BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State University Billings softball team will play its first Great Northwest Athletic Conference series of the season at Viking Field in Bellingham this week against Western Washington University in a pair of doubleheaders. Twin bills are scheduled to begin at 12 p.m. local time on both Saturday and Sunday. Montana State Billings swept the season series between the two 4-0 last year but will start a much younger roster in 2019, featuring a number of freshman who have yet to face a GNAC foe.
 
"We are excited to get back out and play this weekend," commented head coach Jessica Rayman. "We have had a good little break and the team is ready to get out and compete. Western Washington swings it well, so it will be important our pitchers are dialed in and competing every pitch."
 
The Yellowjackets (6-7, 0-0) are looking to get back on track after suffering losses in each of their last three games. On February 16, Colorado School of Mines squeaked past MSUB after scoring a run in the bottom of the eighth inning on a sacrifice fly.
 
Montana State Billings will try to make the four-team conference tournament after narrowly missing the cut a year ago. Adding more incentive to win, MSU Billings plays host to the GNAC Championships at Avitus Group Stadium May 2-4.
 
AUSTIN LEADS OFF: The Yellowjackets have five players hitting better than .300 through 13 games. Freshman shortstop/outfielder Rylan Austin has 13 starts and is hitting a team best .349 with 15 hits, two doubles, and six runs batted in. Austin has maintained the top spot in the batting order and has four multi-hit games. She went 2-for-3 with a double and a walk against Western New Mexico on February 8.
 
 
MORE MORGAN: Cailee Morgan is another freshman making an immediate impact with the Yellowjackets. As the team's second baseman, Morgan hits second in the lineup behind Austin and holds a .333 average (third) with 14 hits, one double, one triple, and five runs batted in. Morgan totaled three hits last weekend in Denver, including a double against Colorado School of Mines. She is also 4-for-4 in attempted stolen bases and earned of pair of steals in a game against Hawai'i Pacific on February 4.
 
VETERAN PRESENCE: First base was one position the Yellowjackets had few questions about coming in to 2019. Sophomore Brittanee Fisher is in the beginning of her second year but is already showing the consistency of a veteran player in the batter's box. Last year, Fisher was named all-GNAC honorable mention and tied for the GNAC lead with 11 home runs. This season, her numbers have been even higher and Fisher has averaged a hit per game with four doubles, two home runs, and 10 runs batted in. She is also hitting .342 with a .605 slugging percentage.
 
PRONOUNCED PITCHING: The Yellowjackets have the second lowest earned run average among GNAC teams at 3.72. Maddy Lincoln has seven starts and a 3.32 ERA (eighth). Lincoln has allowed 24 earned runs in 50.2 innings pitched with 38 strikeouts and 14 walks. Lincoln also has seven complete games including an eight-inning loss to No. 17 Dixie State University on February 8. Against Dixie State, Lincoln strung together one of her best career performances and limited the Trailblazers to just one earned run on four hits while facing 30 hitters.
 
Alyssa Etheridge is 2-2 with a 4.60 ERA for the 'Jackets. The freshman has two complete games in five starts this season with 17 strikeouts in 24.1 innings pitched. Opponents are hitting .250 against her with 34 walks drawn and two home runs. Haley Couch is MSUB's first choice out of the bullpen. Couch is 1-1 with a 3.60 ERA and has allowed six earned runs and one home run while striking out six.
 
 
POLLARD CONTINUES TO IMPROVE: Freshman utility player Sidney Pollard did not play in the first two games of the season but when she did receive a chance against Hawai'i Pacific, she gave plenty of reasons to stay in as a starter. Pollard delivered two hits in her first game with a triple and a walk and has played every game since. Pollard currently holds a .303 batting average with three doubles, a triple, and seven runs batted in. Pollard has also drawn eight walks and has a .489 on-base percentage (second).
 
LAST TIME OUT: The wintery weather stayed away long enough for the Yellowjackets to play three of four scheduled games in Denver, Colorado on the middle weekend on February. Metropolitan State got revenge on MSUB and took both games of a doubleheader 6-0 and 10-3 at Regency Athletic Complex. The following day, MSU Billings lost 4-3 to Colorado School of Mines in eight innings.
 
After the Yellowjackets took an early 3-0 lead, the Orediggers put three across the plate in the fifth inning on a bases clearing double by Kendall Murphy to tie it. Mines won the game after advancing a placed runner on second with a sacrifice bunt, then hitting the runner home on a sacrifice fly to left field. MSUB left 14 runners on base in the game.
 
 
Scouting Western Washington University
Game Day: Friday, February 15 – 12 p.m. & 2 p.m.
2018-19 Record: 6-5, 0-0 GNAC, 0-0 home, 0-1 away, 6-4 neutral
Head Coach: Sheryl Gilmore
2017-18 Record: 15-32, 9-19 GNAC, 5-9 home, 5-11 away, 5-12 neutral
 
The Vikings have played three tournaments and five ranked opponents already this spring. Despite one of the toughest schedules in Division II, WWU came out with a winning non-conference record. After finishing seventh in the GNAC last spring, Western Washington has a more experienced squad in 2018-19 under first year head coach Sheryl Gilmore. WWU returned 15 letter winners this season and lost only three.
 
One of those returners is 2017 first-team all-GNAC selection Emily Benson. Benson did not play last season but posted a .418 batting average as a sophomore with 12 home runs and 37 runs batted in. Benson is hitting .419 in 11 games this spring with three home runs. The senior first baseman ranks first in all-time home runs for WWU with 34 homers in her career.
 
Mackinlee Sellevold (sophomore infielder) set a WWU single-season record with 51 RBI in 2017 and hit .390. Shearyna Labasan (senior pitcher/outfielder) was third in the conference in batting average at .421 and named first team all-GNAC. Kira Doan (sophomore second baseman/pitcher) started 46 games in 2018 and tied for 9^th in the GNAC with six home runs.
 
The Vikings needed to replace former GNAC pitcher of the year Anna Kasner and so far they have done so effectively. The 'Jackets will likely see Sellevold, who is 5-5 in 10 starts with a 3.91 ERA and 43 strikeouts. Kira Doan (5.91 ERA, 6K) and Seli Aholelei (8.18 ERA, 8K) are also options from the bullpen.
 
The Vikings were selected to finish fourth in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference annual preseason coaches poll. The 2019 roster features four seniors, five juniors, eight sophomores, and four freshmen. Despite a tough season last year, Western Washington is just one year removed from winning the 2017 GNAC Championships and earning its first NCAA Tournament victory in school history.
 
Last season, the Yellowjackets defeated Western Washington in all four games. The first three were held in Billings and the last was postponed and later made up in Bellingham.
 
"I think if our offense can continue to produce and we can play solid defense behind our pitchers, these should be good games," Rayman said. "The main thing for us is to just focus in one pitch at a time, one inning at a time, and one game at a time. It is going to be good to get outside again and be able to play."
 
HOW TO FOLLOW: Both doubleheaders begin at noon this weekend and can be streamed live online via the GNAC Stretch Internet Portal. Live statistics will also be available. Fans can also follow the 'Jackets via twitter @MSUBSoftball.