BILLINGS, Mont. – Kevin Toon drove in the go-ahead run with two outs in the sixth inning to help the Montana State University Billings baseball team extend its winning streak to five games, but visiting Western Oregon received a three-hit shutout from right-hander Garrett Alvarez in Game 2 as the teams split a Great Northwest Athletic Conference doubleheader Saturday afternoon at Dehler Park.
 
Yellowjacket starter Tanner Johnson threw six strong innings in the opening game, allowing three runs on nine hits with six strikeouts and four walks to earn his fourth win of the season in the 5-4 triumph. Senior Lucas Blehm pitched around a pair of walks to record a scoreless seventh inning and pick up his second save of the season.
 
"We needed Tanner to step up in a big spot, and we felt like he was the guy equipped with stuff to be able to win a close, one-run game," commented MSUB head coach Rob Bishop. "He stepped up big and pitched great."
 
In Game 2 MSUB's bats went quiet as Alvarez retired the first six batters he faced and went the distance in the three-hit, 5-0 masterpiece.
 
"Every game is going to be a fight with Western Oregon," Bishop said. "They are very good defensively and pitching wise, and they compete at the plate. Alvarez was really good, and he didn't make many pitches up in the zone."
 
Western Oregon outhit MSUB 16-8 on the day and played error-free defense after seven miscues during Friday's doubleheader. Matt Taylor finished with four hits, two RBIs and two runs scored for the Wolves, who improved to 22-22 on the season and 17-10 in conference play.
 
The Yellowjackets moved to 20-19 with the split, and remained in first place in the GNAC with a conference record of 15-8. Toon was selected as the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Day for his big at bats in Game 1 and solid play defensively at first base.
 
Game 1 – MSU Billings 5, Western Oregon 4
 
For the first time in the series, Western Oregon took a lead as the Wolves plated a pair of runs in the first inning against Johnson. A huge two-out, two-run single by Garret Harpole brought home Taylor and Marcus Hinkle to make it 2-0 WOU.
 
Wolf starter Jesse Pratt responded with a 1-2-3 first inning to shut down MSUB's offense.
 
The Yellowjackets got to the right-hander an inning later however, as Colter Sternhagen led off by being hit by a pitch. Corey Morris drove in MSUB's designated hitter with a base hit, and a two-out, bases-loaded walk drawn by Myles Berkram tied the score at 2-2.
 
Both teams quieted down at the plate in the third and fourth innings, before WOU again jumped in front in the top of the fifth. Johnson got himself into a major jam as a double by Hinkle and singles by Sam Cameron and Taylor scored a run and put two in scoring position with no outs. The junior right hander buckled down however, and used a pair of strikeouts and the defensive play of the day by Toon on a wild foul pop up to escape allowing just one run.
 
Toon generated the game-tying run in the bottom of the frame, singling with one out and crossing the plate on Reinschmidt's triple into the gap in left center.
 
With two on and one out in the sixth, Johnson started a 1-6-3 double play on a ground ball off the bat of Cameron that ended a rally and shifted momentum back to the Yellowjackets. MSUB played station-to-station baseball in the sixth, as pinch hitter Trevor Nix worked the count full and drew a leadoff walk before being sacrificed to second by Casey Merritt.
 
After an intentional walk to Brody Miller with two outs, Toon delivered the clutch swing of the bat to make it 4-3.
 
Blehm retired the first two Wolves in the bottom of the seventh, and despite a pair of walks he refocused and got Brandon Oliver to fly out and end the game.
 
Toon and Reinschmidt each had a pair of hits in Game 1 for MSUB, and Reinschmidt upped his GNAC-leading RBI total to 49 on the season. Clark McKitrick suffered the loss for WOU, as he surrendered the decisive run in his relief of Pratt. The starter for WOU struck out eight and walked four while allowing three runs on four hits in his five-inning no-decision.
 
Game 2 – Western Oregon 5, MSU Billings 0
 
For just the second time this season MSUB failed to score a run as Alvarez picked up his fifth win of the season in the shutout victory. Alvarez struck out five and walked just one, scattering three hits and hitting a batter in the 100-pitch performance.
 
Alvarez' counterpart Cody Cooper pitched well for the 'Jackets, but a big three-run seventh inning for WOU sealed the victory. Cooper threw the complete game and struck out four while giving up five runs on seven hits. The sophomore pitched well to contact with a dozen ground outs, but also walked four in his 119-pitch performance.
 
It didn't take long for the pitcher's duel to unfold, as both starters produced zeroes in the first three innings.
 
The Wolves struck first in the top of the fourth, as Cody Sullivan drew a leadoff walk, stole second and crossed the plate on a two-out RBI-single by Nathan Etheridge.
 
WOU doubled its lead an inning later, as this time it was Taylor with a two-out base hit that brought home Cody Poznanski.
 
The Wolves had the leadoff runner reach in each of the final five innings, and in the seventh a two-run double by Sullivan plated Taylor and Poznanski to put the game out of reach at 5-0.
 
The Yellowjackets' best scoring chance came in the third inning, when a two-out walk by Berkram pushed Morris to second, but Alvarez got Miller to ground out and end the inning. Miller was the first of seven-straight MSUB batters to be retired by Alvarez, until a leadoff single by Merritt in the sixth broke that string.
 
Nix got things started with a leadoff single in the seventh, but Alvarez finished the game strong with a strikeout and two groundouts to complete the shutout. He did not allow a Yellowjacket runner past second base in the victory.
 
Taylor was 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored in Game 2, and was the lone player on either side to have multiple hits in the game.
 
The loss snapped MSUB's five-game winning streak, but the 'Jackets have won 13 of their last 16 games overall.
 
UP NEXT: The series concludes Sunday with a single 9-inning game scheduled for 11 a.m. at Dehler Park. WOU currently leads the season series 4-3, and is just one game back of MSUB for first place in the GNAC standings.