September 30, 2007                      

MSUB Softball Drops Three

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – The Montana State Billings softball team lost all three games it played Sunday at the Triple Crown Fall Classic hosted by Colorado State.  The Yellowjackets were 2-4 at the tourney.

The Jackets lost to Northern Colorado 8-1 in Sunday’s first game.  Steph Gosselin (Victoria, BC) was 2-for-2 with a double.  Kelly Parsons (Seattle) was 1-for-2 with a double.  She scored the Yellowjackets’ only run of the game.  Rebekah Tsatsa (Eagle, Idaho) took the loss.

MSUB fell behind Utah State 5-0 before losing 6-5.  Lisa Moore (Bakersfield, Calif.) suffered the loss.  Jessica Frank (Great Falls) went 2-for-2 and drove in four of the Jackets’ five runs on a grand slam.

The Yellowjackets closed the tourney with a 13-12 loss to Colorado School of Mines.  The MSUB defense spotted the Orediggers six unearned runs, and the Jackets trailed 13-4 entering the bottom of the fifth.  The time limit had been called, but since MSUB was the home team they were allowed to finish the bottom half of the fifth.  MSUB scored eight runs in the fifth, sparked by a Gosselin grand slam.  Cherish Allen-Jones (Las Vegas, Nev.) was thrown out at third base for the game’s final out while trying to leg out her second triple of the inning.

“Overall, I am pleased with the team’s ability to fight and scrap their way back into a game when we get behind,” said Yellowjacket head coach Tony Stone.  “Against Utah State, we were down 5-0 at one point and fought our way back to tie it up.  The same thing happened against the School of Mines—down 13-4 and battled back one run short in the last inning.  Defensively, we have some work to do, but I think the team is beginning to understand the concept of using the entire field from a hitting standpoint.  That’s encouraging to me as a coach who is trying to break the habit of hitters pulling the ball all the time.”