By: Evan O'Kelly, Associate Commissioner for Communications

PORTLAND, Ore. – Posting a 9-1 record in its last 10 games and coming off a series sweep last week, the Western Washington softball team was named the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Team of the Week on Monday.
 
The Vikings (33-10, 17-3 GNAC) swept Central Washington in a four-game road series last week, earning run-rule victories in three of the four contests. WWU locked down a GNAC Championships tournament berth and moved one win away from clinching the outright GNAC regular-season title.
 
Putting forth a dominant performance in all aspects of the game last week, the Vikings opened up with a 15-2 triumph in five innings on Friday in the series opener. A 12-run fourth inning told the story, as the Vikings turned a 3-0 edge into a blowout victory. GNAC Player of the Week Emma Andrewjeski-Ramirez was 3-for-3 and matched her season high with five RBIs in the lopsided win.
 
WWU’s Joie Baker and Kaiana Kong combined for a shutout in the second game of the doubleheader, as the Vikings cruised to a 12-0 win. Baker did not allow a hit in three innings of work while Kong had zero walks in two shutout frames to end the game. Kanilehua Pitoy led the way going 3-for-4 with three runs scored and a pair of RBIs in the nightcap.
 
Day 2 of the series started with a 10-2 win for WWU, as McKenna Crum went 3-for-3 with four RBIs and Laila Carpenter turned in a 4-for-4 performance at the plate. Alli Kimball was outstanding with three shutout innings of relief, striking out four and allowing just two baserunners.
 
The Vikings put a stamp on the series with a 12-1 win in the finale, scoring five times each in the second and fourth innings to extend their winning streak to six games. Reigning GNAC Player of the Year Hailey Rath and Nyree Johnson each had three RBIs in the final game of the weekend. In the circle, Baker picked up her 12th win of the year with three innings pitched and Kong finished things off with two shutout innings to close the door.
 
The Vikings are all over the GNAC statistical leaderboards, with reigning GNAC Freshman of the Year Maleah Andrews leading the league in hitting at .500, on-base percentage at .592, runs scored with 47, hits with 68 and doubles with 17. Andrewjeski-Ramirez ranks seventh in the league with a slugging percentage of .635 and is second in the GNAC with 44 RBIs. Rath meanwhile is third in the conference with 40 runs scored, fourth with 51 hits and sixth with a dozen doubles.
 
In the circle, Kong leads the GNAC with a 1.49 ERA and ranks fifth with 68 strikeouts. Baker is second in the league with a 2.05 ERA, leads the GNAC in opponents’ batting average at .210 and is third with 81 strikeouts. Kimball is third in the conference in ERA at 2.12 and ranks ninth with 57 strikeouts. The Vikings hold a GNAC-best staff ERA of 1.98 and have a league-high 215 strikeouts in 276 innings pitched.
 
WWU head coach Sheryl Gilmore is in her seventh season in charge, and returns most of her roster from last year’s history making NCAA World Series team. WWU finished as the national runner-up in 2024, becoming the first team in GNAC history to win the regional and advance to the Division II World Series. Overall since taking over in 2019, Gilmore holds an overall record of 200-113 (.639) and has a mark of 96-54 (.640) in conference games. WWU is in search of its second GNAC regular-season title, with the first coming in 2007. The Vikings have also won three GNAC Championships titles – the first in 2017 and two under Gilmore in 2021 and last year in 2024.
 
WWU finishes the regular season with a four-game home series against Simon Fraser kicking off on Friday afternoon in Bellingham, Wash. The Vikings need just one victory in the final series of the season to claim the outright title.