MONMOUTH, Ore. – Holding on to a 6-4 lead entering the bottom of the ninth inning, the Montana State University Billings baseball team came up just short as Western Oregon rallied to win Game 1 7-6 in 11 innings and then stormed to an 8-1 victory in Game 2 as the Wolves swept the Yellowjackets in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference doubleheader on Friday at the WOU Baseball Field.
 
The Wolves received late game heroics in the form of a two-out, two-run single by Nathan Etheridge that tied the score at 6-6 and kept WOU alive in Game 1. That set up Cody Sullivan's RBI-double in the bottom of the 11th that brought Garrett Harpole around from first to end the game.
 
"That was a tough loss for us after having a commanding lead," commented MSUB head coach Rob Bishop on the Game 1 defeat. "We will need to show our resilience Saturday and come ready to play."
 
WOU (12-14, 8-3 GNAC) carried the momentum directly into Game 2, scoring three runs in the first inning and never looking back in the decisive victory. The Wolves' Jesse Pratt (4-1) was nearly untouchable, tossing a two-hit complete game while striking out six in the nightcap.
 
For MSUB (7-15, 2-4 GNAC) Myles Berkram was the lone player to finish the day with three total hits, as he went 3-for-6 with two walks, an RBI and a run scored while playing left field.
 
Etheridge and Harpole were each 3-for-6 in Game 1, and the latter added his fourth hit of the day and second RBI in the second game.
 
Game 1 – Western Oregon 7, MSU Billings 6 (11 Innings)
 
Sullivan stroked a double into the gap in left field, and Harpole scored all the way from first as Western Oregon completed a come-from-behind victory in the 11th inning with the 7-6 win.
 
Sullivan reached base on an error with two outs, as the game-winning run was unearned for WOU.
 
The Wolves were down to their final out in the bottom of the ninth, with the Yellowjackets clinging to a 6-4 lead. After an infield single advanced Austin Hamilton to third base, Matt Taylor stole second to put the tying run into scoring position. First baseman Etheridge came through with a huge two-run base hit into right field that tied the score and set the Wolves up for the extra-inning heroics.
 
The 'Jackets survived the ninth despite WOU loading the bases, as Adam Cox got Adam Bloom to fly out to left field and send the game to extras.
 
Etheridge and Harpole each had three hits in the first game for the Wolves, while Berkram and Bret Bitow had a pair of singles each for the 'Jackets.
 
MSUB starter Brady Muller turned in 7 1/3 quality innings, striking out five and walking three while giving up four runs on seven hits. Muller's counterpart Darrien Moran tossed six innings, striking out two and walking four while scattering five hits and giving up five runs for WOU.
 
Cox (1-1) suffered the loss for the 'Jackets, but allowed just two base runners in his two innings out of the bullpen. Shawn Domke (1-1) earned the victory for WOU, as he shut down MSUB in the top of the 11th and posted two strikeouts after Jacob Storedahl tossed a scoreless 10th.
 
The 'Jackets struck right away with a run in the first, as a Brody Miller single brought home Luke Reinschmidt.
 
After loading the bases in the second, a ground ball by Jacob Whisler plated Etheridge as WOU evened the score at 1-1.
 
Both sides went down in order in the third, and a leadoff walk drawn by Kevin Toon in the fourth foreshadowed a big inning for MSUB. Two-out singles by Berkram, Bitow, and Kyle Durbin each plated a run, as the Yellowjackets rallied to jump ahead 4-1.
 
A sacrifice fly by Trevor Nix cushioned MSUB's lead further in the fifth, as he brought home Miller from third to make it 5-1.
 
WOU manufactured a run in the seventh and added on two more in the eighth on singles by Harpole and Bloom to pull within one run.
 
MSUB gave itself an insurance run on an RBI-single from Reinschmidt in the ninth, but the 'Jackets couldn't quite hold the lead as WOU tied the score and rallied for the win.
 
Toon drew four walks in the game for MSUB, which was out-hit by WOU 13-9.
 
Game 2 – Western Oregon 8, MSU Billings 1 (7 Innings)
 
Sullivan picked up where he left off with an RBI in the first inning, part of a three-run outburst that put the lead into WOU's hands and set the tone for the game. The Wolves added another in the second on an RBI-groundout by Markus Hinkle.
 
The Yellowjackets did not hit a ball out of the infield until the seventh inning, as an infield single by Berkram was the only hit for the 'Jackets to that point. Pratt was aided by a pair of double plays turned by his defense, each time negating a leadoff baserunner for the 'Jackets.
 
MSUB starter Cody Cooper (0-3) threw five innings, striking out two and walking four while allowing five runs on four hits. Jacob Foley threw the final inning for the Yellowjackets.
 
Cooper retired eight-straight Wolves during a stretch between the second and fifth innings, but an RBI-double by Harpole in the fifth plated the fifth run of the day for WOU. The Wolves then took advantage of MSUB's fourth error of the game in the sixth, pushing across three more runs to put the game out of reach.
 
Pinch hitter Casey Merritt reached on an error, stole second and advanced to third on a passed ball in the seventh inning, and came around to score MSUB's only run of the game on a groundout by Landon Peterson.
 
The Wolves left eight runners on base in the second game while MSUB left four. Berkram was selected as the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Day for the 'Jackets for his team-best three hits.
 
THE BUZZ: Reinschmidt and Miller extended their hitting streaks to 11 and seven games, respectively in Game 1, but both came to an end as the duo went a combined 0-for-6 in Game 2…Toon walked five times total in the two games…the Yellowjackets committed seven errors while the Wolves made four.
 
COMING UP: Saturday's doubleheader, which was originally slated for a 1 p.m. first pitch, has been moved up one hour due to a poor weather forecast. The teams will complete the series with a nine-inning game starting at noon Mountain time and a seven-inning game shortly thereafter.