BILLINGS, Mont. – Eight home runs hit by the Western Oregon University baseball team broke the Great Northwest Athletic Conference single-game record and highlighted a doubleheader sweep of Montana State University Billings on Friday afternoon at Dehler Park.
 
Blayze Arcano tied the GNAC single-game record with nine RBIs, while Josh Berman had eight as each hit three home runs in a 28-13 blowout Game 1 result. Arcano had 15 RBIs in Friday's doubleheader. The Wolves made it double figures in scoring in all four games of the series, topping the 'Jackets 10-1 in the finale to complete the sweep.
 
Daniel Cipriano hit the 38th home run of his career in Game 1, while Andrew Schleusner homered twice, Tanner Cantwell hit his 10th of the season, and Hayden Foltz hit his first in a Yellowjacket uniform.
 
MSUB fell to 8-28 overall and is now 8-20 in conference play with Friday's losses. Western Oregon meanwhile improved to 16-6 overall and is now 15-5 in conference play as the second-place Wolves made up significant ground on GNAC-leading Northwest Nazarene University with Friday's results.
 
Game 1 – Western Oregon 28, MSU Billings 13
 
Cipriano drove a two-run home run off the scoreboard in right field in the bottom of the first inning, giving the Yellowjackets an early 2-0 advantage. It was the only time MSUB led on Friday, as WOU put together a monster top of the third scoring nine times to shift momentum in the game. Arcano and Berman each had a grand slam in the inning, which gave the visitors the lead for good.
 
The Wolves had big innings with four in the fourth and six in the sixth, which upped the score of the game to 21-5. MSUB managed to score eight runs over the final three innings, but the Wolves scored seven more times during that span as there was no hope of the hosts getting back into it.
 
Arcano and Berman each had four hits in the game, while Anthony Zellner tied the GNAC record with five runs scored and Hunter Johnson and Berman each crossed the plate four times.
 
Cantwell and Schleusner each had four RBIs to lead MSUB offensively, while Foltz finished 4-for-5 with two RBIs in Game 1.
 
Nick Parr got through six innings to earn the win, allowing five runs on 11 hits with eight strikeouts and three walks for the Wolves. David Gibons and Dylan Myers combined to throw the final three frames on the hill.
 
MSUB used four pitchers in the game, each of which gave up seven runs. The Yellowjackets also committed a season-high nine errors, as 10 of the 28 runs that WOU scored in the game were unearned.
 
Game 2 – Western Oregon 10, MSU Billings 1 (7 Innings)
 
Seth Kuykendall put together a dominant performance on the mound, and the Wolves' offense kept its foot on the gas in another one-sided game.
 
Kuykendall gave up just one run on four hits, while striking out seven and walking just one in throwing a 92-pitch complete game.

Arcano's fourth home run of the day was a three-run shot in the second inning that made it 4-0, and Connor McCord and Berman had back-to-back RBI-doubles in the third to make it a 6-0 ballgame. Arcano had a two-run triple in the fifth, and capped the scoring with an RBI-single in the seventh inning.
 
MSUB's lone run came in the fifth inning, when Will Riley smoked a triple into the left-center gap that brought Sam Powers around to score.
 
Reigning GNAC Pitcher of the Week Blake Tritch started the game for the 'Jackets, giving up six runs on six hits with one strikeout in three innings of work. Mason Abrath allowed three runs in three innings, and Ryan Roche threw the final frame of the series on the mound.
 
THE BUZZ: Foltz was selected as the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Day…WOU finished the 2021 season 7-1 against the Yellowjackets.
 
NEXT WEEK: MSUB hosts Central Washington in a four-game series at Dehler Park to close the 2021 regular season. If the Wildcats go 0-8 to close the season, including the games against MSUB, the Yellowjackets would earn the third and final spot into the GNAC Championships.