Yellowjackets Split Day Two in Minnesota (Feb. 27, 2005)
Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score
ST. CLOUD, MN – The Montana
State-Billings softball team finished its opening weekend
with a two game split on Sunday at the Husky Dome
Classic. The Yellowjackets dropped the morning game to 19th-ranked
Emporia State, 2-1. They rebounded with a 2-0 shutout of
Minnesota-Duluth.
MSU Billings was 3-2 at the
tournament. The Jackets next play on March 3 when they
face Humboldt State and Central Washington in Richland,
Wash. That neutral site double dip will be a preview of
the Central Washington Invitational on March 4-6 in
Richland.
In Sunday’s 8:00 a.m. game, Emporia
State jumped to a 2-0 lead just three batters into the
game when Courtney Stevens hit a two-run home run off
Yellowjacket starter Joey
Ehnes (Sr., Great Falls, MT). Ehnes took control of
the game from that point, scattering five hits over seven
innings and striking out 11. She still suffered her first
loss of the season to fall to 2-1 as the Yellowjacket
offense didn’t offer much support.
Cari
Dunlap (So., Billings, MT) scored in the bottom of the
second for the Yellowjackets after pinch running for Theresa Campbell (Sr., Great Falls, MT), who had
singled. Batting in the ninth spot, Ehnes drove in Dunlap
for MSUB’s only run. Ehnes was 1-for-2 at the plate.
Campbell went 2-for-4, and Christy Wankel (Jr., Great Falls, MT) went 2-for-3.
The Yellowjacket pitching dominated
the day’s second game against Minnesota-Duluth. Jordan Waverek (Sr., Kalispell, MT) tossed four
scoreless innings, striking out three and allowing two
hits. Ehnes (3-1) pitched the final three innings in
relief, giving up two hits and striking out four. For the
weekend, Ehnes threw 28 2/3 innings and struck out 45 with
a 1.71 ERA.
MSU Billings got on the board in the
top of the fifth inning when Megan McCrae (Sr., Brandon, Manitoba) singled to drive
in Ehnes from third. The Jackets added an insurance run
in the top of the seventh. Ehnes doubled with one out,
and Aysha Blatter (So., Richland, WA) singled to plate
Ehnes for her second run of the game.
Ehnes and Campbell each batted .400
for the weekend. Ehnes scored two runs and drove in two
RBI. Campbell scored four runs and drove in three RBI.
Wankel batted .353 for the tournament and drove in a
team-high nine RBI. Wankel and Campbell each homered
once.
Eight different Yellowjackets hit
.300 or better over the five games. Sara
Hanley (Sr., Kalispell, MT) and McCrae each batted
.333. Hanley scored four runs. Freshman Jenna Haacke (Billings, MT) hit .308 with four RBI and
three runs. Cami
Rainey (Sr., Terreton, ID) and Rachel Quarnburg (So., Billings, MT) each batted .300
and combined for five runs.
“We were extremely pleased with our
play this weekend,” said Yellowjacket head coach Jeff
Aumend. “We hit the ball well, and our pitching was
good. Most importantly, we competed every inning of every
game. Last year we had a hard time holding leads. We won
close games this weekend and showed a lot of heart. I
think we’ll be capable of closing games better this year.” |
