BURNABY, B.C. – Simon Fraser and Western Washington combined for six home runs Sunday as the teams split a Great Northwest Athletic Conference softball doubleheader at Beedie Field.

SFU (15-17, 6-10 GNAC) won the opening contest 4-2, before the Vikings (23-16, 9-3 GNAC) earned a 6-2 victory to end off the weekend series. Each game saw three home runs, with the winning side recording two.

"I think we played well in the first game," said junior Hannah Boulanger. "We had more runners on base and we strung some hits together. In the second game, we had some baserunners but we didn't score them when we needed to. If we can capitalize on that in the weeks to come, we'll have a good finish to the season."

GAME 1 | Simon Fraser 4, Western Washington 2
SFU fell behind 2-0 in the first inning on a Lauren Lo home run, but rallied for the win thanks in large part to 6.2 innings of shutout relief by pitcher Anissa Zacharczuk.

After Lo's home run, WWU had a groundout and two singles to put runners on first and third. SFU then brought in the sophomore Zacharczuk, who induced two groundouts to end the threat. She held the Vikings off the scoreboard to earn the win. Zacharczuk gave up six hits and recorded three strikeouts.

SFU tied the score in the home half of the second inning. Boulanger led off with a walk. Then junior Chelsea Hotner knocked a full-count pitch over the center-field fence to make it 2-2.

The game stayed that way until the fifth inning, when the winning blow came off the bat of junior Hanna Finkelstein. She hit a two-run home run to left field to put SFU up 4-2. Sophomore Megan Duclos, who got on base via a one-out walk, scored as well.
 

SFU had three hits in Game 1. In addition to the pair of home runs, freshman Kristen Davyduke led off the fifth with a single.

GAME 2 | Western Washington 6, Simon Fraser 2
A third inning Finkelstein sacrifice fly plated Duclos for the first run in Game 2. It was the only SFU score this weekend that didn't come via a home run.

Boulanger recorded her second home run of the weekend in the fourth. She doubled SFU's advantage to 2-0 with a solo shot to left field.

However, a half-dozen runs in the sixth inning by WWU allowed the visitors to take the game 6-2, and the series 3-1.

The Vikings got their first score of the game on an error by SFU. Then Tatum Dow hit a three-run home run to make it 4-2 in favour of the visitors. Western Washington added a two-run shot later in the inning to round out the offensive output.

Boulanger and Duclos both had three hits to lead SFU.

SFU has a bye next weekend before hosting Montana State Billings in doubleheaders on April 23 and 24. It will be the last home series of the 2022 season. The team will celebrate Senior Day on April 24.

For the latest information on SFU Athletics, visit https://athletics.sfu.ca. You can also find us on social media at @SFU_Athletics.

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