ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Montana State University Billings Yellowjacket baseball team (14-30, 8-18 GNAC) split on their first day of competition against the Central Washington University Wildcats (20-22, 14-12 GNAC). The Wildcats took the 6-4 victory in game one, but the Yellowjackets slugged their way to a 14-11 win in game two with 14 hits, four of them coming from
Jack Nehler.
HEAR FROM WADDOUPS: "We had our opportunities in game one, but just couldn't capitalize when we had some RBI chances. We got behind early and fought back to give us a chance but didn't get enough balls to fall our way. Wayment, Schaaf, and Baker out of the pen were outstanding today, giving us an opportunity for a comeback. When Flynn hit the home run, I thought we had the momentum but just weren't able to finish.
GAME 1: MSUB 4, CWU 6
The Wildcats came out firing in the first game of the weekend at their home turf, scoring a run in the bottom of the first, the bottom of the third, and four in the bottom of the fifth to take a 6-0 lead. The 'Jackets finally struck back in the sixth after a leadoff single from
Jack Nehler, followed by
Payton Flynn's 26
th homer of his MSUB career. Again, in the top of the seventh,
Parker Bleggi led it off with a base hit and scored on an RBI single from
Zack Blaszak to make it a 6-3 ballgame. After another scoreless inning from the Wildcats, the Yellowjackets tacked on another after back-to-back base hits from
James Anderson and
Jarret Elmer.
Bodee Wright brought Anderson home on a sacrifice fly but that would unfortunately be the last run the 'Jackets would push across, dropping game one 6-4 in favor of Central Washington.
Jackson Betancourt made the 34
th start of his collegiate career, which ranks fourth all-time in the MSUB record books. Betancourt went 4.2 innings with a pair of strikeouts before he was relieved by
Sage Wayment. Wayment had one strikeout and allowed just one run in his two innings of work until
Lance Schaaf entered the in the bottom of the seventh, and
Brian Baker in the eighth. Schaaf and Baker both went 0.2 innings apiece, while allowing zero hits, zero walks and zero runs to close it out for the Yellowjackets.
GAME 2: MSUB 14, CWU 11
Game two was a true back-and-forth slugfest but it was the 'Jackets that struck first after Nehler scored Wright on a sacrifice fly who previously got on via base hit. The Wildcats did what they had been doing all day, matching and taking the 2-1 lead in the bottom of the first on a pair of runs. The Yellowjackets blew it open in the top of the third, batting through the lineup and scoring seven runs on five hits to take the 8-2 lead. The top of the third started with a base hit from Wright, Blaszak reaching on an error, and both of them coming around to score. Following was a solo shot from Nehler, a double from Nate may that brought home Flynn and Jeffrey, and a double from Wright to score
Parker Bleggi and May.
From there the Wildcats scratched one across in the bottom of the third but the 'Jackets answered with three of their own in the following top half. After another hit from Nehler,
Berk Barnes brought him home on a base hit of his own, followed by May's second double of the day that scored two more. The Wildcats then started to minimize their deficit, scoring one in the bottom of the fourth, two in the fifth, and two in the sixth to make it a three-run game. The Yellowjackets responded, adding three more insurance runs on an RBI single from Nehler and a two RBI double from Flynn. Central Washington would try to amount the comeback in the bottom of the seventh inning but the 'Jackets held on, taking game two 14-11.
Beau Burnett made his second straight start, earning the win after throwing 4.2 complete innings with five strikeouts and allowing five earned runs. First out of the pen was
Jake Finkelstein who went one complete and was quickly relieved by
Cole Bertram. Bertram, Schaaf, and Wayment combined for the final 2.1 innings to close it out and secure the win.
HEAR FROM WADDOUPS: "It was great to see our bats come alive and to keep producing runs. We just need to keep putting the ball in play consistently and I love our chances tomorrow. Burnett did a nice job of just keeping us in the game and we were able to extend the lead and do just enough to compete and win the game. Nehler was outstanding for us at the plate and was a huge asset to the lineup today. The late RBIs from Flynn were big for us as CWU's lineup kept putting on pressure."
KEY PERFORMANCES:
GAME 1
Zack Blaszak – 2-5, RBI
Jack Nehler – 2-5, R
Payton Flynn – 1-5, 2 RBI, R, HR
James Anderson – 2-4, R, SB
Sage Wayment – 2.0 IP, 2 SO, 1 R
GAME 2
Bodee Wright – 3-5, 2 R, 2B
Jack Nehler – 4-4, 3 RBI, 3 R, HR, SF, SB
Payton Flynn – 1-4, 2 RBI, R, 2B, BB
Berk Barnes – 2-3, RBI, R, SB
Nate May – 2-3, 2 RBI, 2 R, 2B, BB
THE BUZZ: Jack Nehler was named Intermountain Health Player of the Day after going 6-9 from the plate with four runs, three runs batted in, and a home run.
UP NEXT: The Montana State University Billings Yellowjacket baseball team is back at it again tomorrow for another double header vs the Central Washington Wildcats, with first pitch starting at 11:00 AM (PDT).
