BELLINGHAM, Wash. – A two-run double off the bat of Maleah Andrews sparked a three-run fourth inning by the Western Washington softball team on Friday morning at Viking Field, in an eventual 4-2 triumph over Northwest Nazarene on Day 2 of the 2024 GNAC Softball Championships.
Andrews’ big swing of the bat broke open a 0-0 game, and Emma Andrewjeski-Ramirez followed with a two-out, RBI-single to cap the rally. The Nighthawks got two runs back in the bottom of the inning, but that’s all they managed as WWU’s Kaiana Kong picked up her seventh save of the season with a scoreless final three frames. “It was intense, and we just continued to throw what our strengths are as a pitching staff,” said Andrewjeski-Ramirez. “We tried to attack early because we knew they have great hitters. We tried to be strong and come right at them, and put the ball where we know we can field it.”
With the win, No. 14 WWU improved to 41-7 on the season and advanced to Saturday’s championship game, scheduled for noon (PT). No. 13 Northwest Nazarene (38-9) will square off against the winner of an elimination game between Saint Martin’s and Central Washington, scheduled for a 1 p.m. (PT) first pitch on Friday. “NNU is a phenomenal team and we have a lot of respect for them, and we were ready for anything,” said WWU head coach Sheryl Gilmore, the 2024 GNAC Coach of the Year. “When we strike early, like we did yesterday, it allows our pitchers to settle in and Joie (Baker) and Kaiana (Kong) did a great job together.”
Joie Baker earned the win for the Vikings, allowing two runs on five hits with four strikeouts and one walk across her four innings of work. Kong allowed just one walk and one hit in completing the save, retiring nine of the 11 hitters she faced. “Joie has worked so hard to come back from injury last year, and all of our pitchers work hard every day,” said Gilmore. “They really have each other’s backs, and they know they can set each other up for success. They can give teams different looks when they come in, and they really feed off of that.”
The Nighthawks used a combination of three arms in the game, with Sidney Booth allowing three runs (one earned) with four strikeouts and five walks in three innings of work. Gina Skinner allowed one run on three hits in two innings, and Mia Traylor allowed one hit and one walk in two scoreless frames to keep the Nighthawks alive until the end.
Among the 18 combined runners left on base in the game, 10 of them were left in scoring position as each team had multiple scoring opportunities. Both pitching staffs did well in the face of trouble, with WWU going 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position and NNU managing a line of just 1-for-7. “I go into each at-bat trying not to do too much, and I know if I hit it hard enough it is going to result in something good,” Andrewjeski-Ramirez said on her key RBI. “Especially today facing Sidney (Booth) and Gina (Skinner) I was just trying to see what they were going to throw. They are both really great pitchers, so I was just trying to put something in play.”
GNAC Player of the Year Hailey Rath supplied WWU with an insurance run in the top of the sixth, lifting a scacrifice fly to center field to bring home McKenna Crum, who led off the inning with a single.
A one-out single off the bat of Ava Clark brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning, but Kong calmly pitched out of trouble with a pop up and a ground out to Andrews to end the game. Clark and Emma Mulligan had a pair of hits each for NNU, while Jami Obringer delivered a big two-run double in the bottom of the fourth to get momentum back in the Nighthawks’ favor.
Andrews was exceptional defensively for the second straight game, turning in four assists at third base. With no outs in the bottom of the fourth, Andrews raced towards home to handle a bunt and had the wherewithal to turn and fire a strike to Rath covering third base to cut down the lead runner. “She is such an awesome person and athlete, and she is so coachable,” Gilmore said on Andrews, a first-team all-GNAC pick. “She wants to continue to learn and grow, and no moment is too big for her. We knew she was going to come up big, and she has been clutch for us defensively all year long.”
Andrewjeski-Ramirez contributed in all aspects of the game, catching NNU’s team-leader in steals Mulligan after her leadoff single in the bottom of the first. At the plate the Viking newcomer reached base all four times she came up, drawing three walks to go along with her clutch base hit. “It has been great,” Andrewjeski-Ramirez said on handling the Vikings’ elite pitching staff, which holds a team ERA of 1.78 this spring. “We have pitchers who can cover all corners of the plate. What helped a lot in this game was working towards our pitchers’ strengths and continuing to give the batters different looks.”
TOURNEY TALK: WWU is now 3-2 vs. NNU this season, after the teams split their four regular-season contests…Friday marked the fourth time that NNU and WWU met in the GNAC Softball Championships, with WWU moving to a narrow 3-2 advantage in the all-time postseason series…WWU is in search of its third GNAC Championships title, after winning the event in 2017 and 2021…WWU advanced to the championship game for the fifth time, and is 2-2 all-time in the title game…NNU has hopes of becoming the first-ever GNAC team to win three consecutive GNAC Championships titles, after claiming the crown in 2022 and 2023…the Vikings’ 41 wins in 2024 are a program record, while NNU remains one win away from matching last season’s program-record 39 victories.
