Wednesday, May 12, 2021
by Western Washington Athletic Communications

BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Following a near-perfect performance at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships, Western Washington senior spitcher Anna Kasner has been selected as the Division II Wilson/NFCA Pitcher of the Week.

Kasner went 3-0 with a 0.37 earned run average (one earned run in 19 innings) in three starts during the GNAC Championships over the weekend in Monmouth, Oregon, helping lead the Vikings to its GNAC championship in the last four seasons. The right-hander racked up 38 strikeouts in the three games, with a trio of double-digit strikeout performances.

In the tournament opener vs. Saint Martin’s, Kasner threw a one-hit shutout with 12 strikeouts in a 1-0 win over the Saints. The following day she threw a five-inning no-hitter over No. 1 seed Northwest Nazarene, just missing a perfect game. In the tournament final vs. NNU, Kasner struck out 14 batters in a 3-1 victory and was named the GNAC Championships MVP.

In six career pitching appearances in the GNAC Championships, Kasner is 6-0 with a 0.18 earned run average with 61 strikeouts. She was selected as the tournament MVP as a freshman (2017) and as a senior (2021).

This marks her third career NFCA National Pitcher of the Week honor, also winning the award February 8 and March 8, 2017 as a freshman.

In 20 appearances and 19 starts this season, Kasner is 13-3 overall with seven shutouts and a 1.62 earned run average. She has racked up 153 strikeouts in 112.1 innings pitched for a 9.53 strikeouts per seven innings ratio, the best mark in program history.

For her career, Kasner is the WWU and GNAC all-time leader with 551 career strikeouts, while also holding the program record with 21 shutouts.