BILLINGS, Mont. -- The Montana State University Billings' softball team plays two of its final seven Great Northwest Athletic Conference games Saturday at Central Washington University. Live stats from the pair of crucial games will be available on MSUBSports.com.
THE SERIES
* The Yellowjackets and Central Washington meet for the 45th and 46th time Saturday.
* Montana State Billings has won 18 of the 44 all-time meetings.
* MSUB broke a four-game losing streak to the Wildcats with a win in the last meeting.
* Before the losing streak, MSU Billings won five straight in the series.
* The Yellowjackets were swept by CWU in Ellensburg last season.
* The last MSU Billings at Central Washington was a 6-2 victory on March 21, 2010.
* The Yellowjackets have won five of the 12 all-time meetings at CWU.
* The all-time series is tied 9-9 in Billings.
* The first meeting was a 10-2 Wildcat win in Richland, Wash. on March 3, 2001.
LEADING OFF
• MSU Billings'
Amanda Todd leads the Great Northwest Athletic Conference in opponents' batting average at .227.
• The Yellowjackets have scored 76 runs in their eight home games, and 67 runs in their other 26 contests. That's an average of 9.5 runs per game at home, and 2.5 on the road.
• Montana State Billings is 9-3 when outhitting its opponent, and 0-20 when it is outhit.
• MSUB's
Aubrey Conceicao has 15 two-out RBI this season. The second-most in the GNAC.
• She is the toughest hitter to strikeout in the conference at 0.03 strikeouts per game.
• Montana State Billings and St. Martin's combined 33 runs were a new school record for combined runs in a single game.
• MSU Billings sits in sixth place in the conference standings, 2.5 games behind Western Oregon for fourth place. The Yellowjackets have seven conference games remaining.
• The top four teams advance to the GNAC tournament, that MSUB is hosting in May.
ABOUT THE WILDCATS
Central Washington University enters the weekend as one of the hottest teams in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. CWU has won six of its last eight, with the two losses coming at the Tournament of Champions. The Wildcats fell to No. 8 Humboldt State 2-1 in eight inning, and Hawaii-Hilo by two runs. With six games left in its conference schedule, CWU is one-game behind behind St. Martin's for the GNAC lead.. The Wildcats have the best batting average in the GNAC at .311, and Jill McDaniels leads the conference with a .705 slugging percentage. Maria Gau has a conference-best 1.97 Earned Run Average.
THE LAST TIME THEY MET
Montana State Billings' bounced back from an 11-2 first game loss to Central Washington University, to pick up a 13-5 second game victory in the first home games of the 2013 season on March 21. The Yellowjackets'
Katie Schermele was 3-for-3 in the second game. The freshman had a great home debut hitting a pair of home runs, and driving in four runs.
Jessyka MacDonald improved to 3-3 on the mound for MSUB with the Game 2 win. It was a cold and windy day that featured two very different games. Central Washington used a seven-run sixth inning to pull away with the win. Cassi Ellis was 5-of-7 on the day.
THE LAST MEETING IN ELLENSBURG
The Yellowjackets were unable to create enough offense on April 21, 2012, dropping a pair of Great Northwest Athletic Conference games 12-11 and 5-1 to Central Washington. The Wildcats controlled the pace of Game 1 from the get-go as they scored three runs in the opening stanza after MSUB went three-up and three-down to start the game off. The two teams combined for 32 hits in the game to go along with the 23 runs scored. The Yellowjackets never recovered from game-one as they were out-hit in the second game 11-6. CWU recorded two runs in both the third and fifth innings and a final run in the sixth.
THE LAST TIME OUT
A downpour and its subsequent rain delay didn't prevent a sweep for the No. 23 Saint Martin's University softball team at Montana State University Billings last Saturday, 18-15 and 12-3. The Saints grabbed their 30th win of the season, and moved atop the conference standings. SMU, which amidst its best season in program history, totaled a two-game series program-record 30 runs on 28 hits. The first game had a rain delay a little over an hour, and the second game finished in five innings. Saint Martin's Joslyn Eugenio was 6-for-9 on the day, with six RBI and scoring five times.
SNOW MOVES DOUBLEHEADER DATE WITH DICKINSON
Montana State Billings baseball and softball teams have decided to change their competition date against Dickinson State University from Wednesday, April 10 to Tuesday, April 23, due to weather and field conditions. Both double-headers will keep a 1:00 p.m. start. The Yellowjackets baseball team will still play their series against Saint Martin's University on Saturday, April 13 and Sunday, April 14. First pitch in both double-headers is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. MSUB's softball team will also play Saint Martin's in a double-header, scheduled to start at 12 noon on Saturday, April 13.
