BILLINGS, Mont. – The MSUB softball team may have already wrapped up a spot in the postseason tournament, but the Yellowjackets still have a four-game series left at home against conference opponent Western Oregon.
 
This weekend marks the final seriesat home for the 2015 MSUB softball team. With games played around the Great Northwest Athletic Conference last weekend, the 'Jackets found their record qualifying the team for the postseason conference tournament in one of fourth berths. The GNAC will determine its champion next week in a four-team tournament at Yakima, Wash. Three teams – Saint Martin's, Western Washington and MSU Billings – have secured spots in the tournament.
 
MSUB is tied for second place with Western Washington in the conference at 13-7 and this weekend the Yellowjackets are hosting a four-game series against the Wolves of Western Oregon who are playing for their own spot in the postseason. Western Oregon is just one game back of MSUB at 12-8 in the GNAC, and with three games ahead of Central Washington at 9-11, WOU needs at just one win to give themselves a place in the conference tournament next week.
 
Last weekend MSU Billings took a break from its conference schedule hosting a four-game series with the University of Great Falls. The Yellowjackets went 2-2 during the weekend. Shortstop Taylor Hoke crushed her 10^th home run of the season during the third game of the series for a 3-run RBI walk-off home run.
 
Freshman Heather Tracy led the Yellowjackets with five hits in 11 at bats in the four-game series.  Tracy is one of the toughest players to strikeout in Division II fanning just twice in 126 official at bats. That ratio ranks second nationally.  She likes to put the bat on the ball as she has walked just once. Her teammate senior Aubrey Conceicao won the NCAA award "Toughest to Strikeout" in 2013 with just one strikeout in 119 official at bats.
 
The Yellowjackets (25-20) sent 17 players to bat during the series with Great Falls and used all five MSUB pitchers in the circle.
 
In the conference, MSU Billings has won seven of its last eight games. The Yellowjackets are batting .340 as a team – second in the conference and 21^st nationally. MSUB has six players batting above .350 in their lineup.
 
Hoke is batting .407 which is third in the GNAC. The Yellowjackets have the most top-20 players in batting average. Conceicao (.383, ninth), Emily Osborn (.379, 12^th), Bella Rovens (.368, 16^th), Kelsey Devlin (.364, 18^th) and Tracy (.349, 20^th) join Hoke on the list.
 
MSUB leads the league in slugging percentage at .493 and is second behind Saint Martin's in most offensive categories including on base percentage (.396), runs scored (291), hits (436) and RBI's (270).
 
On the field MSUB carries a .951 fielding percentage. The team has turned 15 double plays on the season - third best in the GNAC.
 
Friday, April 24 – 1 p.m. – Avitus Group Stadium – DOUBLEHEADER
Saturday, April 25 – 12:00 p.m. – Avitus Group Stadium – DOUBLEHEADER –
   SENIOR DAY – JERSEY DAY
Western Oregon University Wolves
2015 Record: 20-25, 12-8 GNAC
 
WOU has won five of its last eight GNAC games. With the Wolves needing just one win this weekend against MSUB for a postseason spot, Western Oregon is looking to its experienced players to step up. Senior Amanda Evola earned last week's GNAC Player of the Week honors batting 8-15, including 5-of-8 in a 2-1, 4-3 doubleheader sweep of Central Washington last Sunday. She scored the winning run in the 2-1 victory and drove in the winning run in the 4-3 victory with her fourth hit of the game. Fellow senior Kelsey Gardner isn't far behind, the shortstop had seven hits in 16 at bats as the Wolves split their four games last week. 
 
Gardner leads the GNAC batting .442 on the season and is second in the conference with 72 hits. She is also leading the league in on base percentage at .486 and is first on her team in doubles with 12. Evola is fourth in the conference in batting at .406 and fourth in hits with 65 on the season.
 
Alyson Boytz leads the Wolves in the pitching circle with an 8-11 record and 4.18 ERA. The junior has 21 appearances on the season with 14 complete games and 102 2/3 innings pitched with 68 total strikeouts. Jourdan Williams and Lizzet Dominguez have both pitched 61 innings for Western Oregon. Williams has a 4.48 ERA with seven wins. Dominguez carries a 6.39 ERA with 20 strikeouts and the second most batters faced on the team at 265.
 
The Series: The Yellowjackets and Wolves are almost even in their overall record with MSUB holding the slight edge at 26-24. MSU Billings is 13-5 at home against Western Oregon. Last season the 'Jackets lost all four of their games against WOU with MSUB having dropped the last eight of nine games against the Wolves.
 
Last time out: Last season Western Oregon won the GNAC regular season and conference tournament to move on and represent the conference at the regional tournament. MSUB lost all four of its regular season games against the Wolves in Monmouth, Ore.
  
This Saturday is Senior Day and Jersey Day at Avitus Group Stadium. The 2015 MSUB softball team has seven four-year seniors on the team who will be honored before the game starting at 11:35 a.m. Also, wear a baseball or softball jersey to the game on Saturday and admission is just $2.00.
 
#5 Jessica Campbell, RHP, Hardin, Mont.
Campbell has nine appearances on the season for MSUB. She picked up her first win this season in the game against Cal State Stanislaus where she tossed a complete six inning game allowing just three hits in the 9-1 victory.
 
#7 Emily Osborn, 1B, Las Vegas, Nev.
Osborn has been a fixture at first base for the 'Jackets since her freshman season. This year the Las Vegas native leads the GNAC in home runs with 12 and slugging percentage at .720. She has already set the record for most career putouts at MSUB with 930 and is climbing the ranks in several other categories including hits and RBI's.
 
#9 Taylor Hoke, SS, Chehalis, Wash.
Hoke is leading the team and is third in the GNAC in batting average, passing the .400 mark two weeks ago and is holding down a .407 average currently. Last week Hoke crushed her 10^th home run of the season and is second in the GNAC in home runs behind Osborn. The shortstop leads her team in hits with 57 and RBI's with 45.
 
#11 Brittney Sanders, C, Kelso, Wash.
Sanders is batting .333 on the season with 47 hits and 26 RBI's. The vocal leader on the field for the Yellowjackets, the catcher has 213 putouts this season and will finish in the MSUB career top-10. Sanders has eight doubles so far this season and with a total of 29 in her career will also finish in the top-10 all-time at MSU Billings.
 
#17 Jessyka MacDonald, RHP, Billings, Mont.
With a combined ERA of 2.89 in the circle, MacDonald leads her team and is third in the GNAC. The Billings West High School product is also third in the conference in wins with 15 and is second in appearances (32) and strikeouts (105) placing her at No. 7 all-time at MSUB in a single season. With 330 career strikeouts, MacDonald is now tied with Lisa Moore (2006-09) for No. 2 all-time as a Yellowjacket.
 
#21 Aubrey Conceicao, 2B, Temecula, Calif.
At second base Conceicao has just three errors this season in 134 chances carrying a .978 fielding percentage. She is batting .383 this season with 51 hits and 36 RBI's. Conceicao has five sacrifice hits this year tying her for first in the GNAC and ninth in the nation. Conceicao is listed on the MSUB all-time list in career batting average and single season batting average.
 
#22 Mary Grace Bywater, RHP, Tualatin, Ore.
Bywater has 12 appearances this season pitching 38 innings. She is listed on the top-10 in three all-time categories at MSUB. Bywater sustained injuries to her wrists in the fall and has been battling back since. She earned her first two wins of the season at the tournament in Idaho against British Columbia and Eastern Oregon. She has 19 strikeouts this year.
 
Live stats and a live video feed will be provided for both doubleheaders on Friday and Saturday at msubsports.com. Next week the team will travel to Yakima, Wash. for the GNAC conference tournament. Competition begins Apr. 30 with seeding still to be determined.