they've had all year long."

 

Kimball won her eighth consecutive start and extended her scoreless innings streak to 20.0 consecutive innings with the complete-game shutout. The freshman baffled the Cougars lineup allowing just four hits to improve to 18-2 with a 1.21 ERA on the season.

 

APU left-handed starting pitcher Sydnie Sahhar was impressive in the circle limiting the Vikings to just four hits in the complete-game effort. Sahhar did not allow a WWU hit until McKenna Crum led off the bottom of the 6th inning with a single up the middle. Second baseman Sommer Quinones went 2-for-3 to account for half of APU hits in the game.

 

The No. 1 seed Vikings advance to play No. 4 Cal State San Marcos in the 10 am winner's bracket game. Azusa Pacific will play Cal State East Bay in an elimination game at 12:30 pm. Cal State San Marcos defeated Cal State East Bay 9-1 in a run-rule-shortened 5-inning game. 

 

 

The Vikings (43-7) will take on No. 4 seed Cal State San Marcos in the winner's bracket game at 10 am Friday at Viking Field. Azusa Pacific and Cal State East Bay will meet in an elimination game at 12:30 pm. The winner of the elimination game and the losing team in the 10 am game will play Friday afternoon at 3 pm in another elimination game. The complete 2024 WWU Softball schedule can be viewed online at WWUVikings.com.
 

 

Here are links on how to follow the 64-team field in the 2024 NCAA Division II Softball Championships:

 

• Tournament Website (Bellingham Pod)
• NCAA Tournament Scoreboard
• Free Webcast via Vikings TV on YouTube
• Live Statistics
• NCAA Bracket
• Ticket Information
• Digital Gameday Program
• NCAA Softball

 

WWU improved to 43-7 overall in its 50th game of the season, extending its program single-season record for wins (old record was 36) … recorded 7th consecutive victory for third winning streak of at least 7 games this season … WWU is 4-0 in the postseason after going 3-0 in the GNAC Championships last weekend … Viking Field is hosting its first NCAA West Regional … WWU improved to 12-4 in 1-run games … the Vikings are 15-0 against schools from the state of California this season (14-0 on the road, 1-0 in Bellingham) … McKenna Crum went 1-for-1 with a walk and is batting .465 (20-for-43) over her last 15 games to raise her season batting average from .242 to .301 … WWU improved to 8-0 vs. left-handed starters this season … the 18 wins by Alli Kimball are tied for 3rd-most in single-season program history.

  
 
 
 
 
 
 
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WWU will host one of the two sub-regional tournaments in Bellingham at Viking Field, just a week after hosting the GNAC Championships. This marks the first time WWU has hosted an NCAA Softball Championships event. Here is a look at the Bellingham bracket with game times listed. The other side of the West Region bracket will be played in Nampa, Idaho on the campus of Northwest Nazarene University. The winner of each sub-regional advances to the West Super Regional played May 14-15 (best of 3), with the winner advancing to the NCAA II Championship Finals May 19-25 in Longwood, Florida.

 

 

Thursday, May 9:

Game 1 – No. 1 Western Washington 1, No. 8 Azusa Pacific 0

Game 2 – No. 4 Cal State San Marcos 9, No. 5 Cal State East Bay 1 (5 inn.)

Friday, May 10:

Game 3 – No. 1 Western Washington vs. No. 4 Cal State San Marcos, 10:00 am

Game 4 – No. 8 Azusa Pacific vs. No. 5 Cal State East Bay, 12:30 pm (elimination game)

Game 5 – Loser Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 3:00 pm (elimination game)

Saturday, May 11:

Game 6 – Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5, 12:00 pm

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

 

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

 

 

WWU is making its sixth all-time appearance in the NCAA Division II Softball Championships and first since 2021. The Vikings are 2-10 all-time in the NCAA Championships, with Thursday's win over APU the second NCAA Tournament victory. 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

 

WWU has set the program record for wins in a season with 43 (and counting), passing the 36 wins achieved by the 2011 squad (36-16/.692). This is the 10th 30-victory season in program history.