BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington University softball team returns to action this week with six games against West Region competition in Hawai'i.

 

The No. 10 nationally ranked Vikings will play doubleheaders against Chaminade (Friday), Hawai'i Hilo (Saturday) and Hawai'i Pacific (Saturday) at Sand Island Park in Honolulu. WWU is 1-4 entering the games after its season debut January 31-February 2 at the CUI Kickoff Classic.

 

The trip to Hawai'i serves as a homecoming for three players and one coach, with seniors Joie Baker and Kanilehua Pitoy, sophomore Kaiana Kong and assistant coach Shearyna Labasan returning to their native state. Head coach Sheryl Gilmore also has family ties to Hawai'i. 

 

WWU is coming off a historic 52-win season that ended playing in the national championship series at the NCAA Division II World Series. After placing second in the GNAC during the regular season, WWU went on an incredible 18-game postseason run that concluded finishing as the national runner-up. Western hosted 11 postseason games at Viking Field, winning the GNAC Tournament, West Regional sub-regional and West Super Regional on its home field.

 

Following the six-game trip to Hawai'i, the Vikings will play five games in the GNAC Winter Warm-Up in Richland, Washington with games played February 21-23 at the Columbia Playfields.

 

The Vikings will play its first 16 games of the season away from Bellingham before hosting Simon Fraser in a non-conference doubleheader on March 1 for the home opener at Viking Field. 

 

Here is a look at the Vikings schedule this weekend with six games scheduled to be played against Chaminade, Hawai'i Hilo and Hawai'i Pacific. Bookmark wwuvikings.com/Live for the up-to-date schedule and live links on how to follow WWU Softball games online. All three webcasts are pay-per-view via the PacWest Network.

 

 

Hawai'i is currently on Hawai'i Standard Time which is two hours behind Pacific Standard Time (Bellingham Time). So games will begin Friday at noon in Hawai'i and 2 pm in Bellingham (for those following the games).

 

Here is a look at the Vikings record breakdown for the 2025 season:

 

 

Sophomore third baseman Maleah Andrews earned another honor from her season-opening performance being selected as the GNAC Softball Player of the Week. Andrews was also selected to the CUI Kickoff Classic All-Tournament Team after going 8-for-15 (.533) with five extra-base hits (2B-4, HR-1), four RBI and four walks. The sophomore recorded a hit in four of five games for a .632 on-base percentage, 1.000 slugging percentage and 1.632 OPS.

Here is a look at WWU's all-time record against opponents in Hawai'i this week:

 

• Chaminade: All-time series is tied 4-4 with the last meeting in 2023 with the teams splitting a doubleheader…six of eight meetings have been in Hawai'i with the remaining two at the Tournament of Champions.
• Hawai'i Hilo: UHH leads the all-time series 11-8 with the Vikings going 3-2 in the last five meetings…WWU beat UHH 19-7 in the last meeting in 2023 as part of a doubleheader split…the Vulcans beat the Vikings 3-0 in the opening round of the 2021 NCAA West Regional Championships.
• Hawai'i Pacific: Series is tied 4-4 with the Vikings winning three of the last four games…HPU and WWU split a doubleheader in its last meeting in 2023 with the Vikings winning 4-0 and falling 2-1.

 

Here is a complete listing of the 2025 NFCA/GoRout Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll with the Vikings entering the season No. 2 in the rankings after finishing the 2024 season as the national runner-up and currently ranked No. 10 in the nation:

 

 

Seventh-year head coach Sheryl Gilmore returns nearly the entire squad from last year's historic run to the national championship series, with 17 of 22 players on the roster appearing last season. Gilmore has built a 167-103 record in her six seasons at the helm of the program and led the Vikings to a pair of GNAC Tournament titles in 2021 and 2024. Gilmore's coaching staff includes three former Vikings – Shearyna Labasan, Ashley Jacobson, Hanako Hirai – and former University of Washington standout and longtime Bellevue College head coach Leah Francis.

 

WWU became the first team since the GNAC was founded in 2001 to reach the NCAA Division II Softball World Series in 2024. The Vikings finished second in the GNAC regular-season standings with a league record of 19-5, before going 3-0 on their home field to capture the program's third GNAC Championships tournament trophy. From there, the Vikings went 4-1 at the West Regional and defeated Cal State Dominguez Hills 2-1 in a three-game super regional series to advance to the NCAA Championships. The Vikings set the GNAC record for consecutive wins to start a season with 13, broke the school record with a midseason, 17-game winning streak and shattered the previous program record for wins in a season which was 34. WWU's 52 wins were 4th-most in GNAC history, and the most by a conference team since Humboldt State won 54 games in 2006.

 

WWU opens the 2025 season as the team to beat in the GNAC, according to the conference's seven head coaches. Here is the detailed listing for the 2025 GNAC Preseason Coaches Poll:

 

 

The conference schedule begins on March 7 and runs through the end of April, as teams compete for the top four spots in the standings to earn a spot in the 2025 GNAC Softball Championships held May 1-3 in Nampa, Idaho. The winner of the GNAC Championships earns the conference's automatic berth into the 2025 NCAA West Region Championships. The complete conference schedule with links to follow all GNAC games can be found online at GNACSports.com.

 

The WWU softball program enters its 33rd season in 2025 while coming off a historic 52-12 season in 2024. The Vikings claimed their third GNAC title by winning the 2024 postseason tournament at Viking Field and advanced to the NCAA Division II Championships for the sixth time in program history. Playing on its home field in the NCAA postseason for the first time, WWU won its first West Regional title defeating Cal State San Marcos in the sub-regional and Cal State Dominguez Hills in the Super Regional. The historic season ended playing in the national championship series as part of the NCAA Division II Spring Sports Festival in Longwood, Florida. WWU has posted a winning record 21 times during the 32-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.