BILLINGS, Mont. – Bringing the 2021 regular season to a close this weekend at Avitus Group Stadium, the Montana State University Billings softball team hosts No. 25 Northwest Nazarene University in a four-game Great Northwest Athletic Conference series.
 
Doubleheaders are scheduled for 1 p.m. on Friday and 11:05 a.m. on Saturday, with live video available online here and live statistics available online here. Per GNAC mandate, no fans are allowed at MSUB softball games during the 2021 spring season.
 
SATURDAY ON SWX: Saturday's doubleheader will also be broadcast live on SWX Sports locally throughout Montana. More information on how to watch Saturday's games live on SWX, including a full TV schedule, can be found online here.
 
MSUB is coming off a four-game series defeat against Saint Martin's University last weekend. This will be the second meeting of the season between the Yellowjackets and the Nighthawks, with NNU taking all four games between the teams on March 12-13 in Nampa, Idaho.
 
PLAYOFF PICTURE: The Yellowjackets' hopes of qualifying for the GNAC Championships are slim, but the team still holds a mathematical chance to finish in the top four in the standings and earn a spot into the conference tournament. The Yellowjackets enter the week in sixth place, at 9-23 overall and 5-11 in conference play.
 
SENIOR SENDOFF: MSUB's five graduating players will be recognized in a ceremony after Saturday's doubleheader against the Nighthawks. The Yellowjackets will bid farewell to Georgiabelle Benning, Haley Couch, Payton Reynolds, Hailee Gregerson, and Taylor Anderson upon the conclusion of the 2021 season. Saturday's senior ceremony will be part of the live broadcast on the MSUB YouTube channel.
 
POLLARD STAYS IN TOP-10: Junior shortstop Sidney Pollard stayed in the top-10 in the GNAC in hitting, with her season batting average of .352 ranking 10th in the conference entering the week. Pollard had three more hits in last week's series against the Saints, and she is reaching base at .465 while slugging .507 this spring.
 
30 FOR FISHER: Senior Brittanee Fisher homered twice last week, becoming the fifth player in MSUB history and 16th player in GNAC history to reach 30-career home runs. Fisher is now tied for third in the MSUB record books with Kelsey Devlin and Emily Osborn, who each hit 30 home runs during their career with the 'Jackets. She trails No. 2 Kelly Parsons by five home runs and is 10 shy of the school record of 40 set by Cameron Cassinelli from 2015-18. Fisher also has 88 career RBIs, which ranks her 12th in school history.
 

Rank	Player	Home Runs	Career
1	Cameron Cassinelli	40	2015-18
2	Kelly Parsons	35	2008-11
3	Kelsey Devlin	30	2014-17
	Emily Osborn	30	2012-15
	Brittanee Fisher	30	2018-21
6	Meg Harasymczuk	29	2011-12
7	Stephanie Gosselin	25	2006-09
8	Theresa Campbell	23	2002-05
	Kaycee Hoffman	23	2010-11
10	Heather Tracy	21	2015-18
	Christy Wankel	21	2003-06

Fisher's 10 home runs this spring rank her second in the conference, and she is one away from her personal best of 11 home runs which she hit as a freshman during the 2018 season. Fisher's home run total ties her for 14th in MSUB single-season history.
 
GREGERSON REACHES DOUBLE DIGITS IN HR: Senior Hailee Gregerson hit her sixth home run of the year against SMU, and reached 10-career home runs in her final collegiate season. The senior has career highs of six homers and 19 RBIs this spring, while starting 28 games in right field. She also owns a career fielding percentage of .950 with only three errors in 60 total chances in the outfield.
 
GNAC HR LEADER KEEPS PACE: Senior Taylor Anderson, juniors Morgan Quimby and Skyler Jenkins, and sophomore Marin Penney each also homered last week to help MSUB keep its pace as the GNAC leader in long balls. The 'Jackets have hit 42 home runs this spring, leading second-place Northwest Nazarene by six home runs entering the weekend. MSUB's home run total is No. 11 in school single-season history, despite the team playing only 31 games this spring compared to a typical 50-game spring schedule.
 
No. 25 Northwest Nazarene University Nighthawks
2021 Record: 25-9, 8-4 GNAC
All-Time Series: MSUB 55, NNU 24
Series at Billings, MT: MSUB 28, NNU 4
Last Meeting: NNU 4, MSUB 0 (March 12-13 at Nampa, Idaho)
 
Hovering around the top-25 poll all season long, the Nighthawks broke back into the National Fastpitch Coaches Association rankings at No. 25 released earlier this week. Despite playing just 12 conference games, NNU is in first place with four games left in the regular season.
 
The Nighthawks are led by GNAC Player of the Year candidate Brittany Genuardi, who is second in the conference with a .433 batting average while leading the league in on-base percentage at .591. Maia McNicoll leads the GNAC with 11 home runs while driving in 32, while Sidney Booth is hitting .398 with a conference-leading 38 RBIs and Ivy Hommel leads the league with 25 stolen bases.
 
In the circle, Booth leads the team and the GNAC with a 1.59 ERA and 127 strikeouts on the season. Booth holds the opposition to a .188 batting average, and her 12 victories on the year are most in the conference as well.