MONMOUTH, Ore. – Eight was the magic number for the Montana State University Billings softball team, as the Yellowjackets took day one of the series from Western Oregon with an 8-2 win in game one, then held on for an 8-7 game two victory on Saturday.
 
"Overall, it was a good day for both our offense and our defense," MSUB head coach Lisa McKinney said. "Our offense game out strong in the first inning of game one, scoring three runs highlighted by Brittanee Fisher's home run. In the second game, our offense did a good job of responding after we fell behind. Julia Qualteri came in late in the game and did a good job of holding off Western Oregon's offense after its big inning. I'm proud of how our team was able to get a close win."
 
The Yellowjackets (10-14, 4-2 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) got revenge over the Wolves (13-14, 0-6 GNAC), who won two-straight against the 'Jackets earlier this season. As a team, MSUB hit five home runs across both games, while junior right-hander Alyssa Etheridge pitched her fourth complete game of the season in game one, plus Julia Qualteri came in relief in game two to pitch four scoreless innings.
 
Senior first baseman Brittanee Fisher led the way on offense, going 4-for-6 at the plate with two home runs and a team-high 6 RBIs across both games. With the home runs, Fisher has 38 career home runs – two short of tying Cameron Cassinelli's school record. Elsewhere in game one, sophomore shortstop Kilee Imada hit her first home run of the season with a three-run shot in the top of the fourth. MSUB hit three home runs in game two: First when Skyler Jenkins hit her second leadoff home run of the season, then three-run home runs from freshman Jazlyn Kalehuawehe and Fisher. 
 
Game 1: MSUB 8, WOU 2
 
After scoring only two runs against the Wolves in the first doubleheader of the season, MSUB quickly surpassed that total with a three-run top of the first inning. Skyler Jenkins got on base with a single to center field, advanced to second on Morgan Quimby's sacrifice fly, then scored on Maycen O'Neal's single down the left field line. This brought up Fisher, who got ahead 3-1 in the count but took the next pitch deep to right center field for a two-run home run.
 
Working with a three-run cushion, starting pitcher Alyssa Etheridge mowed down the Wolves by striking out two batters in the first, another in the second and didn't give up a hit until the third inning. On that hit, however, the defense backed up Etheridge: WOU catcher Natalie Willoughby hit a two-out single, sending Zoie Recolan from second to third, but freshman right fielder Alexis Tovar's throw to Marin Penney was in time to tag Recolan out.
 
"Alyssa came in and set the tone early for the defense," McKinney said. "She held their hitters to only five hits throughout the game."
 
The Yellowjackets put up another big inning in the top of the fourth. Penney drew a two-out walk, then moved to second on Jazlyn Kalehuawehe's single. Allie Hughes hit an RBI double at the next at-bat to score Penney and bring Kalehuawehe to third, then Kilee Imada hit her first home run of the season in with a big, three-run home run.
 
"Kilee came up big for us later in the game to give us more insurance runs," McKinney said.
 
Western Oregon finally got on the board with a two-run inning in the bottom of the fourth, as a leadoff walk and a single snowballed into a bases-clearing RBI double from Erica Soliz. Yet Etheridge struck out the next batter, then got out of the inning two batters later.
 
MSUB tried to get something going in the next two innings with a single from Fisher in the fifth and Hughes' second double of the day in the sixth, yet they wouldn't break through until the top of the seventh. Sydney Norwood came in to pinch hit and singled, then Fisher's two-out double to center field was long enough to score Norwood from first. Western Oregon tried to rally with a leadoff single in the bottom of the seventh inning, but Quimby and Fisher turned a double-play at the next at-bat, then Kirah McGlothan's groundout to Imada ended the game.
 
"Overall, it was a good team win with solid play on all sides of the ball," McKinney said of game one.
 
Defensively, MSUB committed zero errors in game one. Etheridge (4-4) got the win for recording five strikeouts and giving up only two earned runs on five hits. Maddie Mayer (4-5) was credited with the loss after matching Etheridge with five strikeouts but she gave up eight earned runs on 10 hits in a complete-game effort.
 
Game 2: MSUB 8, WOU 7
 
On the second pitch of the game, Skyler Jenkins hit her second leadoff home run of the season to give MSUB an early 1-0 lead. In the bottom of the first, starter Jenna Kister worked around early trouble: WOU put runners on second and first with one out, but then Kister's first strikeout of the game and an infield pop-up rendered the Wolves scoreless.
 
MSUB would strand two more baserunners in the top of the second, which proved to be momentarily costly as the Wolves put up two runs in the bottom of the second. Kirah McGlothan hit a solo home run, then and RBI single from WOU shortstop Logan Carlos gave the hosts a 2-1 lead, but a groundout and Kister's second strikeout ended the inning.
 
But the Yellowjackets wouldn't trail for long. Alexis Tovar and Brittanee Fisher drew walks, then a wild pitch on Jazlyn Kalehuawehe's at-bat advanced both runners into scoring position. Kalehuawehe would send everyone home, however, with a three-run home run to right center that put MSUB back in front, 4-2.
 
"We continued to build the lead throughout the game and we found a way to add on more runs," McKinney said.
 
Kister showed more resolve in the bottom of the third, as she quickly retired the first two Western Oregon batters. McGlothan singled, then Sophie Franklin got hit by a pitch to end an eight-pitch battle. Yet Kister ended the inning after Kate Ronning grounded out to her after working a 2-2 count.
 
The Yellowjackets put up a second-consecutive crooked number in the fourth. Jenkins aboard on a four-pitch walk, then she sped over to third on Quimby's sacrifice bunt before scoring on a wild pitch. Tovar and Maycen O'Neal drew back-to-back two-out walks, setting up Fisher for her second home run of the day. On the second pitch she saw, Fisher homered to left field to give MSUB a 8-2 lead.
 
MSUB needed all the insurance runs immediately, as Western Oregon rallied with a five-run fourth inning. Logan Carlos hit a two-run home run, then Zoie Recolan hit a two-run homer of her own two batters later. Natalie Willoughby's solo shot at the next at-bat ended Kister's day, but Qualteri picked up her teammate and retired the next three batters to keep MSUB ahead 8-7.
 
For the next three innings, MSUB would cling to a one-run lead as Qualteri pitched around six WOU baserunners. The fifth inning was the trickiest for Qualteri, as she pitched around two walks before rallying with her second strikeout of the day. Western Oregon would load the bases with two outs, but a groundout to Quimby left the Wolves emptyhanded. She would strand two more WOU baserunners in the sixth; MSUB's defense made up for an error and a wild pitch to get out the lead runner, then get out of the inning on two routine groundouts.
 
After a quick top of the seventh, Qualteri would need one more push to earn the win. Carlos grounded out to Fisher to start the inning, then Qualteri struck out pinch-hitter Maddie Doig on four pitches to put the end in sight. Recolan's two-out walk after a seven-pitch at bat turned up the pressure, but a groundout at the next at-bat gave MSUB the 8-7 win.
 
Qualteri moved to 5-5 on the year after striking out three batters and walking five in four shutout innings. Despite putting up a dozen strikeouts, Chelsea Smith (7-3) took the loss after giving up eight earned runs on four hits and striking out nine batters in a complete-game effort.
 
THE BUZZ: Brittanee Fisher was named the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Day for going 4-for-6, hitting two home runs and leading the team with 6 RBIs in the series…MSUB now has a 39-38 record all-time against Western Oregon…The wins brought MSUB in an early tie for second place with Simon Fraser in the GNAC standings.
 
UP NEXT: Day two of the Western Oregon series has been moved to 10 a.m. and noon PT. Livestream and live stat links can be found on the softball team's schedule page on msubsports.com.