ST. GEORGE, Utah – Despite building an early 4-0 lead, the Montana State University Billings baseball team couldn't fight off No. 20 Dixie State University on Friday at Bruce Hurst Field in a 9-5 defeat in the series opener.
 
The Yellowjackets (0-5) plated four runs in the second inning, thanks in large part to a pair of DSU errors, but watched as the Trailblazers got all four runs back in the bottom of the frame. After that, the host scored three in the third and two more in the sixth to leave MSUB still in search of its first win of the year. Dixie State improved to 7-2 with the victory.
 
"We didn't play very well tonight, and you can't do that against a good team," said MSUB head coach Aaron Sutton. "Right now this group needs a gut check. We will reset and be ready to go tomorrow."
 
MSUB starter Jarrod Molnaa was lifted in the bottom of the second inning, during the Trailblazers' game-tying rally. Sterling Lay ate up six full innings of relief, taking the loss after allowing five runs on 10 hits with four strikeouts and a pair of walks.
 
DSU's Jayden Murray battled through the rough second inning, and earned his third win with six strikeouts and only one walk in six full innings. Only one of the five runs that Murray gave up on Friday was earned, and he scattered seven hits throughout the game. Colton Harris and Jaden Jensen combined to give up just two baserunners over the final three frames, as the Yellowjackets never threatened a late comeback.
 
Wyatt Setian went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs, and Blake Bell had his first two hits as a Yellowjacket. Andrew Schleusner drove in a pair of runs out of the leadoff spot, but it was an otherwise unproductive day for MSUB which left eight runners on base and struck out nine times against just one walk.
 
Tyson Fisher clubbed his first home run of the year in the midst of a 3-for-4 day at the plate. The third baseman was 1 of 5 Trailblazers with multiple hits in the game, and DSU also drew five walks while striking out just four times.
 
All four of MSUB's runs in the second came after a two-out error prolonged the frame. Setian laced a two-run double to left and Schleusner doubled the score with a base hit to center.
 
Trouble arose in the form of a leadoff walk issued by Molnaa in the bottom of the inning, and DSU sent nine men to the plate in the frame. Braxton Ipson, Alec Flemetakis, and Tyler Hollow each drove in a run in the second, before Lay got out of the jam with a groundout to strand two runners.
 
Cade Spurlin led off the bottom of the third with a double, and after Fisher's two-run shot to right field Ipson made it a 7-4 ballgame with a sacrifice fly.
 
MSUB got a run back on a sacrifice fly by Conner Linebarger in the fifth, but managed just three baserunners after that. DSU's final blow came in the bottom of the sixth, when Spurlin plated a run with a base hit and came around to score on a balk.
 
THE BUZZ: Setian was picked as the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Game…MSUB is now 5-23 all-time against Dixie State…Jalen Garcia went 1-for-5, keeping his season-opening five-game hitting streak alive…Carson Woolery made his 2019 debut on the mound, recording the final out of the day after Lay reached 100 pitches.
 
NEXT UP: The teams reconvene at Bruce Hurst Field on Saturday for a doubleheader scheduled for noon. Live statistics will be available online here.