Wednesday, February 8, 2017
by Western Washington Athletic Communications

BELLINGHAM, Wash. – What a memorable opening week to the collegiate career for Western Washington University freshman softball pitcher Anna Kasner.

Kasner has been named the Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division II Pitcher of the Week. She was also named the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week.

In three appearances during the Vikings 5-1 trip to Hawaii, Kasner went 2-0 with a 0.78 ERA (2 ER, 18.0 IP) while racking up 32 strikeouts and walking only one batter. She allowed only 7 hits, limiting opposing hitters to a .115 batting average (7-for-61). Overall she averaged 12.44 strikeouts per seven innings and recorded 13 strikeouts in each of her starts.

In her WWU debut in a starting role in the first game of a doubleheader on Sunday at Chaminade, she threw a complete game, one-hit shutout with 13 strikeouts. Kasner added three scoreless innings of relief with six strikeouts in the second game.

She also recorded the win in WWU’s 7-3 win at BYU-Hawaii on Tuesday in eight innings, notching another 13-strikeout performance.

The 13 strikeouts are the most by a GNAC pitcher since 2012 (14, Jessyka MacDonald, Montana State Billings) and tied for the sixth-most strikeouts in a single game in WWU program history during her complete game in the opener. Her strikeout total vs. Chaminade is also tied for fourth in WWU program history for a seven-inning regulation game (without extra innings).

Of Kasner’s 32 strikeouts, 15 were looking and 17 were swinging. In the 13-strikeout shutout, she retired the last 12 batters she faced, while recording seven strikeouts over the final three innings.

Kasner joins teammate Emily Benson as the only Vikings to earn the NFCA weekly award since joining the NCAA level in 1999. Benson earned the award March 21-27 last season after hitting .609 (14-for-23) with five home runs, 16 RBI and 11 runs scored during a seven-game stretch.

WWU (5-1) returns to action Thursday through Saturday with five games at the Dixie State Easton Classic in Saint George, Utah. The Vikings open tournament play tomorrow facing No. 18 California Baptist (10 a.m. MT) and Western New Mexico (12:30 p.m. MT).