PORTLAND, Ore. – Following a massive weekend in which the Montana State University Billings softball team qualified for the GNAC Championships, heading to the postseason for the first time in ten years, Yellowjackets Jazlyn Kalehuawehe and Emily Watters were recognized as the GNAC Player and Pitcher of the Week, giving MSUB a sweep of the conference's weekly honors.
 
It marked the first career Player of the Week selection for both Kalehuawehe and Watters, whose individual performances were paramount to the 'Jackets success in last week's four game series against Northwest Nazarene University, helping MSUB take three of four games and leapfrog the Nighthawk's in the standings to claim the final spot in the conference tournament.
 
The senior Kalehuawehe batted .300 on the week, along with totaling a .500 on base percentage and 1.200 OPS. All three of her hits in the series would be home runs, with Kalehuawehe would also total seven RBIs, four walks, and three runs across four games. She would open the series on Friday with a multi home run game, hitting a pair of home runs and totaling a career-best five RBIs, contributing each of MSUB's runs in the game. But her standout moment of the weekend would come in the series finale Saturday, when her go-ahead home run in the fourth inning would score two runs, and prove to be the difference in the Yellowjacket's 2-0 victory to clinch a postseason berth.
 
"What a week for Jazzy to have," said MSUB head coach Joe Yegge. "With this being possibly the last weekend she would ever play, she put the team on her shoulders and lifted us with some big-time moments at the plate. She came up huge for us against a very good pitcher, and her dedication, efforts and playing through some injuries paid off for her. I couldn't be happier for her, and it is just awesome to see her have the weekend she had for us."
 
Watters meanwhile would see action in the circle in all three of MSUB's wins in the series, collecting two wins and a save. In a total of 15.2 innings of work, the sophomore would allow just a single run, holding a 0.47 ERA for series, while striking out nine total batters. She would kick things off with a complete game win in Friday's second game, striking out five batters while allowing just three hits and a run in the game. The sophomore would then go on to start the opening game of Saturday's doubleheader, throwing all eight innings in MSUB's extra-innings win, allowing six hits and striking out three batters. She would then go on to appear in the final inning of the Yellowjacket's pivotal series finale win, escaping a bases loaded jam and striking out the final batter of the game to seal a 2-0 win, and MSUB's trip to the postseason.
 
"Emily has been a tremendous addition to our team this year, and she has helped change the mentality here," said Yegge. "Her last few weeks she has thrown great games, and she just has great drive and stubbornness to be very effective in the circle. She and Kaylin (Galvin) work very well together and Kaylin has been calling great games for her to help us get to this point. Emily has made some great adjustments and is pitching her best when it matters the most."
 
Kalehuawehe, Watters, and the Yellowjackets (16-26, 11-11 GNAC) will look to build upon last weekend's magic at the GNAC Championships, located in Nampa, Idaho. The double-elimination tournament will see MSUB enter as the No. 4 seed, where it will take the No. 1 Seed and #10 nationally ranked Western Washington University in their opening game on Thursday, May 1 at 2:30 PM. Live video of all games will be available here, and live statistics will be available here. Tickets can be purchased online here. The full GNAC Championship homepage can be viewed online here.