BILLINGS, Mont. – After shaking off a tough start in game one, the Montana State University Billings softball team's offense mustered several rallies in game two against the Western Washington Vikings, yet the Yellowjackets fell both times in their home opener at Avitus Group Stadium on Saturday.
 
The Yellowjackets (10-18, 4-6 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) bounced back offensively in game two, plating five runs on home runs from Marin Penney and Allie Hughes, yet the Vikings (15-13, 4-2 GNAC) capitalized off six MSUB errors across both games.
 
Senior outfielder Allie Hughes was the only MSUB player to record hits in both games; she went 3-for-7 with a run scored, 2 RBIs and a home run to left field in game two – her first of the season and 19^th of her career. Payton Meyer was the only other Yellowjacket to record multiple hits on day one, going 2-for-4 with a run scored. In game two, Meyer made her first start of the year in right field and she had her first multi-hit game of her career.
 
"I thought Payton did a great job coming in, doing her job and doing what she needed to do," McKinney said. "She had been doing that all week at practice, so it was great to see that translate into the game today."
 
 Third baseman Marin Penney's two-run home run in the fourth inning of the second game sparked a rally, plus she all but neutralized the Vikings' attempts to bunt with several key defensive plays at the hot corner.
 
Pitching-wise, Alyssa Etheridge pitched another complete game in game one, striking out seven batters and allowing only two earned runs on eight hits in game one. Shelby Martin got her first start as a Yellowjacket in game two; she went four innings, struck out three batters and gave up four earned runs in nine hits despite issuing zero walks.
 
QUICK HITS

• Senior Allie Hughes was named the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Day for going 3-for-7 with hits in both games, a run scored and 2 RBIs plus a two-run home run in game two. The home run was the 19^th of her career, which ranks 13^th in MSUB program history.
• Payton Meyer went 2-for-4 across both games with a run scored. Her two hits in game two gave her the first multi-hit game of her career.
• Marin Penney's two-run home run in game two was her third of the season and the 13^th of her career. Defensively, she had five assists and three put-outs across both games.
• Making her first start of her MSUB career, junior right-handed pitcher Shelby Martin struck out three batters in four innings while issuing zero walks in game two.

 
Game 1: WWU 4, MSUB 0
 
MSUB's offense struggled until late in game one, yet WWU starter Sydney Brown did herself favors in more ways than one with a sacrifice bunt in the second inning to put the Vikings up 1-0, then with a solo home run in the fourth to give her team a 2-0 lead.
 
Aside from a few unearned runs, game one was a pitching duel between Brown and Alyssa Etheridge, who pitched her sixth complete game of the year and her fourth game with at least seven strikeouts. Etheridge and the defense – which was bolstered by a busy day in the outfield from Allie Hughes and Skyler Jenkins – put up zeroes in every other inning to help keep the Yellowjackets within striking distance. But four errors gave WWU opportunities to score more runs.
 
Shaking off a slow start at the plate, the Yellowjackets got a costly baserunner in the fourth inning, as freshman outfielder Alexis Tovar reached base after getting hit by a pitch. After Brittanee Fisher's leadoff walk in the fifth inning, Jazlyn Kalehuawehe would break up the no-hitter with her line-drive single through the left side. The Vikings would extend their lead in the top of the sixth, as a dropped infield fly plated a run with two outs, then Chantelle Shimabukuro's RBI single put the Vikings up 4-0.
 
Trailing 4-0 in the bottom of the seventh, Hughes' line-drive single down the left-field line gave MSUB its second hit of the game, but with two outs away, the 'Jackets had their backs against the wall.
 
Etheridge (4-6) took a tough-luck loss after striking out seven batters and giving up only two earned runs on eight hits and two walks. Brown moved to 4-2 on the year after striking out four batters, only fiving up two hits and walking one batter in a complete game shutout win.
 
Game 2: WWU 8, MSUB 5
 
Despite some early trouble, junior right-hander Shelby Martin settled in over the next few innings of her first start in a MSUB uniform by striking out three batters in four innings of work while issuing no walks. The Vikings took a 2-0 lead in the first, but MSUB took one of those runs back on Morgan Quimby's RBI single that sent Payton Meyer home in the bottom of the second.
 
Martin and the defense put up two scoreless innings after giving up two runs in the first. However, the Vikings would put up another crooked number in the top of the fourth, plating three more runs on a three-run home run from Dakota Brooks to take a 5-1 lead.
 
"I thought Shelby did really well today," McKinney said. "She started off trying to find the zone in the first inning, then I thought she really settled in after that. I even liked the call on the three-run home run – she probably left it up a little too much – but I thought that was a good pitch to throw then. I thought she did well and she gave a chance for us to come back on offense."
 
MSUB rallied in the next half-inning. Jazlyn Kalehuawehe reached first base on a dropped strike, then Marin Penney's two-run home run with one out pulled MSUB within two runs.
 
"I thought Marin did a good job sitting on that changeup and going with it," McKinney said. "She did a good job of staying in her legs and driving through that pitch. She really changed her mindset in that at-bat."
 
Julia Qualteri relieved Martin in the top of the fifth, but the Vikings promptly put two runners aboard with no outs. Penney's heads-up play to get out a runner on the next at-bat helped put one runner away, yet Qualteri was cornered. WWU took advantage and scored only one more run in the fifth, but a fly-out to deep left field and a groundout to Penney ended the inning. The 'Jackets wouldn't get another baserunner until Meyer hit her second single of the day in the sixth; meanwhile, WWU would score two more runs in the top of the seventh with a solo home run from Kanilehua Pitoy and a deep, sacrifice fly to center field to make the score 8-3.
 
The defense helped keep the door open and limit the damage late, as Penney got the lead out on WWU's bunt attempts in the sixth and the seventh innings. In the sixth, Penney and first-baseman Brittanee Fisher helped tag out Brooks, who was a half-step slow on an infield grounder to third, but the throw from Penney was in time.
 
"Marin really sets the tone for our defense, and she really understands that," McKinney said. "She's gone a great job over the past few weeks of taking control – especially on bunts. She does a great job of really getting in there and getting the outs that the pitchers need. It's been awesome to see her flying around the left side of the field."
 
Down to their final three outs, the Yellowjackets mustered a rally behind a pitch-hit, line-drive double from Sidney Pollard. Skyler Jenkins would move her over to third on the next at-bat, then Hughes would finish the job at the next at-bat. Her home run down the left field line not only pulled MSUB within three runs of the Vikings, but also gave the fifth-year senior her first home run of the season.
 
"Allie has been coming so close over the last week with a lot of long foul balls that were really close to the foul pole," McKinney said. "She kept that one fair, which was awesome to see. We knew she would straighten it out eventually, and it was great that she did so today."
 
Yet that would be the last push for the game, as MSUB took an 8-5 defeat in game two.
 
UP NEXT: MSUB wraps up the Western Washington series tomorrow, starting at noon.­­ Livestream and live stat links can be found on the softball team's schedule page on msubsports.com.