Rattlers Sweep Pair from Lady Jackets (4/1/06)
Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score

SAN ANTONIO, TX – The offensive struggles continued for the Montana State-Billings softball team on Saturday as the Yellowjackets dropped both ends of a Heartland Conference doubleheader at St. Mary’s University.  The Rattlers took an early lead and held on to prevail 5-3 in the first game before shutting out the Jackets 4-0 in game two.  The losses extended the Jackets’ losing streak to nine games.  In those nine games, MSU Billings has managed just 12 runs.

“The pitching has been good enough for us to win,” said Yellowjacket head coach Sean McGary.  “We just have to find a way on offense.  We’re not making the necessary adjustments in the box.  We need to make better decisions and adjustments in the box and approach each pitch better.”

The Rattlers jumped to a 4-0 lead in the opening game behind three home runs off Yellowjacket starter Lisa Moore (Fr., Bakersfield, CA).  Lindsay Barnes hit a two-run shot in the bottom of the first inning to stake St. Mary’s to a 2-0 lead.  Jamie Bertsch and Terrie Cox led off the bottom of the third inning with back-to-back solo homers for a 4-1 advantage.  The Jackets scored a run in the top of the second inning on a solo home run by Jenna Haacke (So., Billings, MT), her seventh of the season.

The Rattlers added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth when Mary Pederson scored on an error after hitting a two-out double.  St. Mary’s had to withstand a Yellowjacket rally in the top of the seventh inning for the win.  Jessica Frank (So., Great Falls, MT) and Anna Henderson (Sr., Frenchtown, MT) led off the inning by reaching on a hit-by-pitch and base on balls respectively.  After a Crystal Bentley (Fr., Bothell, WA) fly ball to right moved Frank to third, Jenna McCartney (Jr., Victor, MT) singled to drive in Frank to cut the lead to 5-2.  Henderson scored from second on the next at bat when Rachel Quarnburg (Jr., Billings, MT) reached on an error, but that’s where the Jacket rally ended.

Moore fell to 4-11 on the season.  She gave up seven hits and four earned runs in six innings of work, striking out six.  The Rattlers’ Jamie Brown improved her season record to 13-7.  She scattered six hits over seven innings and struck out 10.

Haacke went 3-for-4 in the game to account for half of the Yellowjackets’ hits.  McCartney, Quarnburg, and Bentley each had a hit.  The Rattlers were led by Bertsch and Cox who were each 2-for-3.

Neither team put up big offensive numbers in the second game, totaling four hits apiece.  No player on either squad had multiple hits in the game.  Yellowjacket starter Rebekah Tsatsa (Fr., Eagle, ID) took the loss, giving up three hits and four earned runs in four innings.  She dropped to 3-5 on the season.  Terina Stacks (Fr., Washougal, WA) pitched the final two innings in relief, giving up one hit and striking out three.  The Rattlers’ Malissa Magee tossed a scoreless seven innings and struck out seven to improve to 15-7.

St. Mary’s manufactured two runs in the first and added a run each in the second and fifth innings.  Tiffany Craft, Cox, and Barnes each had an RBI for the Rattlers.  For the Yellowjackets, Stephanie Gosselin (Fr., Brentwood Bay, BC) was 1-for-1 with a pinch hit double.  Quarnburg, Christy Wankel (Sr., Great Falls, MT) and Henderson each singled.

The Yellowjackets, who have already played six games on their current road trip, have six more Heartland Conference games remaining in San Antonio before returning to Billings.  They will play at nationally-ranked Incarnate Word (No. 15 in NFCA coaches’ poll) on Sunday at noon.  MSU Billings will close the trip with another doubleheader at St. Mary’s on Monday night and a double-dip back at Incarnate Word on Tuesday morning.  Following the current road swing that will see the Jackets play 12 games in seven days, MSUB will close out the regular season with 12-straight home games at Cenex Stadium.