ELLENSBURG, Wash. – Nearly 24 hours after the first pitch, Kasey Bielec of Central Washington hit a walk-off double as the Wildcats completed a 4-3, extra-inning win over the Montana State University Billings baseball team in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference matchup that wrapped up Monday at the CWU Baseball Field.
Facing a 3-2 deficit entering the last inning on Sunday, MSUB's
Luke Reinschmidt came up huge with his sixth home run of the season to lead off the seventh inning. After CWU failed to score in the bottom of the frame, the game was put on hold due to darkness before the start of the eighth inning.
Resuming action on Monday at 1 p.m. Mountain time, the Yellowjackets came close to scoring in the top of the eighth as
Casey Merritt reached third before a ground out ended the inning. CWU followed MSUB's lead in the bottom half, but with two outs Bielec's hit fell in the outfield and Benjamin Dunbar came across the plate for the winning run.
The victory helped CWU (8-6, 2-2 GNAC) earn a split in the series with the 'Jackets, after MSUB won games one and three. The Yellowjackets fell to 5-11 and 2-2 in conference play with the loss.
"This was a tough loss for our guys today," said MSUB head coach
Rob Bishop. "We competed our tails off for the entire series and CWU is a solid club. I am proud of our effort and we are looking forward to the upcoming series at Cal Baptist."
Reinschmidt and
Brody Miller each had a pair of hits for the 'Jackets, and they each drove in a run as well.
Jake Campeau had an excellent start for MSUB, throwing seven strong innings with five strikeouts and zero walks, as he scattered three CWU hits and allowed three runs on Sunday.
Lee Busto (0-5) took the loss for MSUB as he surrendered Bielec's game-winning double in the eighth.
Cory Welch had a strong start for CWU as well, spreading eight hits and three walks over 6 1/3 innings on Sunday. Davis Engel (2-1) entered on Monday and stranded Merritt on third to earn his second victory of the season.
Reinschmidt singled and stole his fourth base of the season in the first, but Welch stranded the Yellowjackets' center fielder in scoring position.
Campeau retired the first three batters of the game, and an error on the Yellowjackets in the second allowed CWU to take a 1-0 lead. A two-out single by Jeff Beckman plated Randy Fuller, who led off the inning by reaching on a misplayed ground ball.
An RBI double by Miller helped MSUB answer back in the third, as he plated
Kyle Durbin and tied the score at 1-1.
Darren Honeysett hit his third home run of the series in the bottom of the frame, but thanks to a pair of ground outs to start the inning his swing of the bat accounted for just one run.
Campeau settled into a groove after giving up the long ball, retiring the next seven Wildcats. Welch was equally effective, blanking MSUB in the fourth and fifth.
An infield single by
Trevor Nix to lead off the sixth led to a game-tying run, as he eventually came around to score on a throwing error on a ground ball hit by
Bret Bitow.
Welch helped himself out in the bottom half however, leading off with a base hit through the right side. Honeysett moved him over with a sacrifice bunt, and after Welch got to third on a wild pitch Bielec plated him with a fly ball to left.
Down to their final three outs in the seven-inning series finale, Reinschmidt temporarily extended the game with his solo blast in the seventh.
Campeau was selected as the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Game for his strong starting effort. Reinschmidt is now tied with Chandler Tracy of Saint Martin's for the GNAC lead in home runs with six.
NEXT UP: The Yellowjackets remain on the road this week, scheduled to play four nine-inning games Wednesday through Saturday in Riverside, Calif., against Cal Baptist. The first three games will start at 7 p.m. Mountain time under the lights, and the series finale is set for a noon Mountain time first pitch.
