BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington University softball team has been picked to finish second in the 2018 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches Poll, announced Wednesday by the conference office in Portland, Ore.
The Vikings are coming off a solid season in 2017, recording a 34-19 record and a 19-9 mark in GNAC play. A late-season surge included a 12-game winning streak that helped lift the Vikings to the GNAC Tournament title and a trip to the NCAA Division II Championships.

Central Washington received six of eight first-place votes, and 59 points overall, as the Wildcats were selected to repeat as regular-season GNAC champions. WWU is listed second with 51 points, followed by a three-way tie for third place by Northwest Nazarene, Saint Martin’s and Western Oregon with 42 points.

The 2018 Vikings will feature a young team with eight newcomers, but still return seven starters and 10 letterwinners from last season.

Starting pitcher Anna Kasner (Milton, WA/Fife) returns for her sophomore season after being named First Team All-GNAC and was voted as the league’s co-Pitcher and Freshman of the Year in 2017. Kasner, who has also been named a Second Team Preseason Division II All-American by Fastpitch News, went 16-6 in the circle with a 2.29 earned run average and was 25th in Division II with 188 strikeouts. In addition, she hit .380 with 28 RBI and 11 extra-base hits with an impressive .608 slugging percentage.

Junior Shearyna Labasan (Mililani, HI/Maryknoll) will also by key in her dual role. She finished with a .360 batting average with 63 hits while throwing 131 innings in the circle, amassing a 12-6 record and 3.37 earned run average. The Vikings are further bolstered by the return of starters in senior outfielder and NFCA All-West Region selection Carlie Richards, senior shortstop Cylie Richards and sophomore infielder Paityn Cyr.

Western opens the 2018 season Feb. 2-4 with five games at the Desert Stinger Tournament in Las Vegas, Nev. WWU will face Stanislaus State and Colorado Christian in the opening day of the season, followed by games against Sonoma State, No. 21 Chico State and Concordia-Irvine to complete the tournament.

WWU’s home schedule features seven GNAC doubleheaders that will be played on Viking Field on the WWU campus, beginning with a back-to-back doubleheaders against Northwest Nazarene on March 2-3. Five of the seven home doubleheaders are scheduled for the month of March, while seven of the final nine conference doubleheaders will be played away from Bellingham.

In addition to the season-opening Desert Stinger Tournament, WWU will also play non-conference tournaments at the Dixie State Easton Classic (Feb. 8-10) in St. George, Utah and the Tournament of Champions (March 23-25) in Turlock, Calif. WWU’s 48-game regular-season schedule features five teams that are listed in the NFCA Preseason Division II Coaches Poll (three ranked, two receiving votes).