BILLINGS, Mont. – Kicking off Great Northwest Athletic Conference play this weekend, the Montana State University Billings softball team is set to host Central Washington University in a four-game series at Avitus Group Stadium.
 
Originally scheduled to begin on Saturday, the series was pushed to doubleheaders on Sunday and Monday due to inclement weather in the Magic City. The teams will kick things off Sunday at 1 p.m. before concluding the series on Monday with an 11 a.m. first pitch. Live video for all four games will be available online here and live statistics will be available online here. Per GNAC mandate, no fans are allowed at MSUB home games during the spring 2021 season. "We have been waiting for it, and it has been a long time coming," senior Hailee Gregerson said on the start of conference play. "We have only gotten to play at home once (so far) and we didn't get to play at home last year. It will be exciting to see a new team that we didn't play last year."
 
"Central Washington has always been a really competitive team in the GNAC and I'm sure they'll be exactly the same this year," MSUB head coach Lisa McKinney said. "The most important thing is that we need to play Yellowjacket softball and stay within ourselves."
 
This weekend marks the first of five home series to close out the year, four of which will be against conference opponents. MSUB will host Western Oregon, Saint Martin's, and Northwest Nazarene, and its only GNAC road games of the year will be at Western Washington on April 2-3. The 'Jackets also have a non-conference home series against Humboldt State next weekend on March 27-28 at home. "We love being on our home field, and I think that is going to help us out a lot," junior shortstop Sidney Pollard said. "I have been focusing mostly on my hitting right now, and my defense has been pretty solid. Just making sure I'm more consistent with my hitting has been a big focus."
 
MSUB (3-9) is coming off a four-game series at Northwest Nazarene University last weekend, dropping all four games against the Nighthawks. "It was a good reminder of how good our conference is, and it also showed us a little bit of our competition coming up," McKinney said on the team's last two weeks playing against GNAC opponents. "We face NNU and Saint Martin's later in April, and now we know a little bit more of what to expect."
 
"We have a lot of positive energy coming into this weekend," said Pollard. "We bring a lot of energy to our home games, so I think we are excited to bring that into our first GNAC games of the year. I expect (Central) to be tough. They were tough when they came here two years ago, so I expect good games out of both teams."
 
POLLARD LEADS THE OFFENSE: Pollard enters this week's series as MSUB's leading hitter, holding a .368 batting average through her first nine games of the year. The junior has a pair of doubles, and has reached base at a clip of .500 so far this spring. "Sidney has really stepped it up this year," McKinney said. "She is coming in and doing extra work, and her range has improved a lot this last year. She's also doing really well at the plate, and she had some crucial at-bats for us last week at NNU."
 
GREGERSON RELISHES HOMETOWN OPPORTUNITY: A native of Park City, Gregerson has had her eye on MSUB's softball program since her days as a youth player. Now in her third season with the team since transferring from Dawson Community College, Gregerson has played in 50 games over the last three years for the 'Jackets. "Growing up I always wanted to play at MSUB," Gregerson said. "I always came to the games and I came to some of Boomer's camps when I was little. This has always been a dream of mine, and I remember when I was at my JUCO this is always where I wanted to be."
 
"Hailee is a really good kid with an awesome personality," McKinney commented on the senior. "She is very positive and works hard each and every day. She brings that to her teammates as well, and it's always nice to see Hailee out here working hard."
 
QUIMBY SMACKS FIRST HR: Junior infielder Morgan Quimby hit the first home run of her collegiate career last weekend, clearing the fence against Northwest Nazarene in the series finale. Quimby is off to a .321 batting average in her first 12 games of the 2021 season, with four of her nine hits going for extra bases as she has a .536 slugging percentage.
 
HUGHES HOMERS AGAIN: Senior Allie Hughes hit the 14th home run of her MSUB career last week, moving her into the top-20 in school history in that category. Hughes has made 109 starts primarily in left field for the 'Jackets, while batting .285, reaching base at .377, and slugging .484.
 
Central Washington University Wildcats
Sunday, March 21 – 1 PM Doubleheader – Avitus Group Stadium – Billings, MT
Monday, March 22 – 11 AM Doubleheader – Avitus Group Stadium – Billings, MT
 
The Wildcats are 4-6 overall and are 1-5 in league play to start the season. Although the Wildcats have a solid team batting average of .312, they haven't proven to be a power hitting unit with just one home run in their first 10 games of the year.
 
Theresa Moyle is the team's leading hitter at .438, and is the lone Wildcat in double figures in RBIs with 11. Allie Thiessen is close behind with a .429 batting average and is tied for the team lead with three stolen bases.
 
In the circle, Concordia University transfer Rhaney Harris has been lights out in her 12 innings of work, with 10 strikeouts and just one earned run allowed for a 0.75 ERA. Overall the Wildcat staff has posted a 6.90 ERA and the opposition is batting .315 against them.
 
"I think the girls are just excited to get back and start conference off strong," said McKinney. "It's nice to be at home, and we are really excited with home many series we have coming up here."