Yellowjacket Softball Ranked in Regional Poll (Mar. 31, 2005)

BILLINGS, MT – The Montana State-Billings softball team was ranked in the NCAA West Region top ten poll released by the NCAA Softball Committee on Thursday.  It is the first time in the program’s history that the Yellowjackets have been ranked regionally. 

MSU Billings is off to its best start in school history at 16-8 overall.  The Jackets recently finished a PacWest Conference swing to Hawaii where they went 3-3.  They will play at least five games this weekend at the Easton Tournament of Champions in Modesto, CA, before returning home to host Chaminade University on April 5 and 6.  Games are scheduled for 3:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. each day at Cenex Stadium.

The Yellowjackets are one of two PacWest teams ranked in this week’s top ten.  First place Hawaii-Hilo is also in the poll.  The poll also includes five teams from the California Collegiate Athletic Association and three from the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.

The first regional softball poll of the year always lists the ten teams alphabetically without ranking them.  The remaining regional polls will rank the top tens in each region.

NCAA West Region Softball Poll
Cal State-Bakersfield, 21-10
Cal State-Chico, 12-7
Cal State-Dominguez Hills, 24-5
Central Washington, 10-10
Hawaii-Hilo, 20-2
Humboldt State, 31-1
Montana State-Billings, 13-7
San Francisco State, 20-8
Seattle University, 11-9
UC-San Diego, 10-9