Yellowjackets Fall Twice Against Vikings
 
MSUB was defeated twice Saturday by Western Washington in a series with major postseason implications.
 
YAKIMA, Wash. – The Montana State University Billings softball team suffered a pair of defeats in a doubleheader against Western Washington University in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play.
 
The Yellowjackets (16-24, 8-10 GNAC) and Vikings (21-20, 10-10 GNAC) faced off in a battle between the GNAC's fourth and fifth place teams, with each of them in the thick of the race for the GNAC Championships. It would be the Vikings however who took the advantage early in the series, grabbing both legs of a doubleheader Saturday afternoon. The Vikings took game one by a score of 4-2, and kept their rhythm going in game two, defeating the 'Jackets 7-3.
 
"I thought we hit the ball well today," said Yellowjackets head coach Lisa McKinney. "We just seemed to be hitting it right at people. We had multiple players looking good today, it was just unfortunate we couldn't get one of those games to go our way. We'll look to clean up some of our miscues tomorrow and string together some quality at-bats."
 
Game 1: MSUB 2, WWU 4
 
The Vikings opened the scoring up early, benefitting from two-run hits in both the second and third innings. Kinzey Williams put the first pair of runs on the board with her RBI single in the second, where a second runner would score on a fielding error by the Yellowjackets. Western Washington would double that lead in the following inning on a two-run double from Isabel Cargill, forcing the 'Jackets to attempt to rally. MSUB did get a pair of runs back in the sixth inning when Shelby Martin's single to right center sent Teagan Seeton and Lauren Blaschak around to score, but the Yellowjackets were unable to get any more runs in as the Vikings took the opening game of the series.
 
Martin finished 1-3 with the Yellowjacket's only two RBIs of the day, while Jazlyn Kalehuawehe went 2-3 in the matchup. Blaschak went 1-3 with a run, as the Yellowjackets finished with four hits in the game. Alyssa Etheridge took the loss for MSUB, allowing 12 hits and four runs (three earned) over six innings of work.
 
Game 2: MSUB 3, WWU 7
 
The Yellowjackets would open up the scoring in game two when Kilee Imada's long fly out to left center would easily score Shelby Martin, giving MSUB an early lead. It wouldn't last long though after a four-run bottom of the second from Western Washington would flip the lead, giving the Vikings a 4-1 lead. The 'Jackets would show the makings of a rally once again, when a messy sequence of play allowed Marleigh Nieto to score on a throwing error from the catcher and bring Kayli Mueller up to third. Mueller would then be scored by Teagan Seeton's sacrifice fly, cutting the lead to just one run. But Western Washington would respond with another big inning, scoring three more runs in the bottom of the sixth to restore their advantage, and would see out the seventh with little trouble, taking their second win of the day.
 
Kalehuawehe, went 1-3 in the game, as did Marin Penney. Imada went 1-1 with an RBI and a walk, while Maycen O'Neal went 1-2 with a free pass. The freshman Mueller reached base twice in the game on a pair of walks. Julia Qualteri took the loss, allowing twelve hits and seven runs (six earned), striking out three batters in the game.
 
THE BUZZ: Kalehuawehe was selected as the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Day.
 
UP NEXT: The Yellowjackets finish their series against the Vikings with two more games tomorrow, April 23 in Yakima. The first pitch of game one is scheduled for 10 AM (11 AM MST), with live video available here, and live statistics available here.