BILLINGS, Mont. -- The Montana State Billings Yellowjacket softball team will look to continue its new found momentum this weekend as they play host to Great Northwest Athletic Conference foe, Saint Martin's University, Saturday and Sunday at Cenex Stadium.
The Yellowjackets and Saints are scheduled to have first pitch in game one on both days at 1 p.m. The Jackets will conclude an eight-game home stand after playing their first 17 games of the season on the road.
MSUB enters the weekend 9-12 overall on the season and are 7-9 in the conference. The Jackets went 3-1 last weekend, playing host to conference newcomer, Simon Fraser. It was the first series win for the Jackets in the 2011 season.
Kelly Parsons leads the team with a .452 batting average, which includes nine runs scored on 19 hits, along with seven home runs and 18 RBI. Parsons ranks among the nation's top-50 in a majority of stats, ranking 38
th in batting average, 19
th in home runs per game (0.39), 5
th in slugging percentage (1.000), and 33
rd in home runs (7). She also leads the conference in all listed categories.
Junior
Meg Harasymczuk is the other Yellowjacket batting over .400 this season as the transfer is hitting an impressive .431. She's also leading the conference in runs scored per game (1.0) as she's crossed the plate 21 times this season. Harasymczuk has a team-high 28 hits, including six doubles and four home runs which have led to 14 RBI.
As a team the Jackets are hitting .295, but showed major improvement during last week's series. The Jackets also have a .946 fielding percentage as the pitching staff carries a 4.93 ERA.
The Saints are 2-11 on the year and are 1-7 in the conference. Kristine Kaneshiro leads the team in batting with a .440 average. The Saints have two other players batting over .400, while the team is hitting .299.
The Saints pitching staff has a team ERA of 6.15 after allowing 70 earned runs on 125 hits with 46 walks and 35 strikeouts.
The Yellowjackets will play these next four games before heading to sunny California for a mid-season tournament in Turlock, Calif., at the Mizuno Best of the West Tournament hosted by Cal State Stanislaus.
