May 3, 2008          
                                                                  

Yellowjackets and Wildcats Split Doubleheader, 12-4 and 7-5

     Game One
     Game Two 

BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State Billings Yellowjacket baseball team split a doubleheader with visiting Central Washington Saturday afternoon at Pirtz Field.  The Wildcats took the opener 12-4 and the Jackets won the nightcap 7-5.  With the split, the Jackets now stand at 13-33 overall and 4-20 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.

The Wildcats opened the game with a solo home run in the first by leadoff batter Jamie Nilsen, his sixth of the year for a 1-0 lead.  Moments later Stefan Malkuch made a great grab at the wall, robbing A.J. Gosney of a home run in right field. 

CWU added three runs in the second as all nine batters came to the plate.  The Wildcats had three singles and a double along with three walks for the runs and built a 4-0 lead.  CWU added two more in the fourth on a RBI double by Frank Donangelo and a sacrifice fly for a 6-0 lead.

The Jackets got on the board in the bottom of the seventh with a pair of singles and a RBI double by Jeff Ridgeway.  Moments later, a wild pitch by Tyler Levin plated Ridgeway for a 7-2 score.

Five runs came across for the Wildcats in the eighth for a 12-2 lead.  CWU hit three singles and Nilsen belted his second home run of the day – a grand slam as he improve to 5 for 5 for the game with two home runs, two singles and a double. 

The Yellowjackets scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth as Ridgeway lined a RBI single up the middle and Malkuch reached on an error scoring a run for a 12-4 score.

Steve Larson led the way for MSUB going 3 for 3 and Ridgeway was 2 for 4 with two RBI.  Nilsen went 5 for 5 with seven RBIs.  Brian Strom (0-7) took the loss for the Jackets while Tyler Levin (7-4) went seven innings and struck out nine.

After Brian Howe struck out the side in the top of the first of the nightcap, the Jackets scored two runs on a single, a double and a passed ball for a 2-0 lead.  Nick Harris doubled to the gap, followed by singles from Jonathan Schlender and Steve Larson.

Howe retired the first two batters in the second, but an error led to two runs as Andrew Snowdon singled to center for a score and Tyler Scoggin singled to right for the second run.       

A two out triple and a RBI single gave CWU a 3-2 lead in the fifth.  The lead was short lived, however, as Levi Johnson and Schlender hit back-to-back home runs for a 5-3 lead in the bottom of the inning.  It was Johnson’s fourth round-tripper and Schlender’s second of the year.

A two out RBI single by Scoggin pulled the Wildcats within one at 5-4 in the sixth.  Howe got out of the jam with just the one run as CWU left the bases loaded.

The Jackets added two insurance runs in the sixth helped out by a two out error followed by two RBI singles by Nick Harris and Schoonover for a 7-4 lead.

CWU added a run in the seventh, but didn’t get any closer, falling 7-5.

Schlender went 3 for 3 in the nightcap with two RBIs and a run scored to lead the team.  Howe went the distance for his third win of the season, allowing nine hits, five runs – three earned, four walks and a career-high 10 strikeouts.

The teams will be back in action tomorrow for Senior Day, beginning at 1 p.m. with the final two home games of the year.  Prior to the game, the Yellowjackets will honor three seniors, Seth Moir, Leo Hansen and Jeremy Knowles.