BILLINGS, Mont. -- The Montana State Billings softball team has had a sudden power surge throughout the lineup and they'll need every bit this weekend as the Yellowjackets get set to host the No.19 nationally ranked Vikings of Western Washington University.

 

The Yellowjackets will entertain the Vikings with a pair of doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday afternoon beginning at 1 p.m. each day inside Cenex Stadium.

 

MSUB enters the weekend at 15-17 on the year and are 10-10 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play. The Jackets are coming off a 3-4 performance last weekend at the Cal State Stanislaus Tournament of Champions. In that tournament the Jackets knocked off then No.16 UC-San Diego in pool play, but fell to the Tritons in the championship game of the silver bracket.

 

Western Washington (26-5, 14-2 GNAC) comes into this weekend after falling 13 spots in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) national poll. The Vikings were 5-0 last weekend at the Tournament of Champions, but dropped the semifinal game in the championship bracket to Cal State Chico 4-0 in nine innings.

 

As mentioned, MSUB has seen a lot of offense since interim head coach, Lisa Allen, took over mid-way through the season. Currently the Yellowjackets rank 4^th in the country in home runs per game (1.34) and are 29^th nationally in slugging percentage (0.502).

 

Individually, MSUB is led by senior Kelly Parsons who is batting .414 this season with 10 home runs and 28 RBI and a slugging percentage that ranks her 7^th nationally at 0.914. The Yellowjacket catcher also ranks 21^st nationally in home runs per game (0.36) and 20^th nationally in total home runs.

 

She is accompanied by two other Yellowjackets in the national rankings as fellow senior Kaycee Hoffman is batting .353 with the nations 12^th best home run total of 11 and a team-best 32 RBI. Hoffman is third in the conference in slugging percentage (0.755) and is 24^th nationally in home runs per game (0.34).

 

The other Yellowjacket in that mix is junior Meg Harasymczuk. Harasymczuk is batting .381 with nine bombs and 27 RBI. She leads the GNAC in runs per game (0.97) and ranked 33^rd nationally with her home run total.

 

The Vikings also enter the weekend as the top-ranked team in the west region after the release of the first poll of the season. They have been led by their dominating ace pitcher, Erika Quint, who started off the season 19-0 before suffering her first loss in the game against Chico State.

 

Quint carries a 1.16 ERA and has thrown 13 complete games with six shutouts. In 133.1 innings pitched, Quint has allowed just 22 earned runs, 25 total, in 79 hits, while walking 28 and fanning 180 batters.

 

The Vikings are hitting .301 as a team and are led offensively by Michelle Wrigley who is hitting .366 with 22 runs on 37 hits and 12 RBI. The Vikings have scored 174 runs this season with only nine home runs hit, but have nearly 100 more hits than their opponents.

 

The Yellowjackets are 20-12 all-time against the Vikings and were 5-3 last season, splitting the four-game series in Billings. The Jackets have lost just one series against the Vikings, dropping three of four in Bellingham back in 2008.