Yellowjackets Split, Place Two on All-Tournament Team

Central Washington

Sonoma State

TURLOCK, Calif. -  Montana State Billings picked up a split on the final day of the Best of the West Invitational.  The Yellowjackets fell 4-3 to Central Washington and bounced back to defeat Sonoma State 2-1.  MSUB remains out west taking on Cal State Dominguez Hills, Wednesday, Feb. 11.  The doubleheader is scheduled to start at 1:00 p.m.

In the opening game against Central Washington, the Wildcats score in their first at-bat.  Jackie Hawkins stood at second base following a single and a sacrifice bunt.  Holly Rossman singled to right center to drive Hawkins in.  In the top of the sixth, CWU added two more runs to make it 3-0.

In the bottom of the sixth, Leslie Davis drew a walk.  The first baseman booted a ground ball hit by Steph Gosselin.  When the play was over, Davis was on third and Gosselin was at second.  Kelly Parsons drew a walk and another Wildcat error pushed Davis across the plate.

Amanda Goings came in to run for Parsons.  Lisa Moore picked up the third walk of the inning to score Gosselin.  Stevie Howard then lifted a ball deep to right field.  Goings scored after the catch to tie the game at 3-3.

In the ninth inning, Meghan Kopczynski was placed on second base per the tie breaker rule.  Central Washington then had a sacrifice bunt and a single to score Kopczynski and make it 4-3.  In the bottom of the ninth, Moore was placed on second and then replaced by Alyssa Frank.  Following a pop out, Frank stole third to put herself in position to tie the game.  CWU got the next two batters out to end the contest.

Terina Stacks and Whitney Whittemore came up with one hit each.  Rebekah Tsatsa (1-1) gave up seven hits, four runs, three earned and struck out nine batters in nine innings of work.

In the second game against Sonoma State, both team scored in the first inning.  Kayla Ledford singled and then stole second for the Seawolves.  Nicole Cordova singled to centerfield to drive in Ledford.  In the bottom half of the inning, with two outs, Davis singled to centerfield and stole second.  Gosselin drew a walk and Stacks singled to move Gosselin to second and push Davis across the plate.

Sonoma State threatened to break the deadlock in the top of the third.  Simone Brandalise singled and moved to second on a passed ball.  Following a strikeout, Jessica Abelia drew a walk.  Cordova hit a ground ball to shortstop Frank, who fielded the ball and tossed it to second baseman Howard to force out Abelia.  Howard then fired a strike to Stacks at first to complete the double play.

The Yellowjackets got things going when Parsons drew a walk in the bottom of the fourth.  Goings came in to run for her and moved to second on a sacrifice hit by Jenna VanEykeren.  Following a fly out, Stevie Howard walk and Goings moved to third after SSU failed in an attempt to pick Goings off.  Another Seawolves error allowed Goings to score and make it 2-1, MSUB.  Sonoma State managed just one hit in the last three innings.

Davis had a solid day at the plate going 2-for-3 and scoring a run while Stacks extended her hitting streak to eight games.  Kasie Conder (1-0) gave up four hits, one run and struck out seven batters in her first collegiate action.

Terina Stacks and Rebekah Tsatsa were named to the all-tournament team.  Tsatsa went 1-1 and gave up 10 hits, four runs, three earned and struck out 21 batters in 16 innings for a 1.69 ERA.  Stacks hit .385 (5-for-13) with a double and a home run, scored two runs and drove in five runs.  She had a slugging percentage of .692 and extended her hitting streak to eight games.