BILLINGS, Mont. – For the first time this season, the Montana State University Billings softball team will be playing on their home-field at Cenex Stadium riding a three-game winning streak. The Yellowjackets will open their four-date home-stand with a Great Northwest Athletic Conference bout against the Crusaders of Northwest Nazarene University this Friday, March 16 and Saturday, March 17.
 
Friday's doubleheader will start at 1 p.m. while Saturday's first pitch is now slated to be thrown out at 12 p.m.
 
Last week, MSUB spent their spring break on the road, playing 12 games in eight days to open GNAC play with a 9-3 record. The Yellowjackets claimed the series over Simon Fraser University, Western Washington University and Saint Martin's University to move into a tie for first-place in the league with the Clan of SFU.
 
Yellowjacket backstop Nicole Wilkerson led the Yellowjackets in six of their games with Western Washington and Saint Martin's with a .650 batting average, going 13-20 at the plate to earn GNAC Player of the Week plaudits. She also scored five runs, batted in two more and recorded 33 putouts.
 
The 5-6 junior from Lincoln, Calif. currently leads the team with a .452 batting average in 42 total trips to the plate which has her second in the conference. She is also fourth on the team with a .548 slugging percentage and has recorded a team-high 72 total putouts as the Yellowjackets' go-to starting catcher.
 
Behind Wilkerson, fellow junior Rose Harrington and senior Annaleisha Parsley also boast batting averages over .400. Harrington boasts a .424 which has her fourth in the conference while Parsley's .405 has her seventh.
 
Harrington is also second in the GNAC with 25 hits and is tied for second with five stolen bases.
 
Meg Harasymczuk, who leads the team with 39 RBI, five home runs and a .650 slugging percentage, is currently in the top-five in five conference categories including leading the league in home runs and is tied for first for RBI per game (1.12). She is also third in total bases (39), fourth in runs scored (16) and fifth in hits (21).
 
The MSUB pitching staff boasts four of the top-10 pitchers in the conference led by Mary Grace Bywater's 1.68 earned run average. Jessica Campbell is fourth in the league with a 2.44 ERA with Kasie Conder just behind in fifth with a 2.53. Parsley is ninth in the league with a 3.25 ERA.
 
The Crusaders are in the midst of a four-game losing skid that saw them get swept by Simon Fraser last weekend to fall to 3-11 and 3-7 in the GNAC.
 
NNU is led by Cara Duckworth's .361 batting average and eight runs scored but Arielle Chao leads the team with 16 hits and 22 total bases. Seven of the Crusaders have started all 14 games for NNU.
 
Duckworth is also NNU's leading hurler as she is currently 2-6 with a 4.81 ERA in 43.2 innings of work.
 
This weekend's games will feature a hit-a-thon and pitch-a-thon where fans can sponsor a player or the entire team to raise money for the softball program's operating budget. Donations can be made for specific categories such as hits, home runs and strikeouts or can be made as a flat rate for the entire weekend. To sponsor a player or the team, contact head coach Lisa Allen at lallen@msubillings.edu for more information.
 
All four games this weekend will also be able to be followed live via the live stats link on MSUB's official athletic website, www.msubsports.com. To access this free service, either click on the live stats tab on the main website or go the softball schedule and click on the link “Live Stats.”