CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Sophomore starting pitcher Kaiana Kong recorded a complete-game, two-hit shutout and the Vikings came up with clutch hits at the plate defeating the University of North Georgia 3-0 Saturday in an elimination game at the NCAA Division II Softball National Championship tournament at Frost Stadium.
The No. 8 seed Vikings defeated No. 4 North Georgia to advance to play No. 3 Central Oklahoma Saturday afternoon at 4 pm ET/1 pm PT in another elimination game. The winner of the WWU-UCO game will play No. 1 UT Tyler Sunday at 11 am ET/8 am PT.
The game vs. the Nighthawks was scoreless through the first three innings with both pitchers in control with each team managing just one hit.
WWU broke through in the top of the 4th inning when junior shortstop Hailey Rath led off with a tape-measure solo home run to center field to put the Vikings up 1-0. It marked the second consecutive game Rath homered during the national championship tournament.
Kong set the tone the rest of the way retiring 12 in a row from the 1st-through-4th innings and handed the Nighthawks just their fourth shutout of the season. UNG entered the game ranked 3rd in the nation with 83 home runs and runs scored (7.82 per game). The sophomore right-hander improved to 14-1 on the season while lowering her ERA to 1.35.
The Vikings offense was led by multi-hit games from third baseman Maleah Andrews (2-for-3, R, 2B, RBI, BB), second baseman Kanilehua Pitoy (2-for-3, RBI) and sophomore center fielder Laila Carpenter (2-for-3, R, 3B). Andrews recorded her team-leading 26th multi-hit game and extended her streak of reaching base safely to 55 consecutive games.
North Georgia, the 2023 NCAA II National Champion, finished the season 48-16. Starting pitcher Graci West was saddled with the loss allowing eight hits and three runs in the complete-game effort. The Nighthawks did not put a runner into scoring position in the game against Kong.
|
WWU 3, UNG 0 (May 24, 2025 at Frost Stadium at Warner Park)
|
|
Score by Innings
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
|
R
|
H
|
E
|
LOB
|
Record
|
|
Western Washington
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
-
|
3
|
8
|
1
|
6
|
46-12
|
|
North Georgia
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
-
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
3
|
48-16
|
|
WWU – Kong and Dellamaggiore
|
|
UNG – West and Knowles
|
|
Win: Kong (14-1) Save: None Loss: West (7-3)
WWU HR: Rath (7) UNG HR: None
Time of Game: 1:26
|
Maleah Andrews extended her on-base streak to 55 consecutive games (via H, BB, HPB) going 2-for-3 with a double and walk…Andrews extended her single-season school record with her 26th multi-hit game of the season…Hailey Rath homered in consecutive games for the third time in her career (March 6, 2023 at Saint Martin's, April 12-13, 2024 at MSU Billings)…Rath hit her 22nd career home run to tie for 3rd-most in WWU history…Rath also recorded her 78th career extra-base hit (2B-49, 3B-7, HR-22) to rank No. 2 in program history behind Emily Benson (82)…Kong improved to 30-2 in her collegiate career (also has 18 saves)…the Vikings 46 wins are second-most in single-season program history trailing the 52 wins in 2024.
The Vikings (46-12) play No. 3 seed Central Oklahoma in another elimination game Saturday afternoon at 4 pm ET/1 pm PT. All games during the NCAA DII Softball National Championship tournament are being played at Warner Park in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The complete 2025 schedule can be viewed online at wwuvikings.com/Team33 with links to season statistics, photo galleries and program history.
Here is a look at the Vikings record breakdown for the 2025 season:
|
RECORD BREAKDOWN
|
|
Overall
|
46-12
|
|
GNAC
|
21-3
|
|
Non-Conference
|
25-9
|
|
Postseason
|
9-2
|
|
Streak
|
W1
|
|
Home
|
12-2
|
|
Away
|
25-5
|
|
Neutral
|
9-5
|
|
vs. Ranked Teams
|
4-1
|
|
1-Run Games
|
6-5
|
|
2-Run Games
|
2-1
|
|
Extra Innings
|
1-0
|
|
Shutouts
|
13-4
|
|
BY UNIFORM
|
|
Light Blue Pinstripes
|
16-4
|
|
Navy
|
5-1
|
|
Navy/White
|
12-3
|
|
Gray
|
5-2
|
|
White/Navy
|
6-2
|
|
Gray/Blue
|
0-0
|
|
Autism Awareness
|
2-0
|
All games during the 2025 NCAA Division II Softball National Championship will be streamed live and FREE online by visiting NCAA.com/liveschedule. Once visiting that link fans will be able to choose from all NCAA events that will stream that day…just find the Viking logo and click to watch the game live online. A direct link will also be available by bookmarking wwuvikings.com/SB_Watch.
WWU is making its seventh appearance in the NCAA Division II Softball Championships and second consecutive after the historic run to the NCAA II World Series in 2024. Entering the 2024 postseason with one NCAA Tournament victory, the Vikings went 10-5 during the run to the national championship series. Prior to moving to the NCAA level in 1999, WWU won the NAIA World Series in 1998 for the first team national championship in WWU Athletics history. Here is a look at the Vikings game-by-game listing in the NCAA Championships with the regional host site listed next to the year. The Vikings are 17-17 all-time in NCAA Tournament play:
2003 (Bakersfield, CA):
Lost to UC Davis, 4-2
Lost to Humboldt State, 7-1
2007 (Turlock, CA):
Lost to Stanislaus State, 2-0
Lost to Sonoma State, 3-1
2011 (Chico, CA):
Lost to Chico State, 3-1
Lost to Central Washington, 8-4
2017 (Seaside, CA):
Defeated Cal State Monterey Bay, 5-3
Lost to Dixie State, 5-0
Lost to Sonoma State, 6-4
2021 (Irvine, CA):
Lost to Hawai'i Hilo, 3-0
Lost to Central Washington, 9-5
2024 (Bellingham, WA):
Defeated Azusa Pacific, 1-0
Lost to Cal State San Marcos, 4-3
Defeated Azusa Pacific, 3-0
Defeated Cal State San Marcos, 7-1
Defeated Cal State San Marcos, 2-1
Defeated Cal State Dominguez Hills, 4-3 (Super Regional)
Lost to Cal State Dominguez Hills, 3-2 (Super Regional)
Defeated Cal State Dominguez Hills, 7-6 (West Region Champions) – 8 innings
Defeated Wilmington (DE), 2-1 (NCAA Championship Finals) – Longwood, FL
Lost to UT Tyler, 10-1 (NCAA Championship Finals) – Longwood, FL
Defeated Auburn Montgomery, 7-1 (NCAA Championship Finals) – Longwood, FL
Defeated UIndy, 2-1 (9 inn.) (NCAA Championship Finals) – Longwood, FL
Defeated UIndy, 7-0 (NCAA Championship Finals) – Longwood, FL
Lost to UT Tyler, 3-0 (NCAA Championship Series) – Longwood, FL
Lost to UT Tyler, 10-1 (NCAA Championship Series) – Longwood, FL
2025 (Hayward, CA):
Defeated Concordia Irvine, 8-0
Defeated Cal State East Bay, 2-1
Defeated Cal State East Bay, 6-2
Lost to Cal State San Marcos, 9-1 (Super Regional)
Defeated Cal State San Marcos, 4-1 (Super Regional)
Defeated Cal State San Marcos, 3-2 (Super Regional)
Lost to UT Tyler, 6-5 (NCAA Championship Finals) – Chattanooga, TN
Defeated North Georgia, 3-0 (NCAA Championship Finals) – Chattanooga, TN
HOW TO FOLLOW THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
Here are links on how to follow the 2025 NCAA Division II Softball Championships World Series in Tennessee:
The WWU softball program is in its 33rd season in 2025 while coming off a historic 52-12 season in 2024. The Vikings won the 2025 GNAC regular-season title with a 21-3 league record and have won back-to-back GNAC Tournament titles in 2024 and 2025. WWU advanced to the NCAA Division II Championships for the sixth time in program history in 2024, playing on its home field in the NCAA postseason for the first time. WWU won its first West Regional title defeating Cal State San Marcos in the sub-regional and Cal State Dominguez Hills in the Super Regional. The historic season ended playing in the national championship series as part of the NCAA Division II Spring Sports Festival in Longwood, Florida. WWU has posted a winning record 21 times during the 32-year history of the program, which won the 1998 NAIA National Championship in only its sixth season to record the school's first ever team national title.