MONMOUTH, Ore. – Powered by a stellar outing from freshman
Sam Coxen and a resurgent offensive display, Montana State University Billings baseball team (28-16, 19-9 GNAC) rolled to an 11-1 win in game three of their series against Western Oregon (15-25, 11-17 GNAC). Looking to even the series, the Yellowjackets came up short in a heartbreak series finale, falling 9-8 to the Wolves in walk-off fashion.
In his ninth start of the season, Coxen mad history, tying the single season wins record for a freshman (7) and sits just two wins shy of breaking the all-time MSUB single season wins record. The GNAC Freshman of the Year frontrunner dished out eight strikeouts while allowing just three hits and one run, while setting a career high with his 7.0 innings of work.
The Yellowjackets offensive attack showed a true bounce back from the opening double header, posting 19 total runs and 30 total hits on the day. Leading the way was
Kaden Kirshenbaum who posted five hits, four RBIs, three runs, and two doubles, followed by
Kaden Bertram who also posted a five-hit day.
Ryan Jeffrey also had a noteworthy day, tallying four RBIs, three runs, and a home run in the first game of the day.
HEAR FROM COACH WADDOUPS: "Coxen was electric today, he really did a great job of competing in the zone. He has been a tough matchup for any hitter this year and I am proud of his efforts today. Game one was an all-around quality team effort and had production up and down our lineup."
GAME THREE: MSUB 11; WOU 1
After a quiet first inning of play, Fortier drew first blood by bringing home Kirshenbaum on an RBI single who previously led things off with a double. The Wolves would go on to tie it up in the bottom of the third, but the Yellowjackets immediately responded with three in the following top half.
Zack Blaszak led off with a leadoff double and would steal third on the following pitch. Kirshenbaum then did the rest, driving him home on another double to right center.
Ryan Jeffrey brought home
Jack Nehler on a with an RBI groundout and Fortier laid down a flawless bunt for an RBI hit to make it a 4-1 ball game.
Both squads stayed quiet until the top of the seventh inning when the 'Jackets exploded with five runs. Nehler started the scoring rally with an RBI sac fly to score
Parker Bleggi, followed by an RBI single from Kirshenbaum to score
Bodee Wright. Jeffrey then added his second RBI of the game on a single to score Blaszak and
Kaden Bertram rounded it out with a huge single that brought home Fortier and Jeffrey.
MSUB continued to add insurance, tacking on two more in the top of the ninth. Jeffrey capitalized on an errand pickoff attempt, followed by an RBI sacrifice fly from
Nate May to give the Yellowjackets a 10-run advantage. Limiting the Wolves offense on the bump was
Sam Coxen who went seven complete innings with eight strikeouts while allowing just three hits and one run before being relieved. First out of the bullpen was
Kevin McClellan who threw a scoreless eighth inning with one strikeout, followed by
Jaxon Meyer closing out the ninth to help lead the 'Jackets to an 11-1 victory.
HEAR FROM COACH WADDOUPS: "Our offense continued to produce in the second game of the day. Game two we just didn't make the pitches and the plays late in the game that we needed to make, and it got away from us. We have been so good in those situations all season. Looking forward to being home for senior weekend, and looking forward to bouncing back."
GAME TWO: MSUB 8; WOU 9
Game four of the series featured a slow start but an eruption of offensive production from both squads in the middle innings. In just the third and fourth innings, both teams combined for seven runs on eight hits. The Yellowjackets started the production in the top of the fifth with Kirshenbaum scratching across the first run of the game on an RBI single to score Nehler. The scoring didn't stop there as Jeffrey followed with a two-run blast to give MSUB the 3-0 advantage. Rounding out the inning was May bringing home Fortier on another RBI single.
The Wolves answered with two of their own, but MSUB kept applying the pressure, scoring three more in the top of the fourth. After loading the bases, the Yellowjackets capitalized on a costly WOU error to push across the first two runs and Kirshenbaum capped it off with yet another RBI base hit. The Wolves answered back with two more in the bottom of the fourth and matched with three more in the bottom of the sixth to tie it up heading into the final inning of the series.
With a 7-7 ball game and heading into the seventh inning, the 'Jackets needed to push one across to put some pressure on the home squad. That is exactly what they did. Fortier reached on an error, followed by a base hit from Bertram, and yet another Wolves error from the bat of May led the Yellowjackets to regaining an 8-7 advantage.
Their one run advantage did not last as the Wolves went on two walk it off in the bottom of the seventh to take game four 9-8. On the bump for the Yellowjackets,
Cy Miller made the start and went 5.1 innings with four strikeouts. Following was
Andy Evans who allowed one run in his 0.2 innings of work.
STATISTIC LEADERS
H: Kaden Kirshenbaum (5);
Kaden Bertram (5)
R: Ryker Fortier (2); Three players tied (3)
RBI: Kaden Kirshenbaum (4);
Ryan Jeffrey (4)
IP: Sam Coxen (7.0);
Cy Miller (5.1)
SO: Sam Coxen (8);
Cy Miller (4)
W/S: Sam Coxen (W)
THE BUZZ: Sam Coxen was named Intermountain Health Player of the Game for game three, and
Jack Nehler was named Intermountain Health Player of the Game for game four.
UP NEXT: The Montana State University Billings baseball team returns home for their final regular season GNAC series against the Central Washington Wildcats where they will honor their 17 seniors. First pitch is set for Thursday, May 1
st at 1:00 PM and games will also be televised on local television by SWX with more details to come. Live statistics for the matchup can be found
here, the tickets link can be found
here, and our live stream link can be found
here.
