United Athletic Conference

 

Seattle University softball saw its season come to a close in the NCAA Tournament on Saturday night. The Redhawks held off elimination with a 6-5 win over Portland State before falling at No. 6 Washington, 8-0, in five innings.

 

Coach Geoff Hirai's squad finishes 2021 with a 30-21 record, including a second straight WAC Tournament Championship and the second Division I NCAA Tournament win in program history.

 

SU came back twice to take out Portland State and advance to a second elimination game against the Huskies. UW scored a run in the second and five more in the third to take control.

 

In Saturday's first game, Portland State scratched out two runs in the first, jumping on three SU errors to go ahead early.

 

In the bottom of the first, Olivia Viggiano and Ally Choate walked. Bailey Thompson then hit a groundball to third, where the Vikings touched the base to get Viggiano. The throw to first was wide, though, giving Choate an opportunity to hustle home and slide in safely.

 

The Redhawk defense was stellar in the second, highlighted by a Stephanie Merwin grab on a liner. Madrigal worked around a walk in the third as SU looked to tie it up. Viggiano walked to spark another rally. She then stole second for her 13th stolen base of the year. Thompson followed with a base hit to leftfield to bring in Viggiano to make it 2-all.

 

After a scoreless fourth, Portland State went back ahead with a pair of singles. Shi Smith came on in relief and retired both Viking hitters she faced to close out the fifth.

 

The Redhawks turned the game around with a four-run fifth frame. Alyson Matriotti doubled to left to ignite the rally. Viggiano then singled to bring Choate to the plate. The senior came through with a single through the right side that drove in two runs to give SU a 4-3 advantage. Portland State made a pitching change as Thompson stepped in. She drew a walk on a full count to put two runners aboard. Madison Cathcart hit a single to right to load the bases with no outs. Carley Nance lined a base hit to right to plate a run and chase the PSU pitcher. Cherise Silvan then hit a sacrifice fly to left that brought in another run for a 6-3 margin.

 

PSU hit a two-run homer to get within one in the sixth. Smith got out of the inning with a flyball to left. The Redhawks turned to Nance for the save in the seventh. Nance retired the Vikings in order, earning a swinging strikeout to put an exclamation point on SU's victory.

 

Madrigal, Smith, and Nance teamed up for the win, as Madrigal started with 4.1 innings and gave up one earned run. Smith followed with 1.2 innings to get the win. Nance picked up the save with her flawless seventh.

 

Cathcart and Matriotti led the offense with two hits apiece. Viggiano posted a hit, two walks, two runs, and a steal.

 

Seattle University softball battled to the end with No. 20 Michigan in the first round of an NCAA Tournament Regional on Friday evening, falling, 2-0, to the Wolverines at the University of Washington. Carley Nance pitched a complete game for the Redhawks, who will take on the loser of Friday night's Portland State/Washington game.

 

Michigan's Meagan Beaubien controlled the game, striking out 10 Redhawks on the day. Bailey Thompson was hit by a pitch, Nance walked, and Mekenzie Madokoro reached via error.

 

Nance performed well, limiting the strong Wolverine attack for much of the contest. Michigan scratched out a run in the third inning, scoring on a wild pitch with two outs. Madison Cathcart snagged a one-hopper to claim the final out of the frame.

 

Alyson Matriotti made a stellar defensive play in the fourth, but Michigan added insurance with a home run in the sixth.

 

Seattle U turned in three impressive performances last week to hoist the WAC Tournament trophy and earn the WAC's automatic birth to the 2021 Division I Women's College World Series. The second seeded Redhawks became just the second program in WAC Tournament history to go unbeaten with wins over three different schools en route to the title.

 

To open the tournament, Seattle U defeated Grand Canyon 5-4 behind Carley Nance's dominant performance on offense and in the circle. Nance smashed a three-run home run while also striking out six batters and giving up just two hits across 4.2 innings pitched.

 

On Friday, the Redhawks eliminated Utah Valley with 5-1 win over the Wolverines. Nance anchored SU once again, earning the complete game victory in the circle in addition to hitting a pair of home runs.

 

The host Redhawks concluded their tournament run with a 7-5 victory over NM State in the championship game. Cherise Silvan and Bailey Thompson led the way for the Redhawks as the duo combined for five RBIs in Saturday's finale.

 

Nance also became the only player in WAC history to be named WAC Tournament Most Outstanding Player twice. Joining her on the All-Tournament team was Seattle U's Thompson, Mekenzie Madokoro, Alyson Matriotti and Olivia Viggiano, NM State's Nikki Butler, Ramsay Lopez and Chloe Rivas, Utah Valley's Brooke Carter and Emery Nielson and Grand Canyon's Gianna Nicoletti.

 

Dixie State closed out the season with the league's best overall batting average at .294 while Seattle U posted the top earned run average at 3.36. Meanwhile, Tarleton turned in the top fielding percentage on the year (.968). Individually, NM State's Matalasi Faapito led the conference in batting average (.399), hits (63) and home runs (16). Dixie State's Hannah Hughbanks hit 19 doubles to pace WAC hitters. Utah Valley's Linnah Rebolledo came away with the most runs scored this season with 46. Seattle U's Bailey Thompson drove in 46 runs to lead the WAC in RBIs. When it comes to extra-base hits, Seattle U's Olivia Viggiano finished with seven triples to pace the league. Inside the circle, California Baptist's Kerisa Viramontes had the most strikeouts with 153 and Seattle U's Stefanie Madrigal held the best ERA (2.89).

 

In WAC play only, NM State hitters succeeded at a .330 clip to lead the way while Seattle U pitchers combined for a 2.38 ERA to pace the conference and the Redhawks' fielding percentage of .975 led all league teams. Individually, NM State's Nikki Butler held the top batting average (.456) while also leading the league in home runs (10) and RBIs (28). Butler also finished tied with Seattle U's Ally Choate for the lead in hits (26). Meanwhile, NM State's Ramsay Lopez led in runs scored (21). Dixie State's Hannah Hughbanks had seven doubles to lead in that category. Seattle U's Olivia Viggiano had the most triples with five against WAC opponents. California Baptist's Kerisa Viramontes struck out the most WAC batters at 61 while Seattle U's Carley Nance maintained a 1.99 ERA to lead the conference.

 

NM State redshirt freshman Matalasi Faapito pitched the first Aggie no-hitter since May 20, 2011, as she led the Aggies to an 8-0 win over Tarleton on April 16. In the victory, Faapito struck out five Texans and did not walk any batters.

 

Grand Canyon Head Coach Ann Pierson tallied her 500th win at the helm of the Lopes softball program as the Lopes defeated Idaho State on March 19. Pierson came to Phoenix in 2004 and is amidst her 18th season leading Grand Canyon. She has led the Lopes to 30-plus wins in each of the last four full seasons.

 

Seattle U's Madison Cathcart has been among the best to ever step to the plate in the WAC. Last week she placed herself in a tie for the most walks in WAC history when she recorded her 18th of the season and 138th career base on balls.

 

In back-to-back games, California Baptist was able to find late-game magic as they walked off in both games of a doubleheader with Long Beach State. In the opener, Mia Alvarez connected on an infield hit to bring across Maile Olson for the game-winning run. Makayla Jordan was the hero in Game 2 as she knocked a hit into center field to bring in Samantha Demyon.

 

NM State concluded its week in an exciting fashion as they walked off twice on Sunday. The Aggies received some seventh inning heroism from Hailey Tanori to pull out a 2-1 victory over South Dakota. Tanori hit a two-RBI single to propel the Aggies past the Coyotes after falling behind 0-1 in the top of the first inning.

 

The Aggies' magic took an extra-inning the second time around as Ramsay Lopez hit a walk-off home run in the eighth inning to secure the victory over Toledo. With the pair of thrilling wins, the Aggies are now riding a six-game win streak. This is the longest win streak for NM State since winning six in a row in March 21-31 of 2018. 

 

For the second year in a row, Seattle U is the preseason favorite to win the 2021 Western Athletic Conference softball title in a vote of the league's seven head coaches, who could not vote for their own team.

 

The Redhawks edged out the top spot in the preseason poll with 32 points as they collected four first-place votes. NM State was just behind them in second with 31 points, garnering the remaining three first-place votes. Utah Valley finished in third with 25 points while California Baptist slid into fourth, tallying 20 points. Grand Canyon landed in fifth with newcomer Dixie State taking sixth as they earned 19 points and 12 points, respectively. Tarleton rounded out the poll with eight points.

 

The Preseason All-WAC Team, as selected by the coaches, was also announced. The Preseason All-WAC Team includes last year's WAC Preseason Player of the Year and WAC Preseason Pitcher of the Year as NM State's Nikki Butler and Grand Canyon's Ryan Denhart each earned a selection. Along with Butler and Denhart, four other WAC Player of the Week award winners are included among this year's All-WAC team. Utah Valley's Devyn Cretz and Abby Doughty, NM State's Matalasi Faapito and California Baptist's Katelyn Mangrello each earned at least one player of the week award during the shortened 2020 season.

 

Joining those six on the Preseason All-WAC Team was Madison Cathcart and Ally Choate of Seattle U; Kaylee Dietrich of Grand Canyon; Carissa Burgess and Hannah Hughbanks of Dixie State; Brittany Galvez of California Baptist; Destiny Crumpley and Georgia Capell of Tarleton.

 

On Jan. 14, the WAC announced the addition of five new schools in the upcoming years. Abilene Christian, Lamar, Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin and Southern Utah were all offered and accepted membership invitations. With the addition, the WAC will have six schools in Texas, more than any other conference in the country, and three schools in Utah, also a national best. The four Texas schools will join the league on July 1, 2021 and Southern Utah will follow 365 days later, officially joining the WAC on July 1, 2022.