BILLINGS, Mont. –
Diego Hernandez drilled a 2-2 pitch over the fence in right-center on Saturday afternoon at Pirtz Field, giving the Montana State University Billings baseball team a walk-off 11-9 win over University of Mary in Game 1 of a doubleheader.
Hernandez' first-career home run – a three-run shot – helped the Yellowjackets overcome a 9-8 deficit and claim a victory in their first home game of the season. The Marauders responded with a sound 6-1 triumph in Game 2, getting out of town with a split.
"The coolest part for me was looking back at the dugout and seeing everyone excited," said Hernandez, who was mobbed by his teammates at home plate after the decisive swing of the bat. "It speaks volumes to our team. We went down in the top half of that inning after the home run, but when I came back in (to the dugout) it was just loose vibes. We knew we were going to get the job done, and I got lucky that it happened to be me."
Mason Powell did not disappoint in his 2022 season debut, homering on the first pitch he saw and finishing the day 4-for-6 with eight total bases in the doubleheader. "It was all confidence," Powell said regarding his four-hit day, which included his first collegiate home run. "You just have to believe in yourself, and what really set the tone for the rest of the day for me was just being loose and relaxed."
The Yellowjackets moved their record to 10-12 on the season with Saturday's split, and utilized 12 different pitchers in the doubleheader. "We played a lot of really great baseball today, and just being back in town is awesome for the guys after a long stretch on the road to start the season," MSUB head coach
Derek Waddoups said. "We talk a lot in our program about being a family and next man up, and today gave us a great opportunity to get guys prepared. It gave us a chance to see where guys are at, and make sure we are prepared moving into the long stretch of the conference season."
James Martin went 4-for-8 with a home run and four RBIs for the Marauders, while Derek Shoen and Kyle Jameson each also went deep for the visitors. Mary moved to 6-5 on the season with Saturday's split.
Game 1 – MSU Billings 11, Mary 9
Hernandez' dramatic swing of the bat came after
Carson Green led off the bottom of the ninth with a walk and
James Anderson followed with a full-count free pass to set the table. After fouling off a pair of pitches, Hernandez connected solidly enough for his deep drive to carry just beyond the fence in right-center to end the game. "Going through that at-bat I felt good in the box, and I knew we had a guy on second so I wasn't trying to do anything more than try to score him and push it to extras," Hernandez said. "As the at-bat went on and I fouled a couple of pitches off, I knew I had the chance to do something big. It's big for me personally, but it's bigger for the team in that we got a win. That's more important than personal stats, but it was cool to get it done and a walk-off home run is something to check off the bucket list for sure."
The home run gave
Tyler Elliott the win, after the right-hander struck out four in two innings of work albeit surrendering the lead on Martin's two-run home run in the top of the ninth. Elliott was preceded by the MSUB debut of
Sage Wayment, who struck out four and gave up one run on two hits in two solid innings of work. MSUB ace
Dylan Barkley struck out five while allowing four runs on five hits in his 3 2/3 innings pitched. "We had a couple good at-bats right before him to give us a chance, and obviously he came up clutch and did it," Waddoups said regarding Hernandez's walk-off homer. "He's a guy who has had to battle through a lot of adversity and different things, and I'm excited and have all the confidence in the world for him."
Ethan Babcock-Barrie helped his battery mate escape the first inning unscathed, picking off Shoen with a quick throw to first after Barkley struck out Noah Hull.
Powell made a smooth backhanded pickup on a sharp ground ball off the bat of Jonathan Prokop, and ended the top of the second by completing the play to strand another runner in scoring position. It was the first of five defensive chances that Powell handled without issue in the doubleheader. "That just comes down to what we work on in practice," Powell commented on his spotless defense at the hot corner. "All the ground balls that were hit hard at us, all the plays that we executed today were all from practice. It all comes down to trusting the process, and when you think too much about it that's when you start to make errors."
"He is one of the best servant-leader type people we have in our program," Waddoups commented on the third-year sophomore. "He had a huge day, and really in Game 1 he was the difference maker. I'm excited for him, and it was awesome to see him step up."
Powell followed by giving his team the lead in the second inning, when he demolished the first pitch from Mary starter Austin Wagner over the fence in straightaway left field. "I was just relaxed, and I went into the batter's box thinking I was just going to hit a line drive up the middle," Powell commented on his approach in his first at-bat of the season. "I wasn't nervous, I stepped in ready, and it ultimately led to my first home run."
Prokop popped a 1-2 pitch into shallow right field with two outs and the bases loaded in the fourth, giving the Marauders a 2-1 advantage. Jameson followed with a two-run double into shallow left-center to make it a four-run inning and drive Barkley from the game.
MSUB got a run back in the bottom of the fourth on Anderson's team-leading fifth home run of the year, before Shoen responded with a two-run blast in the fifth to make it 6-2.
PJ Ausmus and
Hayden Foltz each had RBI-doubles in the fifth, and Anderson capped the four-run, game-tying rally with a two-out, RBI-single to right field.
After the teams traded runs through the late innings,
Kevin Blair put MSUB back on top in the bottom of the seventh with an RBI-ground out that brought Anderson across the plate. The efficient Yellowjacket offense stranded just four runners in Game 1, while the Marauders left nine on base and struck out 14 times.
Wagner battled his way through five innings en route to the no-decision, allowing six runs on seven hits with seven strikeouts and just one walk. Paxton Miller and Andrew Brooks combined to close the game on the mound for Mary, with the latter being saddled with the defeat.
Game 2 – Mary 6, MSU Billings 1 (7 Innings)
A four-run top of the third inning proved to be all the offense Mary needed, as four Marauder hurlers combined to limit the Yellowjackets to just one run on six hits in the nightcap. Parker Wakelyn claimed his first win of the year, giving up just two hits in two shutout innings of relief after starter Jonathan Draheim pitched three scoreless frames.
Mary had three of its four runs before the 'Jackets recorded an out in the third inning, as Jameson cleared the bases with a three-run shot over the fence in left field. Cayden James later had an RBI-single to cap the four-run rally.
Martin started a double play with a smooth sliding stop on a ground ball off the bat of
Mitch Winter, erasing a leadoff infield single by Foltz in the bottom of the fourth.
A wild pitch plated another run for Mary in the top of the fifth, and another double play in the bottom of the inning helped the Marauders thwart a leadoff single off the bat of Hernandez. MSUB's lone run came on a bases-loaded walk drawn by Powell in the bottom of the sixth, but UM reliever Joseph Sinclair got Hernandez to strike out and leave the bases loaded with the score at 5-1.
Blake Murray and Blair had back-to-back singles in the bottom of the seventh, but Shoen ended the game by retiring the next two hitters to seal the win for Mary.
THE BUZZ: Hernandez was named the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Day…Hernandez's home run was the first walk-off home run since Matt Dillon hit a two-run walk-off homer on April 6, 2019 to give the Yellowjackets a 5-3 win over Saint Martin's…it was the eighth overall walk-off home run in Yellowjacket baseball history…MSUB is now 5-5 all-time against Mary and is 1-1 in home games against the Marauders.
MSUB Baseball All-Time Walk-Off Home Runs
| Date |
Opponent |
Player |
Description |
Final Score |
| 3/12/22 |
Mary |
Diego Hernandez |
3-run home run, down 9-8 |
11-9 |
| 4/6/19 |
Saint Martin's |
Matt Dillon |
2-run home run, tied 3-3 |
5-3 |
| 3/30/12 |
Central Washington |
Blake Loran |
3-run home run, down 10-8 |
11-10 |
| 4/16/11 |
Northwest Nazarene |
Trevor Wilson |
Solo home run, tied 3-3 |
4-3 |
| 4/20/09 |
Central Washington |
Brian Dukart |
Solo home run, tied 2-2 |
3-2 |
| 4/2/08 |
Dickinson State |
Levi Johnson |
3-run home run, tied 7-7 |
10-7 |
| 5/7/07 |
St. Edward's |
Doug Longfellow |
3-run home run, down 8-6 |
9-8 |
| 4/7/06 |
St. Edward's |
Matt Kakalecik |
Solo home run, tied 5-5 |
6-5 |
NEXT WEEK: The Yellowjackets return to Great Northwest Athletic Conference play, with a four-game road series at Saint Martin's University next weekend. Doubleheaders are set for March 18-19, with live coverage
available online here.
"When we 'control us,' I like us against anybody," Waddoups said on his outlook for the remainder of the 2022 season. "Everybody in the GNAC can beat you on any given day, and it is a good conference with a lot of competition. Heading into Saint Martin's, if we play catch and command the strike zone then I really like our chances. We are a really talented and deep group, and it just boils down to us taking care of the baseball."
