Box Score

BILLINGS, Mont. – Mother Nature may have wreaked havoc on this weekend's schedule, but the Montana State University Billings softball team got the last laugh. The Yellowjackets were able to squeeze in a single game Friday afternoon and it proved to be a good decision as MSUB defeated Central Washington University 9-1 in just six innings to kick off their four-game, Great Northwest Athletic Conference series.
 
Being able to get the first game of the series in on Friday means the 'Jackets and Wildcats will attempt to finish the series on Saturday with a tripleheader. The first of the three games is now scheduled to start bright and early at 10 a.m. with the second and third games slated to start at approximately 12 p.m. and 2 p.m.
 
With a new winning streak commenced, MSUB improves to 25-8 for the season which includes an 18-3 mark in the conference while Central falls to 12-20 overall and 8-12 in league play.
 
“The team did a great job today of overcoming the uncertainty of whether we would play or not,” said head coach Lisa Allen. “Our offense came out ready early on to put us ahead, and then kept on swinging well all the way to the end. (Mary Grace) Bywater had another solid day for us inside the circle, keeping their batters guessing and the defense stepped up behind her to make some plays.”
 
The temperatures may have been cold, bordering on freezing with a few occasional snowflakes falling,  but the bats and big plays were still hot as both Jenna VanEykeren and Annaleisha Parsley ripped home runs to lead MSUB to the eight-run win.
 
VanEykeren's solo shot to lead off the second inning proved to be quite the spark as the Yellowjackets batted around the order, scoring five runs off three hits and two costly Wildcat errors. Rose Harrington recorded two RBIs off a single up the middle that scored Taylor Hoke and Becca Frank before Meg Harasymczuk drove in another pair including Harrington and Bobbie Lee.
 
One of the best plays of the day came in the top of the fourth inning when Cassi Ellis ripped a line drive right at Hoke guarding third base. In a move straight out of the movie The Matrix, Hoke snagged the line drive and ended the inning.
 
MSUB tacked on another two in the bottom of the fifth inning, but came just one run short of run-ruling the Wildcats in the inning as Parsley knocked the ball over the left field fence to score Emily Osborn.
 
In the sixth inning, the Wildcats became extremely aggressive with three pinch runners checking in to try to produce some runs. They were only able to manufacture one run off three hits and an error, but MSUB was able to overcome that single run in the bottom of the inning to still end the game early.
 
With two runners in scoring position in the form of Harrington and Olivia Heidinger, Osborn stepped up to the plate with just one out and produced a triple down the first base foul line that ended up in the far corner of right field to end the game.
 
Mary Grace Bywater pitched the entire game inside the circle for the Yellowjackets to improve to 6-1 for the season after walking just two batters and striking out another.
 
Maria Gau went five and a third innings for Central Washington to suffer the loss and fall to 7-11 despite fanning six batters.
 
Tomorrow's action will get underway at 10 a.m. with fans being treated to a rare tripleheader at Cenex Stadium. All the action will also be available via live stats on MSUB's official athletic website, www.msubsports.com.