BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington University softball team finished the season winning 13 of its last 15 games and will take an 8-game winning streak into the postseason as the No. 2 seed in the 2017 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships beginning Thursday in Lacey, Wash.
The Vikings are 30-17 overall and finished 2nd in the GNAC with a 19-9 mark, one game back of GNAC regular-season champion Central Washington (33-13, 20-8 GNAC). WWU will open the double-elimination tournament Thursday against No. 3-seed Saint Martin’s, the tournament host, at 12 pm at SMU Softball Field in Lacey.
Western’s late-season surge resulted in a 16-6 record in the month of April, and a 14-4 finish to the GNAC schedule. The Vikings reached the 30-win mark for the third time in the last four seasons with a 4-0 road trip to Idaho where they combined to bat .399 (57-for-143) and scored 47 runs in a four-game sweep of Northwest Nazarene.
“I am really happy with where we have put ourselves for the GNAC tournament,” said head coach Amy Suiter, who is 192-161 in seven seasons at the helm of the program and recently recorded her 200th career head coaching victory. “We are playing well right now. There are always adjustments to make, but we are having fun and have some momentum going into the tournament, which is huge.”
WWU is the only team in the tournament field with two players ranked in the GNAC top-10 in hitting, led by junior first baseman Emily Benson (4th, .445/57-for-128, 12 HR, 37 RBI) and junior third baseman/pitcher Makinlee Sellevold (7th, .413/62-for-150, 12 2B, 8 HR, 47 RBI). Benson is also tied for 2nd in the league with 12 home runs and leads the conference with a .570 on-base percentage, and Sellevold is 6th in the league with 47 RBI. The Vikings are led in the circle by freshman standout Anna Kasner, who is 12-5 overall with a 2.68 ERA, and leads the conference by a wide margin with 153 strikeouts.
“We are starting to click on all cylinders and really playing well as a team,” added Suiter. “We are playing with confidence and having a lot of fun, and that is a good feeling heading into these games where every inning, every pitch, every at-bat really counts.”
After missing out on the tournament by one game last season, WWU will be making its third appearance in the five-year history of the tournament. The Vikings advanced to the championship final in 2015 before falling to tournament host Montana State Billings. WWU last advanced to the NCAA II Championships in 2011.
Western Washington is joined by Central Washington, Saint Martin’s and Western Oregon in the four-team field in the double elimination tournament. The winner will receive the conference’s automatic berth to the NCAA Division II Tournament.
Central Washington secured the No. 1 seed and their second straight regular season title, but the Wildcats head into the postseason dropping six of their last seven games.
Saint Martin’s, the championships host, clinched the No. 3 seed with a doubleheader sweep of Western Oregon on Thursday. The Saints (25-17, 17-11 GNAC) closed out the regular season by winning six of their last nine games, all of which came over the last week.
Western Oregon did not secure the No. 4 and final spot in the championships until the last day of the season, clinching its place with a doubleheader sweep of Central Washington on Sunday. Despite not playing a single game at home due to weather and field conditions, the Wolves (27-22, 14-14 GNAC) managed to finish above .500 overall for the sixth consecutive season.
Action begins on Thursday at noon with the Vikings facing the Saints. The second game, at 2:30 p.m., features No. 1 Central Washington against No. 4 Western Oregon. Advanced tickets can be purchased through Wed., May 3, on the GNAC’s EventBrite ticket page.
— @WWUSoftball1 —
