BILLINGS, Mont. – The finish line of the regular-season is in sight, and the Montana State University Billings softball team has built up a 4 game lead over the race for second place between Simon Fraser University and Saint Martin's University, but do not think for a minute that the Yellowjackets plan on letting up down the stretch.
 
After the Yellowjackets claimed the series over Central Washington University last weekend 3-1, the squad is gearing up for a final Great Northwest Athletic Conference doubleheader at home this Thursday, April 12 against Western Washington University. Thursday's twinbill is scheduled to get underway at Cenex Stadium at 1 p.m.
 
Following the home twinbill, the Yellowjackets will hit the road for the final road-swing of the regular-season starting with a pair of games against Northwest Nazarene University on Saturday, April 14 in Nampa, Idaho. Saturday's games are scheduled to start at 1 p.m.
 
Catcher Nicole Wilkerson leads the team with a .403 batting average while Rose Harrington leads the conference with a 14-game hitting streak. Harrington's 50 hits this season leads the team and has her fourth in the GNAC to go along with her team-best 126 at-bats and 12 stolen bases.
 
In total, eight Yellowjackets boast batting averages above .350 and the team boasts 42 home runs. Harrington is second on the team with a .397 while Meg Harasymczuk is fourth on the squad with a .374 and a team-best and GNAC-leading .838 slugging percentage in part thanks to her league-best 13 home runs, even though she has not knocked a ball out of the park in nearly three weeks.
 
Inside the circle, freshman Mary Grace Bywater leads the team with a 6-1 record to go along with a 1.65 earned run average in nine appearances. Her 46.2 innings of work is second to only sophomore Amanda Todd's 57.
 
This past weekend, Todd pitched eight innings and struck out six batters that included retiring the side in the final inning of Saturday's first game to earn the save with bases loaded. She is currently third on the team with a 2.58 ERA and is one of four players who boast below a 3.00 ERA.
 
Western Washington (10-27, 6-14 GNAC)
 
The Vikings of Western Washington are currently sixth in the league race after going 2-2 against Saint Martin's last weekend in Bellingham.
 
The last time the Yellowjackets faced off against the Vikings in early March, MSUB out-scored WWU 34-10 en route to a 3-1 series victory that included bouncing back to a 15-1, five-inning win in game-three after the Vikings claimed game-two 3-2. Since that early-season meeting, the 'Jackets have gone 18-5 while the Vikings have gone 7-12.
 
Jessica Carey leads WWU at the plate so far this season with a .351 batting average in 114 official at-bats. She also leads the team with 40 hits, three home runs, 20 RBIs and 55 total bases.
 
Behind Carey, four other Vikings are currently batting above .300 for the season as the team boasts a batting average of .274 while their opponents have been hitting .319 against them.
 
The Vikings' pitching corps is led by reining GNAC Pitcher-of-the-Week Stephanie Fox who is currently in the midst of a streak of 27 innings where the senior has not allowed a run which ranks fifth in GNAC history for longest streaks. She leads the team with a 2.45 ERA and a 5-5 record in 60 innings of work.
 
Northwest Nazarene (6-23, 5-15 GNAC)
 
The Crusaders, who are currently seventh in the league standings, are in the midst of a three-game losing skid.
 
MSUB and NNU last faced off at Cenex Stadium on Friday, March 16 and Saturday, March 17 when the Yellowjackets swept the Crusaders 4-0 for the series in their home-opening weekend. The Yellowjackets run-ruled the Crusaders in both of Friday's games, 11-0 and 12-4, before completing the sweep with 6-4 and 11-7 wins on Saturday.
 
Arielle Chao leads NNU at the plate with a .407 batting average that includes 37 hits while Elizabeth Beaty is second on the team with a .317 despite leading the team with a .733 slugging percentage.
 
Cara Duckworth has carried the majority of the load inside the circle this season for NNU, going 86 innings in 16 appearances to hold a 3-12 record. She has struck out a team-best 27 batters.