Western junior pitcher Erika Quint at practice March 8. Quint pitched seven innings over the weekend, allowing two hits and striking out nine. — Photo by Renee Davies

The Western women’s softball team beat Northwest Nazarene University four consecutive times by a combined score of 27-6 on March 5 and 6 on the road at Halle Field in Nampa, Idaho.

The Vikings won 6-2 and 4-0 on Friday and 8-0 and 9-4 on Saturday. The victories improve Western’s record to 5-3, which puts them in second place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, one game behind Central Washington University.

“It feels really good to get back on the winning side,” head coach Lonnie Hicks said. “Nazarene is a good, scrappy team and it was great to see our girls fight them for every pitch and every inning.”

Western junior shortstop Caitlin Dotlich was named GNAC Softball Player of the Week because of her performance over the weekend. Dotlich hit .643, including a pair of doubles and a triple, and drove in six runs. The outburst improves Dotlich’s season batting average to .478.

“Caitlin is seeing the ball really well right now, it’s pretty exciting to see,” Hicks said.

Western opened its weekend by exploding for four runs in the second inning of its first game. The outburst was highlighted by a Dotlich two-run triple and third baseman Jordan Emmil’s one-run single.

The four-run lead was all the Vikings would need. Western senior starting pitcher Sarah McEnroe threw a complete game, giving up two late unearned-runs to lead Western to a comfortable 6-2 victory.

“I felt pretty confident out there,” McEnroe said. “Nazarene has some quality hitters, but I was able to use my speed and the excellent defense behind me.”

In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, Western’s pitching staff stifled Northwest Nazarene hitters again, allowing seven baserunners in the game and no runs scored.

Western freshman Erika Hendron threw five innings before Western junior Erika Quint relieved her and closed out the game, pitching two innings without allowing a hit.

“Our pitching staff really proved themselves this weekend and helped carry us to victories,” Hicks said.

Western only needed five innings to win the first game of Sunday’s doubleheader  8-0 because the eight-run mercy rule was enforced. Four batters had at least two hits. Quint threw five innings and allowed two hits while striking out nine.

Dotlich had three more hits and two runs batted in during Sunday’s fourth and final game to help lead to the completion of the Vikings’ four-game sweep of the Crusaders.

Hicks said he was pleased to see eight different players record hits in the weekend’s final game.

Western leads the GNAC in earned run average and batting average. The Vikings are hitting .341 while touting a 1.56 ERA.

The Vikings will be on the diamond this weekend against Central Washington University in a series that will establish who is the top team in the conference. The Wildcats currently stand one game up on the Vikings.

“I expect a dogfight between two tough teams,” Hicks said. “It should be a fun one to watch.”

“They beat us a few times last year,” McEnroe said. “We are going to defend our home field and keep our winning streak going.”

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