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April 24, 2009

Complete Release in PDF Format

BELLINGHAM, WA -- Despite having a pitching staff racked by injuries, the struggling Western Washington University softball team looks to finish the season on a high note, beginning this weekend with a four-game set at Great Northwest Athletic Conference rival Saint Martin’s. The two teams meet in a pair of doubleheaders Saturday and Sunday, both beginning at noon.

Western, 18-24 overall and 14-18 in league play, has lost eight straight games, including a doubleheader sweep at home against the Saints on Tuesday.  During that stretch, the Vikings have been outscored, 51-18.

Shoulder tightness has limited senior pitcher Jessica Rosencrants to 22 innings of work during the losing streak, while sophomore Sarah McEnroe has missed four starts because of a lower back injury.

Following this weekend’s action, Western returns to Viking Field, closing out the campaign with a four-game series versus Western Oregon on Saturday, May 1 (1 p.m.), and Sunday, May 2 (12 noon).  Prior to the second game of Sunday’s doubleheader, the Vikings will honor seniors Rosencrants and Morgan Parkerson.

SIZING UP THE SAINTS

Saint Martin’s, 10-35 overall and 8-23 in the GNAC, has won six of its last 11 games following a 4-30 start.  On Thursday, the Saints split a twinbill with league-leading Montana State Billings, grabbing an 8-0 five-inning victory in the opener.

Saint Martin’s is led offensively by sisters Morgan and Brandi Klemm, hitting .339 and .300, respectively.  Morgan, a freshman third baseman, has four home runs and 16 runs batted in.  Shortstop Holly Morris has overcome a slow start to lead the Saints with 10 home runs and 27 RBI.

Senior Jamie Herrick tops Saint Martin’s pitching staff with five wins and a 5.61 earned run average.

The Saints have won three of four games with Western this season, all of those contests being played at Bellingham. The Vikings lead the all-time series 57-17.

OUCH

Viking sophomore Jenna Mohrweis set a Western career standard when she was hit by a pitch for the 16th time in a 10-8 loss at Montana State Billings. It took Mohrweis just 193 at bats to break the old mark, as she has been plucked an average of once every 12 at bats.

WALK THIS WAY

With 21 walks this season, freshman Stephanie Fox has already matched Western’s single-season record set by Jodie Rock in 2003.

PATCHWORK

With injuries to its pitchers piling up, the Vikings have had to patch together its staff over the last two weeks.  Freshmen Jordan Emmil and Krista Bickar and sophomore Kelsey Anderson all made their first career pitching appearances at Montana State Billings, and freshman Stephanie Fox pitched for the first time since the Vikings’ season opener in Tuesday’s series versus Saint Martin’s.

The Vikings started the season with supposed pitching depth, having senior Jessica Rosencrants, junior Sarah McEnroe and freshmen Alyssa Malland and Tobey Varney.  But Varney has missed nearly the entire season with mononucleosis, Rosencrants and Malland have struggled all season with shoulder tightness, and McEnroe has missed the last eight games with a lower back injury.

DEFENSE, THEN & NOW

After making just 10 errors through its first 14 games (.985 fielding percentage), Western has committed 56 miscues over the past 28 contests (.938).  The Vikings are 14-9 this season when making one or fewer errors, but just 4-15 when making two or more.

STRANDED

The Vikings have scored just 33 percent of their base runners this season, plating 178 of 543 while stranding 315.  In comparison, Western opponents have scored 43 percent of their base runners (182 of 422).  To date, Western has averaged 7.50 runners left on base per game.

TOUGH BREAK

Junior first baseman Meghan Flem suffered a season-ending broken fibula on the final play of Western’s 14-10 loss at Central Washington on March 29.

Flem was enjoying a career-best season, ranking eighth nationally with a .489 batting average, being second in the country with 1.06 walks per seven innings and having a .632 on-base percentage.  Besides leading the GNAC in batting, she had three home runs, 20 RBI and a .745 slugging percentage through 18 games.

Flem is Western’s career leader with 17 home runs. She finished the 2009 season with 107 career hits and 87 RBI.  Flem’s 19 walks in 18 games gives her a career total of 53, tying the WWU record set by Jodie Rock (2001-04).

Flem was named GNAC Player of the Week for Feb. 16-22 after hitting .692 (9-for-13) with two home runs and 12 RBI in Western’s four-game series at Northwest Nazarene.  Flem tied school and GNAC single-game records with two home runs.  She also set school marks with seven RBI and 10 total bases in that contest.

PERFECTION!!

Junior Sarah McEnroe tossed a perfect game in a five-inning 10-0 win over Northwest Nazarene.  McEnroe’s gem was just the second in school history and one of five in GNAC history. Sarah Diamond tossed Western’s only other perfect game in 2001, a 7-0 win over Seattle U.

PITCHING PROWESS

The Viking pitching tandem of Jessica Rosencrants and Sarah McEnroe dominated the Mizuno Tournament of Champions, leading the Western staff to a top-three pitching performance there. Western’s pitching staff ranked third among the 20 participating teams in the tourney with a 1.60 ERA.

ROUND TRIPPERS

Freshman infielder Katy Kirschner homered for her first career hit in a 6-4 loss at Central Washington on March 28. Kirschner is the third player on WWU’s current roster whose first career base hit was a round tripper. Caitlin Dotlich hit a three run home run versus Eastern New Mexico for her first career hit in 2008, while Morgan Parkerson’s accomplished the feat in 2006. 

COACHES CLUB

With a pair of wins over Western Oregon on March 22, head coach Lonnie Hicks became the winningest coach in school history capturing his 187th and 188th career victories to pass Art Phinney (186-110-1 from 1995-01). Hicks is 198-178 (.527) in eight seasons at Western and is just two wins shy of the 200-victory plateau.

TRIFECTA

Freshman first baseman Krista Bickar hit a fourth-inning grand slam home run in a 10-0 win over Western Oregon on March 22. It was the Vikings’ third grand slam of the season, tying the single season school record. Meghan Flem and Caitlin Dotlich each hit grand slams in western’s season opening series at Northwest Nazarene. It was Bickar’s first career home run.

PACK THE PARK

The Vikings swept Central Washington in a Pack-the-Park doubleheader on Feb. 28 in front of a school-record home crowd of 349. The old attendance record of 223 was set on Apr. 18, 2004, also against Central. The Pack-the-Park event also was the second-largest crowd ever to watch a Western contest.  On Apr. 22, 2003, 439 were in attendance when the Vikings played at the University of Washington. 

GOING LONG

For the second straight season, Viking shortstop Caitlin Dotlich’s first hit was a home run.  Dotlich hit a one-out grand slam in the fourth inning of Western’s 13-0 win at Northwest Nazarene on Feb. 20.  As a freshman last year, Dotlich blasted a three-run homer for her first career hit in a win over Eastern New Mexico.

GREAT BRIT

Senior Morgan Parkerson has been selected to represent Great Britain on its senior national team in the 2009 European Championships. The European Championships will be held in Valencia, Spain, this summer. A top three finish will net Parkerson and her Great Britain teammates a trip to the 2010 World Championships.

GO COUGS!

Freshmen Jordan Emmil and Anna West are second-generation teammates. Emmil’s father, Ken, and West’s father John were football teammates at Washington State, competing together on the Cougars’ 1981 Holiday Bowl team.

MAJOR LEAGUE

Freshmen Stephanie Fox, Katy Kirschner and Tobey Varney spent last summer in the big leagues, working as Seattle Mariners’ ballgirls.

JORDA N EMMIL PREVENTS FOREST FIRES

Speaking of summer vacation. While most of her teammates were having fun and playing 18-Gold ball, Jordan Emmil skipped softball and spent her summer fighting forest fires in Eastern Washington and Eastern Oregon.

YOUTH IS SERVED

The Vikings are loaded with young talent. Western’s 23-player roster is comprised of two seniors, two juniors, 11 sophomores and nine freshmen.

AND THEN THERE WERE THREE

Just three Vikings remain from the 2007 GNAC championship team. Senior Morgan Parkerson and juniors Meghan Flem and Sarah McEnroe all played key roles on that team, which won a school-record 34 games and advanced to the NCAA II West Regional.

TWO FOR THE FUTURE

Prep seniors Erika Hendron and Rachelle Berry have signed to play for Western, beginning in the fall of 2009. Hendron is a hard-throwing right-handed pitcher from Redmond High School, who led the KingCo 4A League in strikeouts a season ago. Berry is a Class 2A All-State first-baseman and outfielder from Burlington-Edison High School.

ON THE WEB

For up-to-date statistics, box scores of every game, records, stories, etc., see the Western Athletics webpage at www.wwuvikings.com.  Up-to-date league standings and statistics can be found on the Great Northwest Athletic Conference web page at www.gnacsports.com.