BILLINGS, Mont. – Picking up its first victory of the 2021 season on Friday afternoon at Dehler Park, the Montana State University Billings baseball team split a Great Northwest Athletic Conference doubleheader against Saint Martin's University.
 
The Yellowjackets (1-13, 1-4 GNAC) rolled to an 18-7 triumph in Game 1, and nearly completed a comeback in a narrow 7-6 defeat in the nightcap. Saint Martin's moved its record to 4-4 with the split and opened conference play with a 1-1 record.
 
Daniel Cipriano broke the MSUB single-game record with three home runs in Game 1 of the doubleheader, and had a career-high seven RBIs in the game. The Yellowjackets hit five home runs in each game, including four in the bottom of the seventh inning during a late rally that fell just short. "That's what you want when you're playing is to get into those games, and our guys had great at-bats at the end," MSUB head coach Derek Waddoups commented on the exciting finish to the nightcap.
 
Game 1 – MSU Billings 18, Saint Martin's 7
 
The Yellowjackets scored five runs in the third, fifth, and seventh innings, highlighting their highest single-game run total of the 2021 season so far. Cipriano's first two home runs came in the fifth and sixth innings, before his record-breaking blast in the seventh. There had been a total of 36 two-home run games in MSUB baseball history before Friday, when Cipriano became the program's first to hit three in a single contest.
 
The high offensive output backed the best start of the year by right-hander Connor Redmond, who earned his first victory in a Yellowjacket uniform. Redmond allowed two runs on five hits with nine strikeouts and a pair of walks while completing six innings of work. Sterling Lay threw the next two frames and Diego Hernandez pitched a perfect ninth inning to seal the win for the 'Jackets.
 
"It feels good," Redmond said. "I had a good week of preparation this past week, and I just went out there and filled up the zone. For the most part Slice and I were on the same page, and it was nice to see him back in the lineup. I have never pitched here, so it was nice to go out and get the job done."
 
"In that first game Redmond threw outstanding, and really commanded the zone," Waddoups said. "We had quality at-bats up and down the lineup, and everybody produced in that game."
 
MSUB's first big inning of the day came in the third, when Tanner Cantwell roped a three-run home run off of the hitter's eye in straightaway center field to make it a 5-0 ballgame. Chris Arpan followed with his fourth homer of the year to cap off the five-run frame.
 
Carson Green – who had four hits in the opening game of the series – led off the top of the fifth with a double to kick start another big rally. Cipriano delivered his first home run of the day in the next at bat, and an RBI-double by Arpan and a two-run single off the bat of Sam Powers pushed the 'Jackets in front 11-2.
 
SMU starter Ryan Ancheta battled through five innings of work, allowing 11 runs on 10 hits with a pair of strikeouts and one walk. Derek Alumbaugh finished the game, giving up seven runs on seven hits with four strikeouts and five walks over the final three innings.
 
All five of MSUB's runs in the seventh inning came with two outs, starting with Cipriano's three-run home run that just cleared the fence in right-center field. Andrew Schleusner followed with an RBI-double, plating the final run of the ballgame for the 'Jackets. "It was awesome putting up 18 runs," Redmond commented on the team's offense. "It made it easy for me to go challenge and attack hitters."
 
Aaron Renaud homered, Cody Chavis had three RBIs, and Dakota Hill added a pair of RBIs to lead the Saints' offense in the opening game. SMU left 11 runners on base and managed just seven hits in the defeat.
 
Game 2 – Saint Martin's 7, MSU Billings 6 (7 Innings)
 
Cipriano came to the plate representing the game-winning run in the seventh, but SMU reliever James Gunther got the slugger to fly out as the Saints held on for the victory. The final out came after MSUB hit four home runs in the inning, as the 'Jackets nearly erased a 7-0 deficit over the final two innings of the game.
 
Tanner Inouye threw masterfully for the Saints, allowing just one run on six hits with nine strikeouts and two walks in 5 1/3 innings of work. The 'Jackets threatened on multiple occasions but failed to score in the first five innings, before Koszuth's first home run broke up Inouye's shutout bid in the sixth inning.
 
"Hats off to Tanner, the dude can pitch and he has shown that time and time again," Waddoups commented on the senior right-hander for the Saints. "We let him pitch out of it a little bit, but just the way he commands the zone he does a really good job."
 
The Saints meanwhile set the tone from the top of the first inning, in which they scored three runs thanks to a pair of defensive miscues. SMU made it 5-0 in the third on an RBI-single by Griffin Williams, before scoring its final two runs in the fifth on RBIs from Reid Little and Braeden McNally.
 
Cantwell led off the seventh with his second homer of the day, a deep blast over the fence in right field. Justin Lutz followed with a solo shot to the same part of the park, before Koszuth hit a two-run blast for his second straight at-bat with a long ball. Schleusner had the fourth homer of the inning – a solo shot to left – and Green kept the game going with a single into right field on a 3-2 pitch from Gunther. The Saint right hander got ahead of Cipriano 0-2 in the final at-bat of the game, and Cody Chavis tracked down his medium-deep fly ball to center.
 
"No matter what the score, we never feel like we are completely out of a ballgame with the offense that we have," Redmond said. "It was nice to see that last inning there and the fight that we have."
 
MSUB starter Matthew Houlihan allowed five runs – three earned – on two hits with two strikeouts and five walks in his 2 2/3 innings of work. Brooks Zimmer pitched 3 1/3 strong innings of relief, striking out four and walking one while giving up two unearned runs and scattering six hits. Mason Powell finished the outing with one shutout inning of relief to help keep the 'Jackets in it until the end.
 
MSUB stranded a dozen runners on base, and left runners in scoring position in all seven innings of the one-run loss. "I was happy how we grinded out at-bats, and we had a lot of deep counts," Waddoups said as the Yellowjackets pushed Inouye to throw 109 pitches in his outing. "That really helped us late. We got to the bullpen, and guys stepped up."
 
THE BUZZ: Redmond was selected as the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Day…Cipriano upped his MSUB career-record home run total to 35…he is now eight home runs shy of the all-time GNAC record of 43 home runs, held by Chandler Tracy of Saint Martin's University…MSUB is now 51-48-1 all-time against Saint Martin's and is 22-26 in home games against the Saints.
 
NEXT UP: The series is scheduled to resume on Saturday with a noon first pitch at Dehler Park. Live video will be available online here and live statistics will be available online here.