BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State University Billings softball team finished it's slate of games for the 2024 season Saturday, falling twice to Saint Martin's University in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play.
Following a ceremony pregame to honor the program's four senior student-athletes, the Yellowjackets (9-38-1, 2-22 GNAC) battled hard in both legs of their final doubleheader of the season, but were unable to snag the victory in either matchup against the Saints (25-18, 16-8 GNAC), concluding the 2024 season with a pair of tough results.
Game One: Saint Martin's 7, MSUB 2
The Saints came out ready to play in game one, and quickly jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning with an RBI double and a sac fly. But the Yellowjackets would respond well on defense, not allowing Saint Martin's to score for the next two innings, with just one runner reaching base. The bats would struggle to find their rhythm though, and the Saints would make adjustments at the plate, scoring five more runs between the fourth and sixth innings to take a 7-0 advantage into the final frame.
Kilee Imada would tack on a pair of runs with an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh, but it would be too little too late as MSUB dropped the opening game of the day.
Imada finished 1-3 in the game with her two RBIs, while seniors
Payton Meyer and
Marin Penney each went 1-3, with Meyer collecting a run.
Teagan Seeton earned MSUB's other run in the game, reaching base on a walk.
Caitlyn James went a full seven innings for MSUB, striking out three batters.
Game Two: Saint Martin's 6, MSUB 3
Saint Martin's would once again take the early lead in MSUB's final game of the regular season, with a first inning home run putting the Saints up one. But the Yellowjackets would respond to tie it up in the bottom of the frame, with
Payton Meyer's RBI single evening things at one. The game would be a tightly contested affair from there, with both pitchers controlling the game until the bottom of the fourth inning, when MSUB would surge ahead from a
Kaylin Galvin two-run home run to take a 3-1 lead. They would bring that advantage into the final stretches of the game, but things would go wrong in the seventh inning, when a three-run blast from Saint Martin's would return the advantage to the Saints, who would add on two more insurance runs before closing out the Yellowjackets to collect the series sweep.
Galvin batted 2-3 in the game with two RBIs and a run, while
Payton Meyer went 1-4 with an RBI and a stolen base.
Kilee Imada and
Lauren Blaschak scored the team's other two runs, with Blaschak going 1-4 at the plate.
Jazlyn Kalehuawehe went 1-1 with a walk, and
Claire Bagnell and
Madelyne Elbert each went 1-3.
Shelby Wasilewski pitched a complete game, striking out two batters in total.
THE BUZZ: Imada was selected as the Intermountain Health Player of the Game for her efforts in game one, while Galvin was selected for game two… MSUB finished the regular season with 220 runs scored, second most in the GNAC, while leading the conference in home runs with 55.
