BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State University Billings baseball team split their final two games against Saint Martin's University in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play, bookending their first home series of the season.
 
The Yellowjackets (10-12, 4-4 GNAC) and Saints (6-15, 3-5 GNAC) played a pair of close games at Pirtz Field, concluding their first series of the season after a pair of MSUB victories on Friday. The 'Jackets took the opening game of the day 9-8, with the Saints emerging victorious in the second game 13-12 after going to extra innings.
 
Game One: MSUB 9, SMU 8
 
The Saints jumped out to an early first inning lead, going up 5-0 before the Yellowjackets even had a chance to respond. From there on out, the 'Jackets would inch closer to overtaking the Saints, only for the visitors to add a run or two to keep the lead. The script would flip in the bottom of the eighth inning though, when Carson Green sent a go-ahead two run home run to left field, giving the 'Jackets the advantage late. Cy Miller would enter for a clean ninth inning, and MSUB would clinch their first series win in GNAC play this season.
 
Green began the scoring for MSUB in the second inning, with a two-run double. The senior leadoff hitter went 3-4 in the game, collecting four RBIs and a run. Shortstop Zach Blaszak also homered in the game, sending a ball to right center in the fourth inning. Blaszak was 1-3, picking up two RBIs when a pitch to walk him in the bottom of the seventh was wild, scoring Payton Flynn.
 
Hayden Foltz and Mitch Winter each had multi-hit games, with Foltz batting 2-5, and Winter 2-3 with a walk and a run. Parker Bleggi was 1-2, with a walk and an RBI. The 'Jackets played heads up baseball throughout the game, scoring twice on wild pitches and working six walks in the game.
 
After falling behind 6-2 in the fourth inning, Trevor Cassell gave the 'Jacket's some stability on the mound. Cassell picked up his second win of the year, going 4.1 innings, allowing just two runs on six hits, and not walking a single batter. He would be followed by Miller, who slammed the door closed for his second save of the year.
 
 
Game Two: MSUB 12, SMU 13 (8 inning)
 
The Yellowjackets got off to an explosive start to the final game against the Saints, with Hayden Foltz and Payton Flynn blasting a pair of first inning home runs to put the hosts up 3-0. That lead would hold until the third inning, when the Saints rallied to take a 4-3 lead on three doubles and a triple in five at bats. After that, the game would become a back-and-forth affair, until Zach Blaszak tied things up in the bottom of the fifth inning with a sac fly to left.
 
The sides would need to settle things with an extra innings, where the two teams combined for 11 runs. Sain Martin's scored six to open the extra frame, jumping to what appeared to be a safe 13-7 lead. MSUB wouldn't go down without a fight however, nearly coming back in the bottom of the eighth. A pair of two-run blasts from Brock Molenda and Kaden Kirshenbaum, along with a Jack Nehler RBI double would make it a one run affair with only one out. But with the tying and winning runs on base, the Saint's defense would come up clutch, making two great plays on hard hit balls by the Yellowjackets to prevent the series sweep.
 
Blaszak finished 2-4 with four RBIs, three of them coming on a home run in the fourth inning. Green, Foltz, and Kirshenbaum all finished 2-5. Foltz finished with one RBI, while Kirshenbaum had two. Payton Flynn was 1-2 with a pair of RBIs and runs, while Parker Bleggi went 1-2 as well. Mitch Winter reached base twice on a pair of hit by pitches.
 
THE BUZZ: Green was selected as the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Day… He went a combined 5-9 on the day, with four RBIs, four doubles, a home run and two runs… The Yellowjackets combined for ten home runs as a team in the series against Saint Martin's, hit by seven different players… The Yellowjackets are 64-55-1 all-time against the Saints, and have won 3-4 games in four of their previous five series against the Saints.
 
UP NEXT: The Yellowjackets remain at home next weekend, where they will take on Western Oregon University. The series is scheduled to open with a double header on Friday, March 24, with the first game set to begin at 1 PM.