BILLINGS, Mont. – A walk-off single delivered by Will Riley and a solid overall day of pitching led the Montana State University Billings baseball team to a doubleheader sweep of Great Northwest Athletic Conference foe Central Washington University on Friday afternoon at Dehler Park.
 
Riley ripped the game-winning hit into left field to bring home Hayden Foltz in the bottom of the 10th inning, giving the 'Jackets a dramatic 8-7 triumph in the series opener. MSUB then rode standout pitching performances by Connor Redmond and Sterling Lay to a 6-4 win in Game 2 to take both ends of the doubleheader. "That's why you play and compete – to have moments like that, and you couldn't ask for a better guy to be at the plate with Will Riley," MSUB head coach Derek Waddoups commented on the ending of the opener. "That little bloop is an in-betweener and baserunning wise it is hard in that situation, but Foltz read it perfect and ended up scoring the winning run."


 
The Yellowjackets improved to 10-28 overall on the season and are now 10-20 in conference play. While MSUB's playoff hopes remain slim, the team stayed alive in the hunt for the final GNAC Championships berth with Friday's wins. If MSUB beats Central twice in the series finale on Saturday and the Wildcats lose all four games in next week's series against Saint Martin's University, MSUB would clinch the third and final playoff spot.
 
"Our pitching staff was outstanding today," said Waddoups. "They did a great job of competing, and obviously the offense came through too."
 
In addition to his walk-off hit in Game 1, Riley hit his seventh home run of the season and led the 'Jackets going 4-for-7 at the plate in the doubleheader. Tanner Parker hit his sixth home run of the season and Foltz added his second, as MSUB upped its GNAC-leading home run total to 69 on the season. "It was a lot of fun, and we started tying some loose ends together," said Riley, whose season batting average of .404 is third-highest in MSUB single-season history. "Their big lefty threw a good game, but the boys just came out and battled."
 
CWU, which hadn't played since April 11, fell to 11-11 overall on the year and is 9-9 in conference play with Friday's defeats.
 
Game 1 – MSU Billings 8, Central Washington 7 (10 Innings)
 
Foltz roped a one-out, pinch hit single into right field, before Sam Powers followed with a knock to set the table in the 10th inning. Riley ended the game by lining a 1-0 pitch into left-center, and Foltz had a great read on the sinking hit to score from second without a play at the plate.
 
"I was seeing it pretty good earlier in the game, and I was looking for that slider," Riley commented on his game-winning at-bat. "He had been throwing a lot of them, and I just kind of stuck the bat out and got lucky I think. Those are the games you live for, and it is just a lot of fun here. It was nice to get that win."
 
The dramatic ending backed up a strong relief appearance by freshman Diego Hernandez, who earned his first collegiate victory with 2 2/3 innings of relief to finish the game. The right-hander limited the Wildcats to one run on three hits, while striking out four and walking two.
 
The Yellowjackets trailed the back-and-forth affair 6-5 entering the bottom of the eighth, before Parker drilled the first pitch of the inning over the fence in right to even the score. Riley had what could have been the game-winning hit with an ensuing RBI-single, but Tyler McClain rescued the Wildcats with an RBI-double in the top of the ninth to force the extra inning of play.
 
After CWU plated two runs in the top of the first inning on the first three pitches of the game by MSUB right-hander Matthew Houlihan, the 'Jackets responded with a four-run bottom of the first to take the lead. Daniel Cipriano drove the first pitch he saw into center for an RBI-single, before Andrew Schleusner, Parker, and Joey Castelli each followed with RBIs.
 
The 'Cats used a two-out, two-run single off the bat of Michael Copeland – who had four RBIs in the opener – to make it a 4-4 ballgame in the top of the second but both starters settled down after the early jitters.
 
Riley's solo homer in the fourth gave MSUB a 5-4 lead, but that was the only run either team scored in the third through sixth innings. Houlihan gave up five runs on eight hits with three strikeouts and three walks in his six-plus innings of work, before handing the ball off to Blake Tritch who tossed the next 1 1/3 frames.
 
CWU starter Dillon Larsen meanwhile struck out 10 hitters in his seven innings, allowing five runs on seven hits and throwing 118 pitches. The left-hander, who is the GNAC leader in strikeouts per game at 15.94, posted his third double-digit strikeout performance of the year and upped his season total to 59 to rank him second overall in the GNAC.
 
JJ Asinas took the loss, allowing three runs on five hits with five strikeouts in the final 2 1/3 innings of the game.
 
Trevor Tripoli went 3-for-5 in the opener in a game where the Wildcats had 13 hits but left nine runners on base.
 
Game 2 – MSU Billings 6, Central Washington 4 (7 Innings)
 
The 'Jackets once again struck with a four-run first inning, and Redmond and Lay did the rest on the mound to secure the team's third doubleheader sweep of the 2021 season.
 
Redmond had a rare four-strikeout first inning, and matched his season high with 10 punchouts in the game. The right-hander allowed just two runs on five hits, while walking a pair and throwing 88 pitches in his 4 2/3 innings to pick up his second win of the season. "We just came out and played for the seniors with this possibly being their last series, so we all played for each other and it was nice to get two wins," said Redmond. "Really all my pitches I was comfortable with, and it was just a small, mechanical adjustment we made in practice this week. I was able to throw my pitches down in the zone."
 
Lay did the rest, holding tough and allowing two runs on four hits with two strikeouts and two walks in the final 2 1/3 innings of play. "It was really nice to see Ster go out there for maybe his last outing and close the door like that," Redmond commented on the senior's bullpen effort.
 
CWU didn't go without chances throughout the game, as Redmond stranded two runners on base in the first and three more in the second while giving up just one run early on.
 
Foltz supplied what proved to be the game-winning swing of the bat in the bottom of the third inning, when he turned around on an inside pitch and just cleared the fence in right field for a two-run shot that made the score 6-1.
 
Tripoli was hit by a pitch with the bags full in the fifth to get one run back for CWU, before Zach Berryman had an RBI-double and McClain had a sacrifice fly to pull the 'Cats within two in the top of the sixth. Lay withstood a double and an error that put the tying run on base in the seventh, and ended the game with a big strikeout of Copeland to seal the win for the 'Jackets.
 
CWU left 13 runners on base in a game of missed opportunities, while the 'Jackets scored their six runs on an efficient eight hits while leaving just two runners on base.
 
THE BUZZ: Riley was named the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Day…MSUB is now 2-0 in extra-inning games this season…Riley's knock was MSUB's first walk-off victory of the year…Cipriano's three RBIs Friday upped his career total to 126, as he moved just one away from Luke Reinschmidt for the No. 2 spot in MSUB history…the season series between the teams is now even at 3-3, after CWU won the series in Ellensburg 3-1 on April 2-3.
 
AHEAD: The Yellowjackets' regular season wraps up on Saturday, with another doubleheader scheduled to begin at noon. Live video will be available online here and live statistics will be available online here for the final games of the season at Dehler Park.