CALDWELL, Idaho – A little over a week since the team's last game, the MSU Billings softball team opened the College of Idaho / Northwest Nazarene University Classic with a split. MSUB dropped Game 1 in extra innings to Concordia (Ore.) 11-10, but rebounded in Game 2 with a 4-3 win over British Columbia.
 
Taylor Hoke combined to go 4-8 with a double, two triples, four RBIs, and two runs. Sophomore Kelsey Devlin was also 4-8 with three runs, two RBIs, one double, one home run, and one stolen base.
 
Game 1: (Concordia (Ore.), 11, MSUB, 10 (8 Innings))
 
There were a total of 31 hits in the Yellowjackets' first game of the day against Concordia (Ore.). MSU Billings had 20 of those, including two doubles, a triple, and two home runs.
 
Concordia University (10-5) struck first, as the Cavaliers pushed three runs across the plate in the bottom of the first inning to hold a 3-0 lead.
 
MSU Billings was able to answer back, scoring runs in innings 4-7. In the top of the fourth inning, Devlin hit a two-run shot to center field to bring in two runs for MSUB. Hoke hit her first triple of the day straight down the right-field line to score one. Next up to the plate, Aubrey Conceicao made a hard hit though the left side to bring in Hoke and give the Yellowjackets a 4-3 lead.
 
Concordia was able to respond with two players hitting doubles to left, scoring two runs in the fifth. The Yellowjackets' Brittney Sanders hit her first home run of the season in the sixth inning, scoring three runs, and Hoke added two in the seventh with a single, putting MSUB up 9-5, heading into the bottom of the seventh inning.
 
Down by four, with a walk, hit by pitch, a double, and a single, the Cavaliers were able to add four runs in the seventh, to tie the game and take it to additional innings.
 
In the eighth, Heather Tracy came through for MSUB with a single, scoring Devlin from third. Up by one, 10-9, MSUB looked to hold the Cavaliers in the bottom of the eighth. Concordia's Jamie Martin hit a sac fly to left to push a run across the plate, and Mariah Jimenez was able to hit a long single into right to score the winning run.

"Our offense did a great job of making an adjustment to their pitcher and scoring several runs in today's first game," MSUB head coach Lisa Allen said. "We struggled closing the game out. Concordia did a good job of staying relaxed and putting the ball in play."
 
All nine batters in the MSUB lineup finished with a hit. Bella Rovens was 3-6 with two runs. Sanders finished 3-5 with three RBIs on her home run. Both Conceicao and Tracy were also 3-5 with an RBI, and a run each.
 
On the mound for the Yellowjackets, Amanda Roark was credited with 2 2/3 innings, Meagan Dettling came in for 4 1/3, while Jessyka MacDonald (1-2) pitched the last two outs of the game and was credited with the loss.
 
Game 2: (MSU Billings 4, College of Idaho 3)
 
Game 2 featured another wild and crazy seventh inning. MSU Billings took a lead, 4-0, into the seventh inning, but this time the Yellowjackets were able to stop their opponents from taking the game to extra innings.
 
MSUB scored a run in the first inning, two in the third, and one in the sixth. For the second straight game, Hoke hit a triple as she made it onto third in the first inning. With two outs, Sanders hit a single to score Hoke. In the third inning, MSUB tacked on two runs with a single from Hoke that scored a run and a single from Conceicao. An error in the sixth inning cost the Thunderbirds a run. Devlin started it off with a single to center and stole second on the next batter. Tracy reached first on an error by the shortstop and Devlin was able to advance two bases and score a run.
 
In the top of the seventh inning, the University of British Columbia (5-14) made a game of it. The Thunderbirds pushed three runs across the plate before the Yellowjackets were able to shut down their offense.
 
UBC's Britney Swicki walked to start the inning. Lauren du Toit hit a ground ball to shortstop to advance the runner, but Sarah Hillsdon hit a single into right field to start the scoring for the Thunderbirds. A double from Quinn Dhaliwal brought in both runners and caused a pitching change from MSU Billings.
 
With a runner on, MSUB's MacDonald forced the second out on a foul pop-up to third. She walked one, but got the next batter on a fly out to center to stall the UBC rally and end the game on a one-run win.
 
"We came out early to score runs and our defense played amazing," Allen commented on Game 2. "We had a few lead out plays, two double plays, and a diving catch. Mary Grace Bywater and MacDonald did a good job of combining for the win on the mound."
 
Defensively, Hoke turned a double play in the third inning to first baseman Emily Osborn, and in the fourth inning, she played it to second baseman Conceicao who turned the play to Osborn for the second double play of the game for the Yellowjackets.
 
For her performances, Hoke is today's St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Day.
 
Osborn was 1-3 with a double at the plate. MSUB out hit UBC 8-7. In the circle for MSUB, Bywater (1-0) pitched 6 1/3 innings, faced 24 batters, allowed seven hits and had two strikeouts for the win. MacDonald came in to pitch two-thirds of an inning, and was credited with the save.
 
Montana State University Billings is now 4-7 on the season. Saturday the Yellowjackets play two more games. At 10 a.m., MSUB is set to face-off against host College of Idaho and at 4 p.m., MSUB plays Eastern Oregon University. Both games will have live stats available at msubsports.com.  
 
"I think overall we did well at the plate and on defense, but we would like to see the team finish out the games a little better," said Allen.