BILLINGS, Mont. – Following their first four-game sweep over an opponent this season, the Montana State University Billings softball team is now the lone team atop the Great Northwest Athletic Conference standings with a two-and-a-half game lead over the Saints of Saint Martin's as they head into this weekend's series against Western Oregon University at Cenex Stadium.
 
Winners of their last seven-straight games, and nine of their last ten, the Yellowjackets (16-5, 13-3 GNAC) have received votes in the National Fast Pitch Coaches' Association (NFCA) national poll the last two weeks.
 
In their home-opener last weekend, the 'Jackets out-scored the Crusaders of Northwest Nazarene 40-15 to earn the four-game sweep that included bringing the first two games to an early close in the fifth inning. MSUB dominated NNU in every aspect of the games including out-hitting NNU 47-24 and recording 36 strikeouts to the Crusaders' nine.
 
Freshman first baseman Emily Osborn and sophomore right-handed pitcher Amanda Todd were named the GNAC's Player- and Pitcher-of-the-Week following their performances against NNU.
 
Osborn, a Las Vegas, Nev. native, reached base 12 times in 14 appearances at the plate. She recorded eight hits, scored five runs and batted in another five runners which included a home run.
 
On Friday, Todd (3-1) tossed the first shutout of the season for the Yellowjackets as MSUB went on to win 11-0 over NNU in the home-opener. The local product from Skyview High School allowed just one hit and walked only one batter, recording nine strikeouts in the five-inning contest.
 
This weekend, the 'Jackets will look to keep their bats hot and will look to their deep pitching corps to help them extend their lead in the league standings as they welcome the Wolves to their home field for the pair of GNAC doubleheaders. The four games will be contested on Saturday, March 24 and Sunday, March 25 with first pitch scheduled to be thrown out at 1 p.m. both days.
 
Saturday's doubleheader will feature a food drive, where any patron who brings two canned food items to the ball park will be admitted for just $2.
 
Heading into this weekend's games, MSUB, which leads the league with a team batting average of .340, is led by 10 players batting over .300 for the season, and three batting over .400. For the season, the Yellowjackets have recorded 29 team home runs and have batted in 138 total runs.
 
Aubrey Conceicao, Nicole Wilkerson and Rose Harrington lead the way at the plate for MSUB. Conceicao and Harrington each knocked their first home runs of the season this past weekend, and Conceicao took it two steps further as she ripped three total long balls.
 
After her stellar weekend, Conceicao now boasts a team-best .467 batting average with a slugging percentage of 1.067. Wilkerson and Harrington continue to be strong at the plate for the Yellowjackets with .449 and .425 batting averages respectively with Harrington leading the team and sitting second in the GNAC with 31 hits so far this season. Harrington also leads the team and conference with nine stolen bases so far this season.
 
With four home runs this past weekend, Meg Harasymczuk established herself as one of the biggest hitters in the league as she now leads the team and conference with nine long balls and 28 RBI for the season. She is currently batting .378 and is second on the team with an .811 slugging percentage as she has a GNAC-best 60 total bases.
 
The pitching corps for MSUB showed this past weekend that despite being young, they are loaded with talent and ready to step up at a moment's notice. Freshman Mary Grace Bywater currently leads the team with a 2.37 earned run average while Kasie Conder is second with a 2.40 ERA and a perfect 4-0 record for the season. Todd has fanned a team-high 36 batters while freshman Jessyka MacDonald is second on the team with 29 strikeouts on the season.
 
Western Oregon (5-12, 3-7 GNAC) is currently sitting in fifth in the conference standings and are led by Amanda Evola who is hitting at a .418 clip. She leads the team with 23 hits, 19 RBI six doubles and four home runs so far this season to give her an. 818 slugging percentage.
 
Behind Evola, Andrea Bailey and Jourdan Williams are the only other Wolves that currently hold batting averages above .300 with Bailey hitting .333 and Williams holding a .306 batting average.
 
Myranda Sawyer and Eryka Brill are the only pitchers on WOU's pitching staff to boast ERA's below 4.00 with both currently holding a 3.59 ERA. Sawyer, who is currently 1-3 for the season, boasts a team-high-tying 14 strikeouts for the season while Brill (2-3) has appeared in nine games and pitched 25.1 innings, giving up 32 hits including three home runs.