BILLINGS, Mont. – Despite battling to the final out on Sunday afternoon at Avitus Group Stadium, the host Montana State University Billings softball team was swept in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference doubleheader by Saint Martin's University.
 
The Saints powered their way to an 11-3 victory in Game 1 on Sunday, before holding off a late MSUB rally for a 9-6 triumph in Game 2 that clinched a four-game series sweep. The Saints improved to 17-14 overall and moved three games clear into the fourth-place spot in the GNAC standings with a league record of 8-8.
 
MSUB slipped to 9-23 on the season, and the Yellowjackets are now 5-11 in league play as their hopes for a playoff spot dwindled over the weekend. "Today was similar to yesterday with a slow start and late adjustments at the plate," said MSUB head coach Lisa McKinney. "In Game 2 we came up with some big defensive plays highlighted by Brie Frazier's diving catch in center that gave us a spark. I'm proud of how the girls fought at the end and found their way back to playing Yellowjacket softball."
 
Brittanee Fisher hit the 30th home run of her career – a three-run shot in Game 2 to help MSUB avoid a run-rule defeat. Marin Penney hit her fifth homer of the season, Skyler Jenkins hit her third, and Taylor Anderson hit her first in an MSUB uniform as the GNAC's leading power team upped its season total to 42 home runs on Sunday.
 
Game 1 – Saint Martin's 11, MSU Billings 3
 
The Saints scored four runs in the top of the first inning and never looked back, running away with the opening game of Sunday's doubleheader.
 
Abby Runyon threw her second straight complete game in the circle for SMU, allowing three runs on five hits while striking out five and walking none en route to her 10th victory of the season. The Yellowjackets responded to SMU's big first inning with two in the bottom of the frame, before Penney's solo home run in the second made it a 5-3 score. Runyon retired 12 consecutive batters after Penny's long ball however, and the MSUB lineup couldn't muster any more production the rest of the game.
 
RBIs from Karley Yoshioka and Kylee Vanderbout in the fourth made it a 7-3 game, before Olivia Schmidt hit her first collegiate home run – a two-run shot – in the sixth to make it 9-3. An RBI-double off the bat of Kylie Lopez in the top of the seventh capped off the scoring, as the Saints won decisively in the opener.
 
Jenna Kister allowed eight runs on 11 hits with four strikeouts and two walks in five innings of work, while throwing a season-high 122 pitches in the start. Haley Couch surrendered three runs on four hits with one walk over the final two innings of the game for MSUB.
 
Schmidt finished 3-for-4 with three RBIs, while Britney Patrick went 3-for-5 in Game 1 for the Saints.
 
Game 2 – Saint Martin's 9, MSU Billings 6
 
With their backs against the wall trailing 9-0 after the top of the fifth inning, the Yellowjackets kept their hopes alive with a five-run bottom of the fifth to get back into the game. Jenkins started the rally with a solo home run to left-center, before the Saints' first and only defensive error of the entire series prevented the visitors from claiming a run-rule victory.
 
Taking advantage of a miscue that prolonged the inning, Fisher crushed a three-run home run down the left-field line that got the 'Jackets within striking distance down 9-5. Anderson's first MSUB home run followed in the bottom of the sixth to put MSUB down by three runs, but that was all the offense the 'Jackets could produce.
 
After a leadoff walk issued to Morgan Quimby in the bottom of the seventh, Runyon was summoned back to the circle with the tying run in the on-deck circle. The right-hander ended the game and the series with a double play turned by Yoshioka and Destiny Conerly up the middle.
 
Just as they did in Sunday's opener, the Saints posted a four-run first inning which was highlighted by a three-run home run off the bat of Conerly. An MSUB error in the third and a solo home run off the bat of Patrick – her third of the weekend – in the fourth put the Saints up 6-0.
 
Yoshioka delivered what could have been the final blow, crushing her second home run of the year over the fence in center for a three-run shot that made it 9-0.
 
Savannah Owen picked up her second win of the weekend, allowing five runs – one earned – on six hits with no strikeouts and one walk in 4 2/3 innings of work. Lexi Carlos bridged the gap with 1 1/3 innings before handing the ball off to Runyon for her first collegiate save.
 
Alyssa Etheridge started for the 'Jackets, giving up nine runs on eight hits with two strikeouts and three walks in her 4 1/3 innings of work. Julia Qulateri tossed 2 2/3 scoreless innings of relief, striking out one and walking one while allowing just two hits to keep MSUB in the game until the final out.
 
Patrick went 3-for-4 while Conerly and Yoshioka each had three RBIs in the game to lead SMU at the plate.
 
Quimby and Anderson each had a pair of hits for the 'Jackets, who struck out only one time in the series finale.
 
THE BUZZ: Fisher was named the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Day…Fisher became the fifth player in school history to reach 30-career home runs, and moved into a three-way tie for No. 3 in the Yellowjacket record books…Fisher became the 16th player in GNAC history to hit 30-career home runs…MSUB is now 37-39 all-time against SMU and is 14-19 in games played in Billings.
 
COMING UP: The regular season comes to a close next weekend in Billings, with a crucial four-game series against first-place Northwest Nazarene University. Live coverage for the series against the Nighthawks, which will decide the Yellowjackets' postseason fate, will be available online here.