HAYWARD, Calif. – Senior Emma Andrewjeski-Ramirez hit a tape-measure home run to lead off the top of the 8th inning to back a strong pitching performance by the Vikings to lead the Western Washington University softball team to a 2-1 victory over Cal State East Bay Friday in West Regional action of the NCAA Championships.

 

The No. 4 seed Vikings won their 15th consecutive game improving to 42-10 on the season and remained perfect in the postseason with a 5-0 record in the GNAC Championships and NCAA West Regional. WWU defeated No. 1 seed Cal State East Bay in Friday's game to advance to the Saturday final, needing one win over the Pioneers to punch its ticket to the super regional round. CSUEB defeated Concordia Irvine in an elimination game Friday afternoon to advance to Saturday's final round of the double-elimination tournament.

 

Playing its first extra-inning contest of the season in its 52nd game, the Vikings led 1-0 heading into the bottom of the 7th inning. The Pioneers tied the game on a leadoff home run by Jeslyn Cuellar.

 

The Vikings used the longball to forge ahead in the top of the 8th inning when Andrewjeski-Ramirez teed off on a 1-2 pitch putting a ball into the left field bleachers for her eighth home run of the season and 26th in two seasons as a Viking. The senior All-GNAC and All-West Region selection has homered in both games of the regional, providing a walk-off homer in Thursday's 8-0 run-rule victory over CUI.

 

After a stellar start by sophomore Alli Kimball (6.1 IP, 5 H, 1 R, BB, 4 K), sophomore All-West Region pitcher Kaiana Kong retired all four batters she faced in 1.2 innings to earn the win improving to 11-0 on the season.

 

Sophomore third baseman Maleah Andrews recorded her 23rd multi-hit game of the season going 2-for-3 with a run-scoring double, extending her school-record on-base streak to 49 consecutive games. Senior second baseman Kanilehua Pitoy went 1-for-3 to pull to within one hit of reaching the school record of 208 career hits set by Emily Benson.

The Pioneers looked to score the first run of the game in the bottom of the 3rd inning, but sophomore center fielder Laila Carpenter cut down the potential go-ahead run with a double play throwing out a runner at home plate to keep the game scoreless.

 

CSUEB starting pitcher Marissa Quintero was saddled with the loss allowing two runs in the 8.0 inning complete game giving up six hits and striking out four.

 

 

The Vikings (42-10) advance in the winner's bracket in Saturday's Championship round, looking for one win to advance to the super regionals. WWU will face Cal State East Bay with first pitch schedule for noon at Pioneer Softball Field. Links to watch all the action will be made available at wwuvikings.com/Live. The complete 2025 schedule can be viewed online at wwuvikings.com/Team33 with links to season statistics, photo galleries and program history.

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

 

 

WWU is the No. 4 seed in the West Region competing in the Hayward pod of the 2025 NCAA II West Regional Championship at Pioneer Softball Field on the Cal State East Bay campus. Here is a look at the Hayward bracket with game times listed. The other side of the West Region bracket will be played in San Francisco on the campus of San Francisco State University. The winner of each sub-regional advances to the West Super Regional played May 15-16 (best of 3), with the winner advancing to the NCAA II Championship Finals May 22-28 in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

 

 

Thursday, May 8:

Game 1 – No. 1 Cal State East Bay 3, No. 8 Sonoma State 0

Game 2 – No. 4 Western Washington 8, No. 5 Concordia Irvine 0 (6 inn.)

 

Friday, May 9:

Game 3 – No. 4 Western Washington 2, No. 1 Cal State East Bay 1 (8 inn.)

Game 4 – No. 5 Concordia Irvine 6, No. 8 Sonoma State 4 (Sonoma State eliminated)

Game 5 – No. 1 Cal State East Bay 3, No. 5 Concordia Irvine 1 (CUI eliminated)

 

Saturday, May 10:

Game 6 – No. 4 Western Washington vs. No. 1 Cal State East Bay, 12:00 pm

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

 

WWU is making its seventh appearance in the NCAA Division II Softball Championships and second consecutive after the historic run to the NCAA II World Series in 2024. Entering the 2024 postseason with one NCAA Tournament victory, the Vikings went 10-5 during the run to the national championship series. Prior to moving to the NCAA level in 1999, WWU won the NAIA World Series in 1998 for the first team national championship 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

Defeated Auburn Montgomery, 7-1 (NCAA Championship Finals) – Longwood, FL

Defeated UIndy, 2-1 (9 inn.) (NCAA Championship Finals) – Longwood, FL

Defeated UIndy, 7-0 (NCAA Championship Finals) – Longwood, FL

Lost to UT Tyler, 3-0 (NCAA Championship Series) – Longwood, FL

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

 

2025 (Hayward, CA):

Defeated Concordia Irvine, 8-0

Defeated Cal State East Bay, 2-1

 

WWU extended its winning streak to 15 consecutive games Friday's 2-1 extra-inning victory over No. 1 seed Cal State East Bay, improving the 2nd-longest winning streak in program history. It is the second double-digit winning streak this season. The Vikings set the club record twice last season with winning streaks of 13 games (in February) and 17 games (in March/April). Here is a look at the longest winning streaks in the 33 years of WWU Softball:

 

 

The WWU softball program is in its 33rd season in 2025 while coming off a historic 52-12 season in 2024. The Vikings won the 2025 GNAC regular-season title with a 21-3 league record and have won back-to-back GNAC Tournament titles in 2024 and 2025. WWU advanced to the NCAA Division II Championships for the sixth time in program history in 2024, 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.