BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State University Billings baseball team were defeated twice Saturday by Northwest Nazarene University in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play.
 
The Yellowjackets (16-20, 7-11 GNAC) finished with a series split against the Nighthawks (20-22, 14-10 GNAC), after taking the first two games on Friday. Northwest Nazarene bested the 'Jackets in game one 4-8, before taking the series finale 2-5.
 
"We had some bad luck today," said Yellowjackets head coach Derek Waddoups. "NNU's pitching staff was tough today. They made enough quality pitches and got the job done. I still liked how we competed and played overall. We just had a few too many errors and that ended up being the difference."
 
Game One: MSUB 4, NNU 8
 
The first game of the day opened as a back-and-forth matchup. The Yellowjackets took a 2-0 lead early in the bottom of the second inning on a sacrifice fly from Zack Blaszak and a James Anderson RBI single. And following an NNU sac fly in the top of the third, responded with a Mitch Winter double to score a run and restore the gap to two. The Nighthawks offense would pick up from there though, scoring two runs in the fourth inning to take their first lead of the game. Carson Green would tie things up once more with a sac fly, but a Duke Pahukoa home run in the top of the fifth would be the go-ahead run, and NNU relievers Nathan Galusha and Ty Pohlmann combined to close out the Yellowjackets offense, taking an 8-4 win after a trio of sacrifice flies.
 
Winter went 2-4 with an RBI, and Brock Molenda finished with a pair of hits as well. James Anderson was 1-4 with an RBI, while Blaszak went 1-2 with a run, RBI, and a walk. Kaden Kirshenbaum went 1-4, and Hayden Foltz went 1-5 with a run. Ty Wilson started the game for the 'Jackets, throwing four innings and allowing two runs, before being replaced by Sage Wayment, who picked up the loss after allowing four runs (three earned) and four hits.
 
Game Two: MSUB 2, NNU 5
 
The Nighthawk's offense opened the game with a pair of runs in the first inning, being rewarded for their heads up baseball when Kaleb Karpstein scored on a groundout, and Shane Jamison found his way home on a wild pitch. They would tack on three more runs in the top of the third inning, with an RBI double from Kyle Payne, and a two-run single from Mason Leavitt. The Yellowjackets would pull back two runs in the sixth inning on a home run from Payton Flynn, his tenth of the season. But it wouldn't prove enough to spark a comeback, with the Nighthawks trio of pitchers combining to allow just four hits in the game.
 
Flynn finished 1-3 with the only RBIs MSUB collected in the game. Jack Nehler and Zack Blaszak likewise went 1-3, while AJ Wagenmann finished 1-2. Mitch Winter earned a run after walking his way on base the at bat before Flynn's home run. After replacing the Yellowjacket's starter Andy Evans, Cy Miller pitched 3.1 innings and struck out four batters. He was then replaced by Cole Bertram, who pitched 1.1 innings and struck out two batters.
 
THE BUZZ: Flynn was selected as the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Day… The Yellowjackets finished with a 3-5 record against the Nighthawks this season, and are 61-69 all-time against Northwest Nazarene.
 
UP NEXT: The Yellowjackets hit the road to take on Saint Martin's University in a four game series with major implications in the race for the GNAC Championships. The series is scheduled to kick off with a doubleheader on April 22, with first pitch set for 12 PM (1 PM MST). Live video will be available here, and live statistics will be available here.