The Mariners have the day off today before starting this weekend’s series against the Astros.

Seattle is coming off five straight series wins, most recently against the league-leading Atlanta Braves.

The M’s currently lead the AL West Division by half a game over the second-place Rangers.

The Astros sit at the bottom of the division, putting their streak of seven straight ALCS appearances in peril.

The Mariners will look to extend their division lead this weekend with a three-game series in Houston.

Coverage for tomorrow’s game begins at 4:00 and first pitch is at 5:10 on KPUG.

 

Western Washington University’s softball team opened the GNAC Championships with a win.

The second-seeded Vikings topped third-seeded Saint Martin’s 4-1 at Viking Field this afternoon to advance to the conference tournament semi-finals.

Freshman Alli Kimball threw four shutout innings to get her 16th win of the season.

Vikings third baseman Maleah Andrews led the attack at the plate with a double, triple and one run scored.

The Vikings now advance to play the winner of top-seeded Northwest Nazarene vs fourth-seeded Central Washington tomorrow at 10 a.m.

The tournament is double elimination, so even if the Viks win tomorrow, they’ll still have to play again on Saturday.

The winner of the tournament will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships West Regional.

A former Lynden Christian star basketball player is making her return to Whatcom County.

WWU announced that sophomore guard Libby Stump is transferring to the Vikings after two years with the University of Montana.

Lyncs fans will remember her game-winning shot in overtime of the 1A state championship against Nooksack Valley in 2022.

She went on to win tournament MVP and 1A Player of the Year.

Stump will join former LC teammates Riley Dykstra and Demi Dykstra on next season’s Vikings lineup.

 

Meanwhile, the Vikings men’s basketball team is grappling with the other side of the transfer portal.

Six players from last season’s team, including four starters, have entered the portal, according to Verbal Commits.

Junior Kai Johnson, the 12th ranked scorer in NCAA D-II last year, has already committed to the University of Montana.

Sophomore BJ Knolly committed to their rival Montana State.

Juniors Will Wilson and Nic Welp both remain uncommitted.

The four starters combined to make up nearly 60% of the team’s total points last season.

The Vikings will hope to rebound by adding former Lynden star and 3x state tournament MVP Anthony Canales as the only team that has made an offer to him so far.

 

And Bellingham high schools are getting a boost to their athletic departments, courtesy of the Seattle Seahawks.

The Seahawks recently announced a $24,000 grant to support the growth of high school girls flag football.

The grant will be distributed to the Bellingham and Issaquah School Districts, as well as some other high schools in different counties.

The WIAA will vote this month to determine whether to sanction girls flag football as an official sport in Washington high schools.