Jacket Baseball Splits with Blue Tigers
(3/28/06)
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Score 1
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Score 2
JEFFERSON CITY, MO – The
Montana State-Billings baseball team split wins with Heartland
Conference opponent Lincoln University Tuesday in Jefferson
City, Missouri. The Jackets were on a four-game roll through
the first game of Tuesday’s doubleheader winning 4-0 before the
Blue Tigers came back to win the second game 6-2. The
Yellowjackets are now 6-20 overall and 4-13 in the Heartland
Conference. The Blue Tigers are 8-19 on their season and 5-13
in league play.
If it wasn’t for one Blue
Tiger getting a hit in the bottom of the first, the Jackets’ Kyle
McBride (Jr., Billings, MT) who pitched all seven innings
was on his way to pitching a perfect game. The Jackets defense
played a key role in the win by not allowing the lone Lincoln
hitter to advance past first base. McBride went on to strike out
eight batters throughout the course of game one. The game was
on a fast pace as only three hits between both teams occurred
through the fifth. Then the Jackets went ballistic offensively
and capitalized on Blue Tiger errors to score four runs off
three hits in the top of the sixth to earn the win.
Nick Hoskyn (Jr., Oelwein, IA), Matt
Kakalecik (Fr., Great Falls, MT), Kyle Pryor (Jr., Billings, MT), and Doug
Longfellow (Jr., Lewistown, MT) each scored a run with
Longfellow and Hoskyn driving in one RBI apiece.
“In the first game today we
played as well as we have all year,” said Yellowjacket head
coach Chris Brown. “Everybody contributed and we took advantage
when the opportunities arose. We hit well when we needed to,
made the right adjustments at the plate, and made every play
defensively. Kyle (McBride) had a great day, he was in total
control and when we play like that its fun to watch.”
In game two the Blue Tigers
struck first getting runs in the first, second and third innings
before the Jackets’ Hoskyn reached home plate in the fifth on a Luke
Sansaver (Jr., Wolf Point, MT) double down the left field
line. Lincoln answered back with three runs off four hits in
the fifth giving the Blue Tigers the 6-1 advantage. The Jackets
tried to come from behind but could only come up with one run in
the seventh. In the game, the Jackets stranded runners on base
every inning.
“In the second game, we were
one or two hits away from scoring big and just didn’t get the
hits when we needed them,” added Brown. “That was the
difference for us in the second game. Kevin (Roberts) pitched
well enough to win; we just didn’t come through for him in the
clutch. We had runners on base every inning but weren’t able to
capitalize.”
Kevin
Roberts (Jr., Terry, MT) took the loss for the Jackets
pitching four and one-third innings. Roberts gave up six runs
off eight hits, striking out one. Hoskyn went 4-for-4 with two
runs and one stolen base. Sansaver had an RBI.
The Yellowjackets will wrap up
their road trip against Lincoln University Wednesday in
Jefferson City, Missouri. The doubleheader is scheduled to
begin at 11:00 a.m. CST. The Jackets will return to Cobb Field
April 7 and 8 to host Heartland Conference opponent St. Edward’s
University. |
