BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State University Billings baseball team were defeated twice on Thursday by Central Washington University in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play.
The losses eliminated the Yellowjackets (20-27, 11-18 GNAC) from GNAC Championship qualification, while guaranteeing postseason baseball for the Wildcats (22-26, 16-14 GNAC). The opening game of the day went to extra innings, with Central Washington winning 12-7 after a five-run top of the tenth, before the Wildcats emerged victorious in game two by a score of 5-1.
Game 1: MSUB 7, CWU 12
The Wildcats got on the board early, taking a 3-0 lead after the top of the third inning led by a trio of RBI doubles, two from Ben Leid and one from Austin Ohland.
Jack Nehler would get the Yellowjackets on the board with an RBI double of his own in the bottom of the third, but despite both teams racking up double digit hits by the fifth inning, neither team would score again until the sixth inning. Both teams would score three runs in their respective halves of the inning, with Central Washington taking advantage of two Yellowjacket errors to keep the top of the sixth alive before the Yellowjackets picked up three runs after loading the bases in the sixth. MSUB pulled the score to 6-5 in the seventh inning after
Mitch Winter sent a ball into left field, scoring
Payton Flynn, but a run in the ninth inning put the Yellowjackets down by two with three outs remaining.
But MSUB wouldn't go down easily. After a walk from
Kaden Kirshenbaum, Flynn sent a ball over the left field fence, tying the game with his 14
th home run of the season, forcing the game into extra innings. But the Wildcats would come up clutch in the tenth, plating five runs in the top of the inning, taking the 12-7 victory and eliminating the Yellowjackets from playoff contention.
Finishing with 15 hits as a team, the Yellowjacket offense had production from across the lineup. Winter went 3-4 with a pair of RBIs, while Flynn was 2-5 with three runs and two RBIs. Leadoff hitter
Carson Green batted 3-6 with a run, followed by Nehler in the two hole, who went 2-6 with an RBI.
Brock Molenda went 1-2, while Kirshenbaum and
Tyler Godfrey were 1-4. Kirshenbaum had a pair of runs, while Godfrey picked up an RBI.
Cy Miller started the game for MSUB, throwing 4.1 innings and striking out three, before
Sage Wayment replaced him to pitch the next four innings, allowing just four hits and two earned runs while striking out three batters of his own.
Game 2: MSUB 1, CWU 5
Central Washington kept their momentum going in the second game of the day, taking a 2-0 lead in the second innings and never looking back from there. The Wildcats held the Yellowjackets to just two hits in the game, keeping MSUB scoreless until
Payton Flynn's RBI single in the bottom of the sixth inning to score
James Anderson. The 'Jackets got on base, drawing five walks off Wildcat's starter Alex Brady, but Brady stranded all but one of his baserunners, before Drew Richardson entered to finish the game and collect the save. He would be helped late as the Wildcats scored a pair of runs in the top of the seventh inning, giving the team a bigger cushion before shutting down the Yellowjackets in the seventh.
The Yellowjackets two hits came from Flynn, who went 1-2 with a walk and the lone RBI for MSUB, and
Mitch Winter, who also went 1-2 with a walk.
Carson Green drew a pair of walks in three plate appearances, while
Jack Nehler drew one walk. After replacing starter
Jackson Betancourt,
Blake Rainey threw three innings, allowing a single hit and run with a trio of strikeouts.
