MONMOUTH, Ore. – Keeping the bats of the Montana State University Billings baseball team quiet on Friday afternoon, host Western Oregon University swept both games of a Great Northwest Athletic Conference doubleheader at the WOU Baseball Field.
 
The Wolves (8-6, 4-2 GNAC) took the opener 9-2 before finishing the day with a 5-1 victory in the nightcap. The Yellowjackets slipped to 3-18 with the losses and are now 3-7 in conference play. "Game 1 Connor Redmond pitched a really good game, and we hit a lot of balls right at them that just didn't fall," said MSUB head coach Derek Waddoups. "I really liked our approach at the plate. Game 2 we just didn't make enough pitches and didn't put the ball in play enough. They did a good job playing catch and taking what the game gave them. We tried to do a bit too much, but we'll get back at it tomorrow."
 
Daniel Cipriano reached base in 5 of 7 plate appearances on an otherwise quiet day for the Yellowjacket offense. MSUB managed just eight hits in the doubleheader.
 
Connor McCord went 3-for-7 with four RBIs and a home run, while Derek Maiben went 3-for-6 with four runs scored to lead the Western Oregon offense
 
Game 1 – Western Oregon 9, MSU Billings 2
 
McCord got his big day started with an RBI-double in the bottom of the first, and Maiben made it a 2-0 score with an RBI-single in the bottom of the third. WOU starter Mike Peterson meanwhile allowed just one baserunner – on an error – over the first three innings as he kept MSUB's bats quiet the first time through the lineup.
 
The Yellowjackets pushed runners to second and third with two outs in the top of the fourth, but Peterson coaxed a ground ball to end the inning as the 'Jackets stranded the tying runs on base. The Wolves then doubled their lead in the bottom of the inning, when McCord led off with a double and Justyn Herzog followed with a two-run home run to make it 4-0.
 
MSUB finally got on the board in the sixth on an RBI-ground out off the bat of Justin Lutz, and scored one more in the seventh on a wild pitch.
 
The Wolves put the game out of reach after the stretch however, scoring three times in the bottom of the seventh to pull ahead 8-2. A single off the bat of Cipriano was MSUB's only baserunner over the final two frames, as Trae Perkins collected the save by virtue of completing the game with three full innings pitched.
 
Peterson wound up allowing one run on three hits with two strikeouts and one walk, and Perkins struck out four and walked none while giving up one run on three hits.
 
MSUB starter Connor Redmond had a season-high 10 strikeouts, while walking just one and allowing five runs on nine hits in his six innings of work. Cort Dietrich threw one inning and Ryan Roche pitched for the third time in his career with a scoreless eighth frame for the 'Jackets.
 
Game 2 – Western Oregon 5, MSU Billings 1 (7 Innings)
 
Lutz gave the 'Jackets their first lead of the day with an RBI-single in the top of the first inning, but Western Oregon scored the next five runs of the game as its starter Matthew Dunaway settled into a groove. The right-hander struck out the side in the second, before stranding a pair of runners in the third with back-to-back punch outs.
 
WOU's offense meanwhile rallied with two runs in the first and two more in the third to pull ahead 4-1. A wild pitch in the fourth allowed one more WOU run to score, and the Yellowjackets never got the tying run to the plate after that.
 
Dunaway finished his outing allowing one run on two hits with 10 strikeouts and just two walks in his five innings of work. Nathan Bonck and Alan Vasquez each pitched a shutout inning of relief to finish off the doubleheader sweep for WOU.
 
MSUB starter Matthew Houlihan gave up four runs on three hits with two strikeouts and four walks in two-plus innings of work. Brooks Zimmer was used out of the bullpen in the third, and proceeded to strike out a pair while walking none and giving up one run on five hits in his four innings of work.
 
THE BUZZ: Zimmer was selected as the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Day…MSUB is now 29-79 all-time against WOU and is 13-36 in games played in Monmouth…MSUB, which entered the day as the NCAA leader in home runs with 41, snapped a streak of 10 straight games with a long ball as the team went homerless on the day…MSUB's offense averaged 8.2 runs per game entering Friday's doubleheader.
 
AHEAD: The series wraps up on Saturday with another 1 p.m. doubleheader in Monmouth. Live video will be available online here and live statistics will be available online here.