Thursday, March 7, 2019

STARTING CONFERENCE PLAY WITH A BANG: Western Washington and Montana State Billings provided for the official kickoff to the GNAC softball schedule and the Vikings took every opportunity to start things on a positive note.

For starters, the Vikings swept the four-game series from the Yellowjackets in Bellingham, taking a pair of 10-0 and 8-0 run-rule shortened games on Saturday and 3-1 and 18-9 victories on Sunday. That allowed Western Washington to take an early lead in the conference standings.

But sweetening the weekend was a pair of historic individual performances. Senior Makinlee Sellevold threw the second no-hitter in the conference this season in Saturday’s six-inning game, allowing just one walk and striking out nine. It was the first no-hitter for Western Washington since 2009 and just fifth in the GNAC since 2010.

Sellevold was named the GNAC Softball Pitcher of the Week after she earned three of the Vikings’ four wins, allowing one run on six hits with six walks and an amazing 28 strikeouts in 18 innings.

Senior Emily Benson capped the weekend by hitting for the cycle in Sunday’s nightcap. She doubled in the first, connected on an RBI single in the third, added a triple later in the frame and ended the game with a two-run homer in the sixth. It was the first cycle for a GNAC player since Saint Martin’s Corrie Wilson hit for one against Simon Fraser on Mar. 18, 2017.

Benson gave the Vikings a sweep of the GNAC weekly awards, earning Softball Player of the Week laurels after she hit 6 for 12 in the four games with four runs, six RBI, two doubles, two triples and a home run.

KNOCKING THE RUST OFF: Thanks to a myriad of rainouts and snowouts, Western Oregon had not played since the Desert Stinger in Las Vegas on Feb. 3. So the Wolves could not have been happier to travel to Clermont, Florida to take part in the PFX Athletic Tournament.

Despite the long time away from competition, the Wolves did not seem any worse for wear, going 4-3. Western Oregon opened with an 8-2 victory over Kentucky Wesleyan on Friday, gained an 8-2 win over Findlay and a 3-2 win over Minnesota State on Saturday and won 6-1 over Malone on Sunday.

Western Oregon finished the tournament hitting .336 and collected 13 extra-base hits, including four home runs. Sophomore Ayanna Arceneaux led the way with her .429 average, going 9 for 21 with three RBI and a .524 slugging percentage. Senior Cheyanne Rimer batted .381, going 8 for 21 with two RBI and a .571 slugging percentage.

WEEKEND TICKET: All eight GNAC teams will engage in conference play this weekend, but weather issues have caused some changes to game sites. Northwest Nazarene and Central Washington will play a four-game series beginning on Friday in Nampa, Idaho. The series was scheduled to be played in Ellensburg, but was moved due to snow on the field.

Montana State Billings and Saint Martin’s will also start a four-game series on Friday. The games have been moved from Lacey to the softball field at Seattle University after snow caused the SMU Field to be unplayable.

The two Oregon schools will be at home. Concordia has played six straight games at home dating back to Feb. 22 and will host Western Washington on Saturday and Simon Fraser on Sunday. Western Oregon will play its first home games of the season, hosting Simon Fraser on Saturday and Western Washington on Sunday.

THIS WEEK’S GNAC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
PLAYER
Emily Benson, Western Washington
1B • 5-10 • Sr., West Richland, Wash.
led the Vikings in the series sweep of Montana State Billings by hitting .500 in four games, going 6 for 12 with four runs, six RBI, a double, a triple and a home run. Benson opened the series by going 2 for 2 with a pair of RBI in the 10-0, five-inning win. Benson then became the first GNAC player since 2014 to hit for the cycle as she went 4 for 4 with three runs and four RBI in Sunday’s 18-9, six-inning win on Sunday. She capped the game and the cycle with a two-run homer in the sixth.

Also Nominated: Linda Gherir (Concordia), Ayanna Arceneaux (Western Oregon).

PITCHER
Makinlee Sellevold, Western Washington
P/IF, 5-4, Sr., Everett, Wash.
Sellevold won all three starts against Montana State Billings in the series sweep. She amassed a 0.39 earned run average, allowing just one earned run on six hits with 28 strikeouts in 18 innings. Sellevold won Saturday’s 10-0, five-inning opener, allowing one run and one hit while striking out 12. She then proceeded to throw the second no-hitter in the conference this season, allowing just one walk while striking out nine in the 8-0, six-inning win. Sellevold allowed one run on five hits and struck out seven in Sunday’s 3-1 victory.

Also Nominated: Sally Bowles (Concordia), Haley Fabian (Western Oregon).