LONGWOOD, FL (MyBellinghamNow.com) – The Western Washington University softball team beat Auburn-Montgomery 7-1 on Tuesday, May 21, to advance to the NCAA D-II Championships semi-finals.

The fourth-seeded Vikings were in a win-or-go-home match against the top-seeded Warhawks after falling to UT Tyler the previous day. Auburn drew first blood in the second inning on a sacrifice fly by Chloe Derric to put the Warhawks up 1-0. Western responded the next inning with a 2-run home run by freshman Maleah Andrews that gave them a 2-1 lead.

The fifth inning was where the Vikings did most of their damage. They loaded the bases with two outs for GNAC Player of the Year Haily Rath, who hit a bases-loaded double to score all three runners. Emma Andrewjeski-Ramirez followed with a 2-run homer to drive Rath in and give the Viks a 6-1 advantage.

Alli Kimball (23-2) gave a stellar performance on the mound, with no earned runs allowed through 6.1 innings. Kaiana Kong closed the game with two quick outs to secure the win for the Vikings.

It was the Vikings’ 50th win of the season, the most in program history.

WWU will play fourth-seeded University of Indianapolis on Wednesday, May 21, at 11:00 a.m. Since the bracket is double elimination, they’ll have to beat the Greyhounds twice on Wednesday in order to keep their season alive. Two wins would send the Vikings to the NCAA World Series this weekend.

The entire NCAA tournament is being broadcast for free online at the NCAA website.