BILLINGS, Mont. – With just eight Great Northwest Athletic Conference games remaining during the regular-season, the Montana State University Billings softball team has built up a five-game lead over second-place Simon Fraser University. The Yellowjackets will knock out four of those eight league games this week on the road as they travel to Western Oregon University and Central Washington University on Thursday, April 26 and Saturday, April 28.
 
Last week, the 'Jackets (30-10, 23-5 GNAC) went 3-1 between a home doubleheader against Western Washington University and a pair of away contests at Northwest Nazarene University. The lone loss came in the form of a 9-5 setback at the hands of the Vikings in game-one of a Thursday twinbill before MSUB bounced back for a 7-4 victory in game-two. The 'Jackets then swept their games over NNU 9-4 and 9-0 on Saturday, April 14.
 
12 players are currently batting over .300 for the season and that has MSUB's team batting average sitting at .332 which is good enough for 21^st-best in the nation. The Yellowjackets average a national ninth-best 7.03 runs per game and their 1.23 home runs per game (49 total) is good enough for eighth-most in the nation.
 
Nicole Wilkerson and Rose Harrington are both batting over .400 for the season to lead MSUB at the plate. Last week, Harrington recorded two home runs and in game-two against Western Washington, she was a triple away from batting the cycle.
 
Harrington and Becca Frank are fourth and second respectively in the conference in regards to stolen bases. Frank leads the team with 14 bags swiped while Harrington is second with 12.
 
Meg Harasymczuk appears in the top-25 nationally in four different offensive categories including sixth nationally with .40 home runs per game, 13^th with 1.23 RBIs per game, tied for 14^th with 14 total home runs this season and 24^th with a .821 slugging percentage.
 
Inside the circle, sophomore Amanda Todd has made the most appearances, 14, for MSUB and has pitched 68.2 innings so far this season. Her 73 strikeouts ranks third in the league while freshman Jessyka MacDonald is second on the team and fifth in the league with 57 batters retired.
 
Western Oregon University (17-22, 13-13 GNAC)
 
The Wolves of Western Oregon are currently fourth in the conference. The last time the two programs met, at Cenex Stadium on March 24 and March 25, the Yellowjackets swept the Wolves by a combined score of 43-21.
 
Western Oregon is led at the plate by Amanda Evola's .384 batting average and team-high 48 hits. She also paces the team with 31 runs batted in and 89 total bases in part thanks to team-highs in doubles (11), triples (3) and home runs (8).
 
Andrea Bailey, who is currently hitting at a .318 clip, has made a team-high 129 trips to the plate and has scored 36 times.
 
Hannah Pomeroy has the most appearances inside the circle for WOU at 17 but Brittany Reeves is the only player with a winning record at 5-3. Myranda Sawyer leads the team with 41 strikeouts.
 
Central Washington University (14-25, 10-17 GNAC)
 
The fifth-place Wildcats were able to claim the final game of their four-game series with MSUB in their last meeting in early April, but MSUB still claimed the series 3-1.
 
Four players for CWU are currently batting over .300 highlighted by Heidy Wells' .358 batting average and .528 slugging percentage, but it is Bre Thomas who leads the team with 127 at-bats, 41 hits, 25 runs scored and 15 stolen bases but her slugging percentage is merely .394.
 
Maria Gau has gutted through 134 innings of work in 24 appearances in the circle for CWU. She has fanned 99 batters so far this season but also given up 86 runs, 64 of which have been earned.
 
The four-game road-swing will be the final road-trip of the regular-season for MSUB as they will then return home for a three-day, six-game stretch to close out the 2012 regular-season next week.