BILLINGS, Mont. –
Cy Miller's dominant complete game and
Jack Nehler's flawless performance at the plate helped the Montana State University Billings baseball team sweep the day's doubleheader, securing a 3-1 series victory over the Western Oregon Wolves (5-16, 2-10 GNAC) at Dehler Park. The Yellowjackets improved to 18-10 overall and 9-3 in GNAC play after taking a 7-4 win in game three and closing out the series with a 7-1 victory in the finale.
In the first game of the day, true freshman
Sam Coxen earned his fourth win of the season, tossing six innings with five strikeouts while allowing just two earned runs.
Malcolm Bartholomew followed with 1.2 solid innings, giving up just one earned run and striking out one.
Hayden Mullins came in for the final 1.1 innings, throwing a scoreless frame and striking out one to earn his third save of the season. Nehler led the offense with a perfect 5-for-5 showing at the plate, contributing three runs, one RBI, and a triple.
Game two was all
Cy Miller, who pitched a complete seven-inning game, allowing only three hits and striking out five batters while keeping the Wolves scoreless in the final six innings. Miller earned his second win of the season and the seventh of his MSUB career. Offensively,
Ryan Jeffrey and
Ryker Fortier each had two hits, with Fortier adding three RBIs and Jeffrey recording two runs, two RBIs, and a double.
HEAR FROM COACH WADDOUPS: "Our pitching staff did an outstanding job today. Coxen gave us a quality start in game one and just did a great job of attacking the zone. Bartholomew and Mullins did a nice job out of the pen while our offensive production and quality at bats throughout the game were fantastic."
GAME ONE: MSUB 7; WOU 4
On a cold and windy day in Billings, the Yellowjackets got hot early, scoring four runs of five hits to take the 4-0 advantage in the bottom of the first. MSUB started the inning with four straight base hits, including an RBI single from Nehler and Kirshenbaum to plate the first two runs of the game. Following was an RBI sacrifice bunt from Fortier and an RBI double from
Kaden Bertram. Doing it himself in the bottom of the second, Nehler got aboard on a triple and later scored on a wild pitch. The Wolves immediately responded in the top of the third with a pair of runs to make it a 5-2 ballgame.
Bertram added his second RBI of the game in the bottom of the third after bringing Fortier home on a base hit to center field. The Yellowjackets added their final run of the game by capitalizing on a costly fielding error from the Wolves to give them the 7-2 advantage. From there, the Wolves tacked on one run in the top of the fifth inning and one run in the top of the sixth but the MSUB pitching staff threw up a pair of scoreless innings to lead them to a 7-4 victory.
HEAR FROM COACH WADDOUPS: "Miller had his best start of the season and just kept attacking their lineup while our defense continued to make great plays behind him. Coach Greisman has done an outstanding job of preparing our pitching staff, leading to four quality starts and great production out of the bull pen this weekend. Greisman has brought a good competitive mindset to our pitching staff and I'm grateful to have him."
GAME TWO: MSUB 7; WOU 1
It was the Wolves striking first in the final game of the series, scoring an unearned run on the Yellowjackets sole error of the ballgame. Just like game one, MSUB exploded with four runs on five hits to regain a 4-1 lead. Wright led off the bottom of the first with a triple while Blaszak quickly brought him home on an RBI groundout. With his sixth straight hit of the day, Nehler kept the momentum going with a double while Jeffrey followed suit to score him. Rounding out the first inning scoring was Fortier's two RBI single to bring home Kirshenbaum and Jeffrey.
Both squads were held scoreless for the next three innings until MSUB fired off three more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Blaszak got aboard with a leadoff walk followed by a double from Kirshenbaum. Jeffrey tallied an RBI single to score Blaszak while Fortier added his fourth RBI of the day with a textbook push bunt for a hit. Adding the final run of the inning was Jeffrey crossing the plate on another costly Western Oregon error to give the 'Jackets a six-run advantage. Miller did the rest on the mound, throwing two more scoreless innings to lead the Yellowjackets to a series win and a 7-1 series finale victory.
STATISTIC LEADERS
H: Jack Nehler (6); Five players tied (3)
R: Jack Nehler (4);
Kaden Kirshenbaum (3)
RBI: Ryker Fortier (4);
Ryan Jeffrey (2);
Kaden Bertram (2)
IP: Cy Miller (7.0);
Sam Coxen (6.0)
SO: Cy Miller (5);
Sam Coxen (5)
W/S: Cy Miller (W);
Sam Coxen (W);
Hayden Mullins (S)
THE BUZZ: Jack Nehler was named Intermountain Health Player of the Game for game one and
Cy Miller was named Intermountain Health Player of the Game for game two.
UP NEXT: The Montana State University Billings baseball team heads to Ellensburg, WA for a four game conference series against the Central Washington Wildcats on March 28 at CWU Baseball Field. Live statistics for the matchup can be found
here, and the live stream link can be found
here.
