ELLENSBURG, Wash. – A big four-run eighth inning rally propelled the Montana State University Billings baseball team to a 7-5 victory in Game 1, but host Central Washington scored a pair of runs late in Game 2 as the teams split a Great Northwest Athletic Conference doubleheader at the CWU baseball field Saturday.
 
The Wildcats (7-5, 3-1 GNAC) won the four-game series with the split, after winning both games on Friday. The Yellowjackets moved to 7-6 overall and are now 1-3 through their first four conference games of the season.
 
"It was a competitive series from start to finish, but we lost the battle of the little things this weekend," said MSUB head coach Rob Bishop. "I thought we played well, pitched well, and our guys competed hard."
 
Kevin Toon had three hits on the day for the 'Jackets, and extended a hitting streak that dates back to last season to 18 games. Tanner Watson had a huge two-run single in the eighth inning of Game 1, and turned in his best outing of the year on the mound through five-plus innings in Game 2.
 
"Kevin had great at bats all weekend, and that's what we expect from him," Bishop said. "He is always going to give you a good at bat regardless of the result or the pitcher he is facing, and he did that this weekend. Tanner was awesome today, and had a huge pinch-hit RBI that gave us a little breathing room. He threw all three pitches for strikes, and he didn't make many mistakes. They just got a big hit when they needed it."
 
Game 1 – MSU Billings 7, Central Washington 5
 
Casey Merritt led off the game with a single into left field, and was driven in on a sharp double by Adam Cox. Stepping up with two outs, Colter Sternhagen roped a base hit into right center that scored Toon and Cox, giving MSUB a 3-0 lead in the first inning.
 
MSUB starter Cody Cooper notched a shutdown inning in the bottom half, picking up a pair of strikeouts and retiring the side in order. Five of the junior's six strikeouts on the game came in the first two innings, as he struck out the side in the second to retire the first six batters of the game.
 
The teams were quiet offensively after MSUB's three spot in the first frame, as Cooper and CWU's pitchers took turns posting zeroes into the seventh inning.
 
The 'Jackets put runners on the corners with two outs in the sixth inning, but CWU's Mitch Yada got out of the jam with a ground ball handled by Wildcat second baseman Ryan Atkinson. Mirroring MSUB in the bottom half, CWU also pushed runners to the corners but this time it was Corey Morris's turn to end the frame by flipping a grounder to Sternhagen at second.
 
Wildcat reliever Zach Haggett worked around a leadoff single by Landon Peterson in the seventh, retiring the next three batters in order. Cooper gave up a one-out home run to Conor Plaisance in the seventh, which marked the first of four runs scored in the frame to give CWU a 4-3 lead.
 
With two outs, pinch hitter Ryan Archibald and Reid Martinez had consecutive run-scoring base hits as the 'Cats drove Cooper from the game.
 
The 'Jackets responded with a big frame in the top of the eighth however, getting all four runs back and providing Cox with a 7-4 cushion. The big swing of the bat during the rally came off the bat of pinch-hitting Watson, who delivered a two-run single that pushed his team in front.
 
Cox gave up one run in the eighth, but buckled down and cruised through CWU in order in the ninth as he ended the game with a strikeout.
 
Casey Merritt and Cox each had multiple hits, and Sternhagen was one of three players to drive in a pair of runs for MSUB. Martinez, Plaisance, and Benjamin Dunbar each had two hits for the 'Cats.
 
Game 2 – Central Washington 2, MSU Billings 1 (7 Innings)
 
With the tying run on third base in the last inning, a hard, tailing line drive off the bat of Merritt was snagged by CWU shortstop Christopher Dalto as the 'Jackets came up just short in the final game of the series.
 
MSUB managed just five hits in the second game, and Sternhagen drove in the lone run for the 'Jackets. Justin Adams earned the victory by tossing a complete game, with a walk and a strikeout as he kept MSUB's offense at bay.
 
Trailing 1-0 entering the bottom of the sixth, the Wildcats rallied for two runs as Archibald and pinch hitter Kyle Stahl picked up RBI-singles to give the 'Cats the lead.
 
Watson took a no-hitter into the fourth inning, and another RBI on a single by Sternhagen gave the 'Jackets a 1-0 edge moving into the fifth inning.
 
After a one-out base hit by Tanner Romo in the bottom of the fifth, Toon laid out and snagged a sharp ground ball on the backhand and stepped on first for a big second out.
 
Despite a leadoff single by Kyle Durbin in the top of the seventh, Adams worked around it and finished the victory. Archibald was the lone player with two hits for the 'Cats, who also managed just five singles off of the Yellowjackets' staff.
 
THE BUZZ: Watson was picked as the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Game, after his big hit in Game 1 and outstanding appearance on the mound in Game 2…Busto appeared in both games and has now pitched in 12 of 13 games this season for MSUB…Toon's 18-game hitting streak is tied for ninth-longest in GNAC history, and he is more than halfway to the conference record of 32 straight games with a hit.
 
AHEAD: The 'Jackets return to the road next weekend, playing four more GNAC games at Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa, Idaho on March 11-12. First pitch next Friday is set for 3 p.m., and Saturday's doubleheader will start at 1 p.m., with live video and statistics available for all four games.