LACEY, Wash. – The Western Oregon softball team fell short of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Softball Championship, dropping a 5-0 decision against Western Washington in the championship round Sunday at the SMU Softball Field.
 
Fourth-seeded WOU held the Vikings to four hits, but WWU, the tournament's second seed, plated five runs on three hits in the bottom of the second inning and rode a two-hit shutout performance from freshman Anna Kasner in the circle to ice the team's 11^th consecutive victory.
 
Western Oregon's season ends with a 29-23 overall record in a season that saw the team travel over 15,000 miles, not play a single game at their home field in Monmouth, yet advance to the title round in the GNAC Championships for the second consecutive season.
 
The best scoring chance came for the Wolves in the top of the second inning. With two outs, Zoe Clark reached on a walk and Jenna Kelly singled before Kasner coaxed Ku'ulei Siolo into a ground out to end the frame. Kelly and Ryanne Huffman accounted for both of WOU's hits.
 
In the fateful bottom half if the inning, the bases loaded on a pair of walk and a single. A fly ball from Kali Patterson to left field scored Emily Benson for the game's first run. Shearyna Labasan drew a walk with the bags juiced to plate another run while singles from Sarah Morrow and Makinlee Sellevold moved the WWU lead to 5-0.
 
Kasner took care of the Wolves the rest of the game, retiring the final 14 batters she faced for her 15^th win of the season. She had one walk and four strikeouts a day removed from setting the GNAC Championships record with 13 strikeouts, also against Western Oregon.
 
Lizzet Dominguez tossed the opening 1 2/3 innings for WOU, giving up all five WOU runs on one hit and four walks to take the loss (3-6). Sammi Cadwallader and Haley Fabian combined for the final 4 1/3 frames allowing three hits.