BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Playing a rare tripleheader on Friday at Viking Field, the Montana State University Billings softball team rallied to win the nightcap while host Western Washington University won the first two Great Northwest Athletic Conference games of the day.
 
The Vikings (14-5, 5-2 GNAC) won Game 1 3-1 and Game 2 3-1, before MSUB rallied to swipe Game 3 by the score of 6-4 with a four-run seventh inning. MSUB moved to 6-17 overall on the year and is now 2-5 in league play. "Overall it was a great day for Yellowjacket softball," said MSUB head coach Lisa McKinney on the unexpected three-game day. "I am proud of our team for battling through three tough games."
 
Rain in the forecast for Saturday resulted in the decision to play the third game of the series on Friday. Fisher homered twice on the day for MSUB to lead the offense.
 
Game 1 – Western Washington 3, MSU Billings 1
 
Sydney Brown and Anna Kasner combined to allow just one unearned run, while striking out eight Yellowjackets and scattering five hits throughout the game. MSUB got on the board in the top of the first inning on a sacrifice fly from Brittanee Fisher, but it was all the offense the team could muster in the series opener.
 
Alyssa Etheridge turned in a strong performance in the circle for MSUB, limiting the Vikings to three runs on six hits with five strikeouts and three walks. The right-hander battled through six innings and stranded six WWU runners on base, as she kept her team in the game until the end.
 
Dakota Brooks tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the third inning, lifting a fly ball to left field that brought home Chantelle Shimabukuro. The Vikings rallied with two outs in the fourth to take the lead, when Mackenzie Palmer doubled and Rylie Wales delivered an RBI-single to make it a 2-1 ballgame.
 
Relying on another clutch, two-out hit in the bottom of the fifth, WWU added an insurance run on an RBI-single off the bat of Brooke Fesenbek.
 
Kasner meanwhile was untouchable in her three innings of relief, striking out six 'Jackets and allowing only one baserunner on a walk to prevent MSUB from getting back into the game. Palmer was the lone Viking with multiple hits in the opener, while Taylor Anderson went 2-for-4 and scored MSUB's only run of the game.
 
"Lyss pitched very well and the defense made some amazing plays," McKinney said on the opener. "Offensively we just needed to string some hits together. Overall it was a well-played game."
 
Game 2 – Western Washington 3, MSU Billings 1
 
MSUB starter Jenna Kister engaged in a pitching duel with Kasner, as the two battled to a score line of 1-1 through the first five innings of play. Lauren Lo led off the bottom of the sixth with a double, and after a fielding error the Vikings put runners on the corners with one out. Tori McDowell delivered the game-winning hit, ripping a two-run single into center field that made it a 3-1 ballgame.
 
The Yellowjackets threatened in the top of the seventh, as Skyler Jenkins and Morgan Quimby reached to put the tying run on base. But Kira Doan sealed the victory by recording the final two outs of the ballgame. Doan allowed one hit and one walk while striking out two batters in her two innings of relief.
 
Kasner threw the first five innings of the ballgame, giving up one run on four hits with three strikeouts and one walk. Kister meanwhile went the distance for MSUB, giving up three runs – two earned – on eight hits with four strikeouts and no walks.
 
The Vikings got out to an early lead on a second-inning RBI-double off the bat of Shimabukuro. Centerfielder Brie Frazier brought the second inning to an end in dramatic fashion, racing in to scoop up a base hit and firing a strike home from center field to nab the runner trying to score from second.
 
Anderson evened the tally in the top of the third inning, driving an RBI-single into center field that brought Sidney Pollard around from second.
 
The 'Jackets managed just two baserunners in the fourth-through-sixth innings, and stranded seven runners on base in the game as the Vikings protected their narrow lead well.
 
Tatum Dow was 2-for-3 for WWU and was the lone player for either team with multiple hits in the second game of the day.
 
"We had three incredible plays to star the game with Marin snagging a ball over the dugout, Brie throwing a runner out at home, and Allie tracking down a deep ball to left," McKinney commented on her team's defensive effort in the second game. "Jenna threw an amazing game. Our offense fell short again, but we were making good contact."
 
Game 3 – MSU Billings 6, Western Washington 4
 
Fisher hit a game-tying, two-run home run and Jenkins followed with the winning hit in the top of the seventh inning, as MSUB erased a 4-2 deficit and salvaged a win on the day.
 
Julia Qualteri earned the victory with seven solid innings in the circle, allowing four runs on 10 hits with one strikeout and no walks and throwing 118 pitches.
 
The Yellowjackets went down in order in the top of the first, and the Vikings responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning to take an early lead. Lo lifted a sacrifice fly to center, and a pair of Yellowjacket errors led to the hosts taking a 2-0 advantage.
 
Fisher led off the op of the second with a home run to left field and Hughes followed with a double, but Doan stranded a pair of runners on base to end the inning with her team in front 2-1.
 
The Yellowjackets put more runners on in the third and fourth innings, but Doan continued to put up zeroes to keep the one-run advantage.
 
Morgan Quimby snagged a line drive and threw to Fisher for a double play in the bottom of the fourth inning, which helped stop the Vikings' momentum in the inning.
 
Fesenbek sent a solo homer over the fence in left with two outs in the fifth, providing the Vikings with a late insurance run to pull ahead 3-1. A defensive miscue by the Vikings allowed MSUB's second run of the game to cross the plate with two out in the sixth, but Doan stranded two more runners on base as WWU clung to a 3-2 lead. A Dow RBI-double in the bottom of the sixth gave WWU an insurance run, but it wasn't enough to withstand the Yellowjackets' last-inning rally.
 
Doan allowed six runs on 10 hits with five strikeouts and two walks, and Hanako Hirai recorded the final out of the seventh with a strikeout.
 
"We started a little shaky but Julia and the defense settled in and continued to hold Western to minimal runs," McKinney said. "The offense came on strong in the seventh to pull off the win. Brittanee had a fabulous game at the plate and (Sydney) Norwood and Skyler came up with the clutch hits when we needed them. Allie also came up big on stealing third base twice on balls in the dirt."
 
THE BUZZ: Fisher was named the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Day.
 
NEXT UP: The series wraps up on Saturday morning with a 10 a.m. start time.