BILLINGS, Mont. – After playing for two weeks in the sun, the Montana State University Billings softball team will head north to Minot, N.D. for the Bubble Invite II, held in Minot State's Air-Supported Dome from Feb. 19-20.
 
The Yellowjackets (4-8) will play two games on Saturday morning, starting with a matchup against University of Mary at 10 a.m. CT, then finishing with a 12:30 p.m. game against the hosting Minot State Beavers. Sunday's action starts with an 8 a.m. CT tilt against Minnesota Crookston before a 10:30 a.m. game against Bemidji State. All four games will be livestreamed on the NSIC Network; links to livestreams and live stats can be found on the softball team's schedule page on msubsports.com.
 
"One of the biggest challenges will be going from playing outside to playing inside on the turf," MSUB head softball coach Lisa McKinney said. "But the nice thing is, that turf plays pretty true. I think the biggest focus for us is carrying over our successes after playing three strong teams at the Desert Stinger and carrying that momentum into these games."
 
MSUB will play four games in two days at the Bubble Invite II; three of the opponents were repeats from the last time the 'Jackets competed under the Air-Supported Dome in 2020. The Yellowjackets and the University of Mary Marauders will lead off the action on Saturday morning at 10 a.m., then the 'Jackets will have arguably their toughest test of the road trip against 7-2 Minot State shortly thereafter at 12:30 p.m.
 
Sunday morning's action begins with the second-overall meeting between MSUB and the University of Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles at 8 a.m. At the same event in 2020, the 'Jackets beat the Golden Eagles 8-5 behind a 4-for-4 outing from Morgan Quimby, a 3-for-4 showing from Skyler Jenkins and Alyssa Etheridge striking out seven batters in six innings of work.
 
The 'Jackets finish their stay in Minot with their first-ever game against the Bemidji State Beavers at 10:30 a.m. The Beavers dropped their first four games of the season but redeemed themselves against Southwest Minnesota State in an 8-4 win on Feb. 13.
 
THE SEASON SO FAR
Taking advantage of good competition and picturesque weather, the Yellowjackets have hit the ground running, playing a dozen games in Irvine, Calif. and Tucson, Ariz. across two tournaments so far.
 
MSUB finished 2-3 in the Concordia Kickoff Classic and the Desert Stinger earlier this month – all with a two-game series with ­then-10^th-ranked Concordia University Irvine nestled in between. Although the 'Jackets finished their first big road trip of the season with a 4-8 record, four of those losses were against teams currently ranked in the NFCA Division II Top 25 poll: No. 4 Concordia, No. 12 Cal State Monterey Bay and No. 19 Chico State.
 
Not only that, the team has shown noticeable improvements this early in the season, compared to previous years. Through the first 12 games, the Yellowjacket bullpen has nearly sliced its ERA in half from last season; right now, pitchers Alyssa Etheridge, Julia Qualteri, Jenna Kister and Shelby Martin boast a 3.97 ERA and have given up only two home runs – despite playing five games against difficult opponents.
 
"I think we've had a shift in mentality," MSUB assistant softball coach Taylor Olsen said of the team's early progress. "Overall we've preached to them over the past year to get stronger mentally as well as physically. They've always had good mechanics, for the most part, and I think we've spent a lot of time this fall refining mechanics, working zones and understanding approaches. I think it comes down to a lot of leadership in the staff and the growth of their mentality."
 
Qualteri boasts the best record of the staff at 3-2 with a team-low .266 batting average against in five starts. The sophomore has pitched two complete games in seven appearances – both of which are team-highs so far. Most recently, Alyssa Etheridge tied her career-high with eight strikeouts against Chico State, and has led the team with 23 strikeouts this season so far.
 
"Alyssa knows how much she's grown as a pitcher, as well as how much she has grown as a person," Olsen said. "She's really taken on that leadership role and taken it to heart. She wants to be a leader on the pitching staff. I think she's been balling out at this point. She's put in the work, she has the most experience and I think it's time for her to go out there and play her game."
 
Offensively, MSUB's order has come into focus over the first dozen games – most notably with Morgan Quimby, Sidney Pollard and Maycen O'Neal as the heart of the order. The upperclassmen trio has combined for 27 of the team's 56 RBIs this year, and ranks in the GNAC's top 20 in batting average, slugging percentage, hits and total bases.
 
"I think they're really good," McKinney said of the trio. "If Quimby can get on, Pollard's usually going to hit her over and Maycen will hit her in. It's been nice to have that lineup. I thought those three did really well feeding off of each other at the Desert Stinger. Then in the bottom of our lineup, we have three people who were in the top of our lineup, so it's almost like teams are facing two top of the lineups back-to-back, which has worked really well for us recently."
 
Outside of the consistency the upperclassmen have brought in the lineup, freshmen Jazlyn Kalehuawehe, Lauren Blaschak and Alexis Tovar have all had their moments in the spotlight. This isn't an exaggeration. All three freshmen have combined for four of the team's eight home runs this season – two of which were grand-slams.
 
"The freshmen are just going out, having fun with their friends and they're not overcomplicating their swings," McKinney said. "I think that's something that our upperclassmen can learn from, because they tend to put a lot of pressure on themselves. I think this freshman class is doing a great job of stepping into the box and making adjustments within at-bats if needed."
 
All three freshmen have delivered highlights against different opponents. Kalehuawehe wasted no time in her first collegiate at-bat, crushing a grand-slam in MSUB's first game against Academy of Art in the Concordia Kickoff Classic that eventually led to a 10-2 run-rule win on Feb. 4. Four days later in the second game of the doubleheader against Concordia, Tovar's home run to deep right field got the 'Jackets on the board. Finally against Washburn, Blaschak tied the school record with 7 RBIs after hitting a grand-slam, then a three-run home run that helped MSUB run-rule the Ichabods.
 
For her efforts, Blaschak made the Desert Stinger All-Tournament Team and made the shortlist of the NFCA's top performances in week one.
 
"I think the upperclassmen are enjoying watching the freshmen thrive," McKinney said. "I think they're are proud of them for their successes, and they're excited to see where they're going to go."
 
As a whole, the Yellowjackets have kept their never-say-die attitude late in games; like last season, this year's group has been known to rally late and make things interesting in the late innings. The first and the sixth innings seem to be MSUB's calling card: The Yellowjackets have outscored opponents 13-4 in the first inning, and – should they need to rally – the team has outscored opponents 18-8 in the sixth. Yet this has been a double-edged sword, as the 'Jackets are a few middle innings away from changing their 4-­­8 record.
 
"I'd like to see us be a bit better offensively  — especially in the third and fourth innings," McKinney said. "Those seem to be the two innings where we struggle or where we get outside of our plan. It's always nice when the girls score early because it lets our pitchers and our defense breathe. But then it's nice to know that we have the ability to come back in the sixth, seventh or even the eighth inning like we did against Chico State. It's nice to know we can do that; we just like to see more consistency throughout the game."
 
UP NEXT: Livestream and live stat information can be found at either the MSUB softball schedule page at msubsports.com, or the ­­Bubble Invite II tournament website.