Western Washington University outfielder Alexie Levin broke out of a 0-for-19 slump, with two extra-base hits and four runs batted in as the Vikings defeated Simon Fraser University, 9-3, in the opener of a Great Northwest Athletic Conference softball twilight doubleheader on Wednesday, Apr. 8, at Beedie Field on the SFU campus.
WWU, which won the nightcap, 6-1, improved to 21-15 overall and 10-6 in conference play, while SFU dropped to 16-22 overall and 5-11 in GNAC action.
Levin drove in the opening game’s first run on a sacrifice fly in the first inning. She made it 2-0 by drawing a bases-loaded walk in the second and had a lead-off home run and run-scoring double as WWU scored seven runs in the sixth.
The homer, Levin’s fourth of the season, was the first hit in seven games for last year’s GNAC Player of the Year. She now has 16 home runs in her three-year career, tying her for second on WWU’s all-time list.
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Alicia Fine had three of the Vikings’ 11 hits. Kali Patterson drove in two runs and scored two, and Jordan Walley had a two-run homer in the sixth, her fourth of the year and 13th of her career.
WWU starting pitcher Makinlee Sellevold (16-7) allowed just one run in five innings of work. The other two SFU runs, both unearned, came in the sixth off reliever Shayna Adelstein.
In the nightcap, WWU got out to a 3-0 lead. Autumn Isaacson began the contest with a single, stole second and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Fine. Two innings later, Isaacson singled and stole second and third. She came home on a double by Fine, who scored on a single by Emily Benson.
The Vikings scored two more in the sixth. Allie Crowe hit a solo home run over the centerfield fence, the first of her career; and Isaacson doubled, stole third and scored on an infield single by Patterson. They also got a run in the seventh on a base hit by Emma Blauser.
Sellevold (17-7) went three innings before giving way to Adelstein 3-4), who gave up a home run in the fourth before shutting down SFU the rest of the way.
Isaacson and Benson each had three of WWU’s 13 hits. Isaacson also stole four bases.
Patterson, who had two more safeties in the second game, now has hit in 14 of WWU’s last 15 contests, batting .488 (21-for-43) during that stretch.
The Vikings are home for two GNAC doubleheaders this weekend, playing host to Western Oregon on Saturday, Apr. 11 (12 noon), and league-leading Saint Martin’s on Sunday, Apr. 12 (12 noon), at Viking Field on the WWU campus.
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