BILLINGS, Mont. – For the first time since 2019, the Montana State University Billings softball team will play five games in Stanislaus State's Tournament of Champions – the largest Division II softball tournament on the west coast – starting with a game against Cal State San Bernardino on Friday, April 1 at 9 a.m. in Turlock, Calif.
 
MSUB will play five games over the span of three days against PacWest and CCAA competition; four out of the five games will be held at the Pedretti Sports Complex. On Friday, MSUB squares off with the Yotes, then finishes the doubleheader with a 4:30 p.m. game against the Chaminade Silverswords. Saturday's action starts with a 10:30 a.m. game against Hawai'i Pacific at Stanislaus State's Warrior Softball Field, then the Yellowjackets will have a quick turnaround against Cal State East Bay at 2 p.m. A 11:30 a.m. game against Dominican University of California on Sunday will wrap up the Yellowjackets' stint at the TOC.
 
Historically, the Tournament of Champions has been an opportunity for the Yellowjackets to figure things out and make final tweaks before the second half of conference play. For instance: In both 2015 and 2018, the 'Jackets came into Turlock in a slump, then won seven of their next eight games upon returning to GNAC play. MSUB head coach Lisa McKinney believes this weekend will be an opportunity for the 'Jackets to clean the slate and regain their confidence.
 
"The Tournament of Champions has been a good break from conference play," McKinney said. "It gets us away from playing the teams that we know, and it brings us back to enjoying playing the game we love. It's kind of been a refresh button for us."
 
Last weekend, the Yellowjackets faced the Western Washington Vikings at home and fell in all four games. Result-wise, MSUB fared better in the second game on both days: The bats woke up with two home runs from Marin Penney and Allie Hughes in an 8-5 defeat on Saturday, then Jenna Kister pitched her first complete game of the year and the defense kept MSUB competitive in Sunday's narrow 2-1 loss.
 
"I think Jenna did a great job in the fourth game," McKinney said. "She did a good job of keeping the ball inside the ballpark and she kept Western Washington's hitters at bay. She relied on her defense and she also made a couple of good defensive plays – she got the lead out at second and made a couple good grabs up the middle."
 
Sunday's games also saw a defensive resurgence across the board. The Yellowjackets committed just one error to WWU's four in the doubleheader, the middle infield consistently got the lead out, plus Allie Hughes and Skyler Jenkins made highlight-reel catches in the outfield that robbed the Vikings of extra-base hits.
 
"I thought the outfield did a great job of getting the ball to the infield quickly," McKinney said. "They kept a couple of balls at the fence as singles, and Allie and Skyler also had a few diving catches, which was great to see. And the infield did a good job taking care of the ball. It was really nice to see our pitching and our defense in a really good place as we figure out that offensive piece."
 
Offensively, MSUB got five of its seven runs off home runs from Penney, Hughes and Brittanee Fisher, the latter of whom hit the 39^th of her career on Sunday morning's game. Although MSUB's lineup will always have its power hitters, McKinney hopes the team can add more line drives to the mix in order to keep the line moving.
 
"The most important thing for the girls this weekend is to remember what they're capable of doing," McKinney added. "We have a really good offense, and I think sometimes we put a little too much pressure on ourselves as an offense – rather than relying on what we've worked on to be successful in the moment. Last weekend was obviously frustrating. We had a lot of hard shots right at their defense. But that's how the game goes sometimes."
 
"I think the girls are focusing on making harder line drives and shots on the ground, as opposed to trying to lift, because we did have too many fly-ball outs last weekend," McKinney added. "I think the girls can get back to that point."
 
All told, MSUB comes into the TOC with advantages over all its opponents in some way, shape or form. On paper, Cal State East Bay will be the toughest team MSUB will face, as the Pioneers are the only opponent with a winning record at 16-13. Chaminade and Hawai'i Pacific are defensive-centric teams that rely on a pair of aces, and both teams have only hit one home run this season. Cal State San Bernardino and Dominican come into the TOC looking to turn things around before they resume conference play. While CSU San Bernardino uses a pitch-by committee approach, Dominican ace Shelby Keltner could be one of the better pitchers MSUB faces all year, should she play in Sunday morning's game.
 
The Yellowjackets are looking to improve on their 2019 showing in the TOC when the team went 1-4; its lone win was a 2-0 shutout win over No. 13 Chico State.
 
CAL STATE SAN BERNARDINO
Record: 10-21 (6-18 CCAA)
Head Coach: Dee Payan (4^th season)
Head-to-Head Record: 3-6
Last Meeting: March 30, 2019 (3-2, CSUSB)
 
The 'Yotes, In Three Sentences: The Yotes are looking to turn things around in the Tournament of Champions after winning two of their last 10 games. Left fielder Kelia Paragas has reached base in 12-straight games as the leadoff hitter, which has set up freshman Tereise Tosi (.371 batting average, 17 RBI) quite well as of late. In the circle, Natalie Carlos leads the five-woman pitching staff with a 3.02 earned run average, plus she has only given up two home runs this season.
 
One Key Stat: Pitchers Natalie Carlos, Brooklyn Blackmon and Sofia Gombos have tossed at least 50 innings this season, while Samantha Vargas is close behind at 47.2 innings this season. Expect to see multiple pitchers in a game.
 
Player to Watch: Tereise Tosi leads the Yotes with a .379 batting average, 33 hits, 17 RBIs and five home runs this year. She has also alternated between first and third base.
 
CHAMINADE UNIVERSITY
Record: 10-16 (8-14 PacWest)
Head Coach: Kent Yamaguchi (17^th season)
Head-to-Head Record: 5-13
Last Meeting: April 1, 2012 (2-1, Chaminade)
 
The Silverswords, In Three Sentences: Although the Silverswords don't have a high-powered offense – they've hit only one home run this season (shoutout to Larchelle Tuifao) – they make up for it with a disciplined middle infield that has turned 16 double-plays this year. In the circle, Jaeda Cabunoc (2.83 ERA, 11 complete games) and Taylor Genera (3.12 ERA, eight complete games) don't give up many extra-base hits. To their credit, the Silverswords have played several competitive, low-scoring games this season – including taking #1 Concordia to the brink in a 1-0, nine-inning showdown earlier this year.
 
One Key Stat: The Silverswords are third in the nation by turning an average of 0.67 double-plays per game this season.
 
Player to Watch: Reigning PacWest Defensive Player of the Year Cheyene Obara is the Silverswords' steady presence at second base with a .962 fielding percentage and has helped turn eight double-plays. On offense, the junior is batting .254 and leads the team with 11 RBIs.
 
HAWAI'I PACIFIC UNIVERSITY
Record: 13-20 (8-14 PacWest)
Head Coach: Jarnett Lono (5^th season)
Head-to-Head Record: 8-6
Last Meeting: Feb. 4, 2019 (12-3, MSUB)
 
The Sharks, In Three Sentences: Fielding a roster of only 12 players this year, the Sharks have relied on pitchers Taylor Thompson (1.91 ERA, 16 complete games) and Malia Torres (3.56 ERA, 15 complete games) to carry its traditional, bunt-heavy offense. On offense, the Sharks are disciplined hitters, ranking fourth in the PacWest with a .278 batting average and striking only 77 times this season – the fewest in the conference. Outfielder Noel "Tita" Saunders leads the team with 15 RBIs and bats .309; she usually bats second in the lineup.
 
One Key Stat: The Sharks are 10^th in the nation with 32 sacrifice bunts this season.
 
Player to Watch: Taylor Thompson. The true freshman right-handed pitcher has pitched 16 complete games this season – tied for the most in the nation – boasts a 2.14 ERA and has 80 strikeouts this year.
 
CAL STATE EAST BAY
Record: 16-13 (10-10 CCAA)
Head Coach: Claire Sua-Amundson (7^th season)
Head-to-Head Record: 3-0
Last Meeting: April 2, 2016 (6-4, MSUB)
 
The Pioneers, In Three Sentences: As MSUB's only TOC opponent with a winning record, the Cal State East Bay Pioneers will provide formidable competition with its run-scoring trio of Sarah Fukushima, Annelise Garcia and Madeline Ramirez, the latter of whom has reached base in 16-straight games. Anamaria Beard leads the pitching staff with a 2.21 ERA and limits opponents to batting .231 on the year. The Pioneers are a solid defensive team as well, having committed a CCAA-low 35 errors in 29 games this season.
 
One Key Stat: The Pioneers have four players in the lineup with batting averages of .300 or better: Garcia (.403), Fukushima (.375), Sarah Duran (.340) and Ramirez (.314).
 
Player to Watch: Senior first baseman Sarah Fukushima is one of the best hitters in the CCAA, carrying a .396/.478/.708 slashline in the leadoff spot. She is the only player in the CCAA to rank in the conference's top-10 in doubles (9^th, nine this year), triples (8^th, 3) and home runs (8^th, 5).
 
DOMINICAN UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
Record: 12-23 (9-15 PacWest)
Head Coach: Juliana Santos (2^nd season)
Head-to-Head Record: 3-2
Last Meeting: Feb. 1, 2020 (7-4, MSUB)
 
The Penguins, In Three Sentences: In a word, the Penguins are volatile. On one hand: Freshman outfielders Melissa Garcia (11 stolen bases) and Jillian Lampa (8) are two of the PacWest's leaders in stolen bases; on the other hand, the Penguins lead the PacWest with 197 strikeouts. Yet the Penguins have leaned on the consistently stellar play of junior ace Shelby Keltner, who has a miniscule 1.62 ERA in 19 starts and 26 appearances this season. 
 
One Key Stat: The Penguins rank ninth out of nine PacWest teams with a .214 batting average, but their pitching and defense keeps them in games.
 
Player to Watch: Although her 7-13 record might be deceiving, junior right-handed pitcher Shelby Keltner is one of the best pitchers in the PacWest. She leads the conference with 125.1 innings pitched, boasts a 1.62 ERA, limits opponents to batting .211 and has recorded 100 strikeouts this season, which is second in Dominican softball history (and only 44 behind the single-season school record).
 
UP NEXT: MSUB's Tournament of Champions stint begins this Friday, April 1 against Cal State San Bernardino at 9 a.m. PT, followed by a game against Chaminade at 4:30 p.m. Both games will be held at the Pedretti Sports Complex in Turlock, Calif. Live stat links can be found on the softball team's schedule page at msubsports.com.