Crucial Weekend for Yellowjacket Softball

BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State Billings softball team heads into a crucial match-up this weekend against the visiting Wolves of Western Oregon University at Cenex Stadium on Saturday and Sunday. The doubleheaders begin at 1 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m. on Sunday. The Yellowjackets have a chance to close the gap in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference standings and with a sweep, would overtake the Wolves for at least second place.

A Look at the Yellowjackets
The Yellowjackets are coming off a tough weekend split with Saint Martin’s that saw MSUB sweep the day one doubleheader 8-4 and 13-4, but drop the second double-dip 7-3 and 4-1. MSUB had a chance to make up ground on Central Washington in the standings; CWU dropped 2-of-3 to NNU, but currently sit 3.5 games back of the Wildcats. MSUB is 14-17 on the season and 11-9 in conference.

Amanda Goings leads the team in batting average with a .373 average. Goings has scored 11 runs with one home run and six RBI. Freshman Becca Frank has soared up the list with a .364 average, scoring eight runs and driving in four RBI. Frank leads the team with a .606 slugging percentage and also carries a .957 fielding percentage.

The Yellowjacket bats have cooled off, hitting .275 during the course of the season, driving out 21 home runs. Defensively, MSUB has .950 fielding percentage and managed to keep the mistakes down last weekend but still have 46 errors committed this season, which have led to 37 unearned runs being scored by opponents.

The MSUB pitching staff currently holds a cumulative 3.80 ERA with 98 strikeouts. Lindsey Trenary has accounted for 57 of those strikeouts, as she holds a 3.35 ERA and a 9-5 record this season.

The Yellowjackets and Wolves are meeting for the second time this season, Western Oregon took 3-of-4 from the Jackets in Monmouth earlier in the season. Last year MSUB took the season series over the Wolves, going 5-3 with three of the wins coming at home. Over time, MSUB is 19-11 against Western Oregon.

A Look at the Wolves
Western Oregon enters the weekend looking stay on a roll, winning 10 of their last 15, including taking 2-of-3 from Western Washington in Bellingham just last weekend. The Wolves currently sit just one game back of conference-leading Central Washington in the standings with a 13-6 conference record and a 19-13 record overall. Western Oregon holds a 2 1/2 game lead over MSUB in the standings.

Bailey Rueck currently leads the Wolves in hitting with a .355 average and has 16 runs, with 38 hits, five doubles and a team-best 22 RBI. Tyler Sutherland has also been a threat for the Wolves this season, batting .345 with a team-high 28 runs scored and a team-leading six homers for the season.

The pitching staff has been led by Kelsey White, holding a 1.92 ERA with a 5-1 record. White has allowed 15 earned runs in 54.2 innings pitched. The strikeout leader on the team is Jessica Wood, who has struck out 47 batters, but holds a 3.26 ERA with a 3-4 record. Wood and White both rank 20th in the nation in saves with two apiece.

As a team, Western Oregon is batting .283, which ranks second in the GNAC Conference as they have hit 23 bombs this season and have an on base percentage of .359. Defensively, the Wolves are ranked 15th nationally in fielding percentage with a .971 average, committing just 29 errors.

Conference Leaders...
MSUB has three players that rank near the top of the conference standings in three categories. Stevie Howard currently leads all players in stolen bases, successfully swiping 12 of the 14 bases she’s attempted (.857). Kelly Parsons currently sits second in home runs with six, while Whitney Whittemore is fourth in runs scored with 24.

And There They Go...
The Yellowjackets have not lacked speed on the bases this season. In fact, MSUB has successfully swiped 41 of the 56 bases they’ve attempted. The Yellowjackets have a .732 stolen base percentage which leads the GNAC. They also have the top three leaders in stolen bases in conference, Stevie Howard, Amanda Hood and Whitney Whittemore.

More Runs = More Wins...
It seems five is the magical number; when the Yellowjackets score five or more runs in a game, MSUB is 11-2 on the year. But, when the Yellowjackets score fewer than five runs, MSUB is a mere 3-15.

Multiples...
Kaycee Hoffman leads the team in multi-hit games with eight, all were two-hit games. Amanda Goings, Whitney Whittemore and Angela Lingle all have two three-hit games for the Jackets. Kelly Parsons leads the team in multi-RBI games with seven. She has had two RBI in four games, three RBI in two, four RBI once.