ELLENSBURG, Wash. – Trailing 7-1 and down to its final three outs, the Montana State University Billings softball team was staring down a doubleheader sweep at the hands of Central Washington and a 1-3 record in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play. Sophomore Jenna Kister and the defense had put up three-straight scoreless innings, the Wildcats kept stranding runners on base, yet the 'Jacket offense needed something special to come back.
 
Then the Yellowjackets pulled off the improbable.
 
An eight-run seventh-inning rally capped off by Marin Penney's second collegiate grand slam helped the Yellowjackets win game two 9-7 and split a doubleheader with the Central Washington Wildcats after falling in the first game, 9-6.
 
"I'm proud of how we came out and played," MSUB head coach Lisa McKinney said. "The first game today was a solid GNAC game that just didn't end the way we wanted it to, but it was still a good game. We experienced a little bit of everything this weekend – from large leads to small leads, to being behind by all sorts of margins. But we will grow from each game."
 
The Yellowjackets (8-14, 2-2 GNAC) hit four home runs against the Wildcats (8-11, 2-2 GNAC) on day two of the doubleheader. In game one, Lauren Blaschak's three-run home run in second inning gave MSUB an early lead then Maycen O'Neal's solo shot in the third inning tied the game at four-all. In game two, the bats came alive late with the grand slam from Penney, then Jazlyn Kalehuawehe's solo shot to center field put the exclamation mark on the 9-7 win.
 
QUICK HITS

• Marin Penney was named the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Day for her grand slam in the top of the seventh inning that capped off MSUB's eight-run comeback in game two. She finished 2-for-8 on the day with 4 RBIs, two runs and two hits – including her first grand-slam of the season.
• Lauren Blaschak went 2-for-3 with one run scored, 4 RBIs and a three-run home run in game one – her third multi-run home run of her collegiate career.
• Maycen O'Neal went 3-for-8 with one run, 2 RBIs and a solo home run, which was her third of the season.
• Alexis Tovar finished with a 2-for-5 line across both games with a run, an RBI and two drawn walks.
• Fellow freshman Jazlyn Kalehuawehe went 2-for-6 with two runs scored, an RBI, a solo home run in game two and one drawn walk.
• Batting in the leadoff spot, Skyler Jenkins went 2-for-5 with two runs scored, two RBIs and two drawn walks.
• In arguably her most effective outing of the season, sophomore right-hand pitcher Jenna Kister earned her first win of the season with one strikeout, allowing only two runs on two hits and issuing just one walk in 4.1 innings of relief in the second game.

 
Game 1: Central Washington 9, MSUB 6
 
The Yellowjackets showed resolve in game one, as they trailed three times and battled back each time before the Wildcats won on a walk-off, three-run home run from Alyssa Benthagen.
 
The Wildcats delivered the first blow in the bottom of the first inning, as a one-out double from Allie Thiessen, then a RBI-single from Brooke Jordan led to a 1-0 CWU lead. Jordan advanced to second on a wild pitch, then a long fly-out down the right field line brought Jordan home.
 
Yet the Yellowjackets had a quick response in the second half thanks to freshman shortstop Lauren Blaschak's third home run of the season. With two outs, Jazlyn Kalehuawehe hit a long single to left-center field to get aboard, then Allie Hughes battled for seven pitches before drawing a walk. Blaschak stepped into the batter's box, took a strike, then sent the second pitch of the at-bat over the center-field wall and out of reach of Thiessen to put MSUB up 3-2.
 
However, Central Washington took advantage of an MSUB error and put up another crooked number in the second inning to take a 4-3 lead. This deficit would be short-lived, as Maycen O'Neal's solo shot to left-center field in the top of the third inning tied the game.
 
Starting pitcher Alyssa Etheridge and the MSUB defense locked in and put up its first clean inning of the game in the bottom of the third, then the 'Jackets made quick work of the Wildcats with a scoreless fourth. But in the next half-inning, the Wildcats loaded the bases with one out, until Etheridge struck out Myiah Seaton after a nine-pitch battle. Yet Central Washington would take a 6-4 with Makenna King's two-run single.
 
Marin Penney's single past a diving King helped lead off the sixth for MSUB, then CWU's defense bobbled a chopper from Kalehuawehe on the next at-bat. With runners on first and second with no outs, Hughes' ground-out moved Penney and pinch-runner Shelby Marquardt to second and third. Blaschak's RBI single made it a 6-5 game, then the freshman stole second during Skyler Jenkins' at-bat to put two runners in scoring position. Capping off the late rally, Jenkins' long fly ball to right field brought Marquardt home to tie the game at six runs apiece going into the bottom of the sixth.
 
Etheridge and the defense kept the Wildcats at bay in a quick sixth inning. The junior right-hander recorded her fourth strikeout of the day to lead things off, then a groundout to third put two away for the Wildcats. Then she got some help from her defense, as Jenkins' sprinted down a deep fly ball to center field and made a difficult catch to end the inning.
 
Tovar walked on four pitches to open the seventh, then CWU's shortstop mishandled Brittanee Fisher's liner into left field, which put Tovar and pinch-runner Claire Bagnell on first and second with one out. Penney reached on a fielder's choice, then on the fifth pitch of Kalehuawehe's at-bat, both runners advanced on a wild pitch, yet the 'Jackets couldn't bring any runs home in the seventh.
 
Julia Qualteri relieved Etheridge in the bottom of the seventh, yet the Wildcats would break the Yellowjackets' hearts with a walk-off, three-run home run from Benthagen to take the first game of the series 9-6. Qualteri (4-5) was credited with the loss; and Etheridge's final line was four strikeouts, three walks and six earned runs on seven hits in six innings of work.
 
Central Washington's Rhaney Harris (3-6) earned the win after pitching a complete game with one strikeout, two walks and five earned runs on eight hits.
 
Game 2: MSUB 9, Central Washington 7
 
Like they did in the first game, the Central Washington Wildcats got on the board first with a four-run first inning on five hits. MSUB was held scoreless until the third inning, as Skyler Jenkins' one-out double got her aboard, then Morgan Quimby traded places with an RBI double to make it a 4-1 ballgame. However, on Alexis Tovar's single at the next at-bat, Quimby would get tagged out at home plate, quashing the rally and marking the second time the 'Jackets were tagged out at home during the game.
 
In a tough break, the Wildcats took back the run in the bottom of the third, ending starter Preslee Christensen's day early and ushering in Jenna Kister in relief. Although Kister got out of the third inning unscathed, the Wildcats took a 7-1 lead with two more runs in the fourth inning. But Kister and the defense put up zero after zero on the board from that point forward, giving the offense opportunities to come back.
 
MSUB first tried to rally in the top of the sixth, as Quimby drew a walk and Tovar singled up the middle to put runners on first and second. Even though they came up empty, Kister and the defense put up another clean inning in the bottom of the sixth, giving the Yellowjackets three more outs to rally.
 
In the top of the seventh, Jazlyn Kalehuawehe drew a leadoff walk, then Allie Hughes followed suit with a four-pitch walk. Kilee Imada fell behind 0-2 in the count, but wisely took four-straight pitches to load the bases. Imada's walk chased starter Isabel Womak from the game, who was replaced by Ashlee Laver. Yet the result was the same. Jenkins' four-pitch walk brought in a run to make the game 7-2 before Laver recorded the first out of the inning at the next at-bat.
 
Tovar made it a 7-3 game by reaching on a fielder's choice, which brought Hughes home, then O'Neal recorded the first hit of the inning with an RBI single up the left side. Fisher kept the line moving, drawing a walk to load the bases with two outs. With the go-ahead run at the plate, McKinney pulled Marin Penney aside for a quick word, then Penney stepped into the box for the biggest at-bat of the game.
 
Penney took the first pitch outside for a strike. She swung on the next pitch to go behind in the count 0-2. Down to her final strike, she fouled off a pitch to stay alive.
 
On the fourth pitch, she delivered.
 
Penney sent the next pitch she saw to deep left-center field and well out of reach of CWU centerfielder Allie Thiessen. As Payton Meyer, Claire Bagnell, Tovar and Penney rounded the bases, the noise from the MSUB dugout reached a fever-pitch. They pulled off the unthinkable.

"Marin had been battling all day and she was working on finding her timing," McKinney said. "She did exactly what she is capable of doing on that at-bat."
 
Yet they weren't finished.
 
For good measure, Kalehuawehe hit a solo shot to center field in her second at-bat of the inning to give MSUB a 9-7 lead it wouldn't relinquish.
 
"Ending a game with a rally like that showed us what we are capable of doing," McKinney said. "The big takeaway from that game is to come out like we did in the seventh inning every time."
 
Preventing CWU from walking off in the second-consecutive game, Kister and the MSUB defense put the clamps down on the Wildcats with a quick bottom of the seventh inning. Needing just nine pitches to shut the door on the Wildcats, Kister retired the first two batters on a fly-out and a routine groundout to third base, then Jillian Hampson singled to left field with two outs. Hampson would get greedy and go for extra bases, however, and Quimby would tag her out at second base to finish off the 9-7 comeback win.
 
"Jenna did a great job of coming in and hitting her spots," McKinney said. "She got her team a lot of good results that allowed us to play solid defense behind her. The thing that stood out to me, though, was her presence in the seventh inning. She was so calm and collected."
 
Kister got her first win of the season by coming on in relief, pitching 4.1 innings and allowing only two runs on two hits while only walking one batter. Ashlee Laver (1-4), who came on in the seventh inning for CWU, took the loss after giving up five earned runs on three hits while giving up the two home runs.
 
UP NEXT: MSUB makes a return trip to Western Oregon for a four-game series starting at noon local time on Saturday, March 19. Livestream and live stat links can be found on the softball team's schedule page on msubsports.com.