BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State University Billings softball team's final day of the series against Northwest Nazarene was a tale of two games, as the Yellowjackets bounced back from a 14-2 five-inning loss in game one with a hard-fought 16-9 defeat in Great Northwest Athletic Conference series on Saturday.
 
The Yellowjackets (11-28, 4-12 GNAC) saved their best game of the series for last: In game two, the team rallied back twice against the Nighthawks (21-15, 9-3 GNAC), hit three home runs and put together their best offensive showing of the series with seven players combining for 13 hits.
 
"I thought in game one we put some good balls into play, and then we hit even more balls into play in game two," MSUB head softball coach Lisa McKinney said. "I thought we has some harder hits in game two, we made a good adjustment and we had more things go our way – some of our lighter shots found holes in game two as well. I'm very pleased with our offense and how we figured things out in game two."
 
Playing in heavy winds in both games, the two teams put together big offensive days at the plate. MSUB would hit four home runs and 18 hits across both games, whereas the Nighthawks hit eight home runs and outscored the 'Jackets by a 30-11 margin on the day.
 
QUICK HITS

• Junior right-handed pitcher Shelby Martin was named the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Day for going 3-for-6 with a home run and 4 RBIs. Martin's home run in the first inning of game two was the first of her MSUB career.
• Freshman third baseman Jazlyn Kalehuawehe closed out a stellar series by going 4-for-6 with an RBI and a solo home run in the third inning in game two. Against NNU, Kalehuawehe homered three times over four games.
• Starting at catcher in game two, Maycen O'Neal went 2-for-4 with a solo home run and an RBI in the first inning of game two.
• Fellow catcher Skyler Jenkins went 3-for-7 with two runs scored, 2 RBI and a leadoff home run in game one. Jenkins was the only other Yellowjacket to homer in both days against the Nighthawks.
• Senior second baseman Morgan Quimby went 3-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI single.
• Game two was the first time all five MSUB pitchers played in a single game. In that game, NNU used three pitchers for the first time during the series.

 
Game 1: NNU 14, MSUB 2 (5 innings)
 
Although the Nighthawks put three runs on the board in the top of the first, the Yellowjackets only needed one pitch to get one of those runs back.
 
For the second time in the series, Skyler Jenkins hit a solo home run – this time, it was on the first pitch she saw. Her second home run of the series off NNU ace Sidney Booth sailed over the left field fence, giving Jenkins her fourth of the season and the 14^th in her career.
 
"I think Skyler has done a really great job fighting through at-bats and she's continued to hit hard," McKinney said. "Like yesterday, Skyler hitting a home run really ignited the team. Hitting a home run on the first pitch was really exciting."
 
But the Nighthawks would put up four-straight crooked numbers from that point forward. NNU took advantage of two errors to score five-runs in the second inning and end MSUB starter Julia Qualteri's day early. But freshman right-hander Preslee Christensen worked around a walk and got her first strikeout of the inning to end the second.
 
Trailing 8-1, the Yellowjackets would load the bases, yet strand them in the bottom of the second inning. Shelby Martin drew a leadoff walk, pinch runner Claire Bagnell made it to second off Payton Meyer's line drive to center field, then Morgan Quimby worked a five-pitch walk with one out before the next two batters went down in order. As a whole, the Yellowjackets saw Booth better on Saturday, working long at-bats and drawing three walks.
 
"As a team, we were really disciplined," McKinney said. "In the first few innings of game one, I really liked our approach at the plate. I thought we started to press a bit in the later innings of game one, but I thought we came back in game two and got disciplined again."
 
The Nighthawks scored a critical run in the third inning off two hits and another error, then MSUB took the run back in the bottom of the third as Martin's RBI single brought Brie Frazier home from second to make it a 9-2 game. NNU then took an 11-2 lead in a lengthy fourth inning that ended Christensen's day and brought Alyssa Etheridge on in relief. The 'Jackets only mustered two baserunners in the final two innings, while the Nighthawks piled on three more runs off Booth's three-run home run in the top of the fifth.
 
Julia Qualteri (5-8) would be credited with the loss after giving up four earned runs on five hits in 1.2 innings; she would finish with two strikeouts and only one walk. NNU reliever Gina Skinner (3-2) would get the win after striking out seven batters in three hitless innings.
 
Game 2: NNU 16, MSUB 9
 
The Yellowjackets did not go out quietly in game two of the series; instead, MSUB's offense flipped the script and turned the final game of the series into a high-scoring affair.
 
NNU's Ivy Hommel, who went 5-for-5 with two home runs, went yard in the first inning to give the Nighthawks an early 1-0 advantage. Yet a fielder's choice and MSUB starter Jenna Kister winning an 11-pitch battle prevented further damage.
 
Then the Yellowjacket offense responded with its biggest offensive output of the series.
 
For the second time on the day, Jenkins had a leadoff hit to start the inning. After advancing to second on a wild pitch, freshman shortstop Lauren Blaschak would reach second base on an error and bring Jenkins in to score, as NNU third baseman Abigail Gannon's throw to first took a sharp, unplayable hop in front of first base. Although NNU would get the lead out on Payton Meyer's at-bat, Jazlyn Kalehuawehe would keep the line moving, bringing runners on first and second with only one out.
 
This brought Shelby Martin up to bat. After getting ahead 2-1 in the count, Martin – who hit 20 home runs in three seasons at Dawson Community College – hit a towering shot over the right field fence for her first home run as a Yellowjacket.
 
"I thought Shelby did really well at the plate today," McKinney said. "Not only did she hit that home run, but she also had a few base hits throughout the weekend. I thought she smoked that ball in the seventh inning into the fence, and I thought she really saw the ball well today."
 
Playing with a 4-1 lead, fellow Dawson Community College transfer Maycen O'Neal also took a 2-1 count on NNU starter Gina Skinner before hitting a home run to right center field.
 
"I think it was cool to see two girls who came from Dawson Community College to hit back-to-back home runs in that first inning," McKinney said. "I thought Maycen did a great job taking that outside pitch to right field. She didn't try to overcomplicate it."
 
O'Neal's solo shot gave MSUB a 5-1 lead that would hold until the third inning. After Kister got through a scoreless second inning, NNU would put up a five-run inning of its own in the third. Two singles snowballed into a three-run home run, ending Kister's day and bringing on Martin in relief in a 5-5 tie. With the bases loaded and no outs, NNU took a 6-5 lead on a sacrifice fly, then loaded the bases again on the next at-bat.
 
But MSUB's defense intervened. Lauren Blaschak, Morgan Quimby and Brittanee Fisher turned a 6-4-3 double-play to end the inning.
 
"Lauren has been really aggressive," McKinney said. "I love how she's out there diving for balls and making plays. We've been talking her through the plays she's been missing and she's been making good adjustments. I love how she stayed aggressive on that chopper to get that out – she's definitely got the arm to do it."
 
Yet the 'Jackets wouldn't trail for long. For the third time in the series, Kalehuawehe hit a solo home run that tied the game at six.
 
"Jazzy has been working hard on her swing for a while now, and I feel like this weekend we saw that pay off," McKinney said. "She has come up with a few hard hits in other games that just happened to go to people, but this weekend she found ways to get hits and get over the fence. She's really seemed within herself."
 
The game see-sawed in the middle innings. A bases-loaded walk drawn by NNU leftfielder Maia McNicoll gave the Nighthawks a 7-6 lead and brought Julia Qualteri on in relief. Qualteri struck out the first batter she saw on three pitches, then a sacrifice fly and a critical error brought two more Nighthawks home.
 
MSUB would get two of those runs back in the bottom of the fourth inning. Fisher and Quimby hit back-to-back singles, then Quimby and pinch-runner Brie Frazier got into scoring position on a passed ball with no outs. Shelby Marquardt's sacrifice fly to right field was long enough to bring Frazier home – whose slide at the plate was in time – then Jenkins' RBI single made it a 9-8 ballgame.
 
The next inning saw two more NNU runs and another pitching change for MSUB, as Christensen subbed in for Qualteri with two outs in the fifth. Christensen would get out of the inning in three pitches thanks to Payton Meyer tracking down a pop fly. Throughout the day, McKinney praised the efforts of the outfielder and Meyer, in particular, for limiting long shots out to right field and for keeping all her throws close to home in spite of the wind.
 
"Meyer was throwing straight into the wind and she still had some good tosses home," McKinney said. "She also hit the ball hard and had a couple shots at the fence too, which I was really pleased with too."
 
Quimby's RBI single in the bottom of the fifth inning would pull the 'Jackets within three, 12-9, yet that would be the last MSUB run to score. NNU reliever Tori Hensley would limit the 'Jacket offense to only that run, as she recorded seven strikeouts over the last 3.2 innings. Meanwhile, the Nighthawks would put up four runs in the top of the seventh, ending Christensen's day after 1.1 innings of relief.
 
Junior right-hander Alyssa Etheridge came in during the seventh and was the only pitcher to give up no earned runs in game two. She started her outing by striking out NNU third baseman Abigail Gagnon on four pitches, then retired the next two batters on three pitches.
 
"Our gameplan to start the day off was to rotate the pitchers and mix up their batters by switching speeds," McKinney said. "Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't, but I thought our pitchers did a great job of picking each other up. I thought Alyssa did a good job of coming in and pitching a three-up, three-down inning in the seventh. I think they all picked each other up in some way or another."
 
Down to their final three outs, MSUB would get aboard with Martin's leadoff single that reached the fence in center field. Sidney Pollard would pinch-run for Martin, then advance to second when Gagnon mishandled Fisher's shot to third base. Yet MSUB couldn't bring either baserunner home.
 
Martin (0-4) would take the loss after pitching one inning, giving up two earned runs on only one hit while issuing four walks. NNU's Charlotte Forniss (3-2) would be credited with the win after striking out one batter and giving up three earned runs on four hits in 2.1 innings of work.
 
UP NEXT: MSU's final home series of the 2022 season against Saint Martin's is scheduled to start on Friday, April 15 at 1 p.m. Livestream and live stat links can be found on the softball team's schedule page at msubsports.com.