2005 Softball Wrap Up
Plenty Records Set in Historic Season

BILLINGS, MT – The 2005 season will be remembered as the year that put Montana State-Billings Softball on the map.  A group of nine seniors who were just 9-17 when they were freshmen led the Yellowjackets to the 2005 NCAA Tournament and a host of records along the way.

Despite what anyone will say in hindsight, nobody could have predicted the success of the 2005 Yellowjackets when most of them were a group of green 18-year olds in 2002.  After taking their lumps for a couple seasons, the Jackets started to emerge as a power at the end of 2004 when they rallied to finish 27-28 after a slow start.  After winning 11 of their final 13 games that season, the Yellowjackets were poised to make a run at the Pacific West Conference title and NCAA Tournament in 2005.

And make a run they did.  MSU Billings finished second in the PacWest with a 13-5 conference mark.  The Yellowjackets took three of four games from league champion Hawaii-Hilo at the end of the year, but the rest of the league was only able to hang one loss on the Vulcans all season.  While UH-Hilo received the conference’s automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament, the Yellowjackets’ strong strength of schedule gave them an at large bid.

MSU Billings entered the NCAA West Regional as the No. 3 seed, but the Jackets were defeated by sixth-seeded Chico State in the first round of a tournament that saw plenty upsets.  Chico went on to advance to the championship game before losing to San Francisco State.  The Jackets were forced to battle through the loser bracket, which they did all the way to the semifinals.

After San Francisco State upset top-seeded and nationally second-ranked Humboldt State, the Jackets and Lumberjacks met Friday morning in loser out play.  Humboldt entered the game with a 9-0 all-time record against MSU Billings, but it was the Yellowjackets who were excited about the match up. 

The Yellowjackets put on one of their best performances of the year, winning 3-1 to send the Lumberjacks home from the tourney.  Senior Joey Ehnes pitched the first of two solid games that day to silence one of the best offenses in the country.  After knocking the top seed out of the tournament Friday morning, MSU Billings had to face the second seed and host Cal State-Dominguez Hills in the afternoon.

Before a less than friendly crowd, the Yellowjacket offense was dominating in a 5-2 victory.  Ehnes again was superb, striking out seven and holding the Toros scoreless over the final five innings.  On a team dominated by seniors, the Jackets’ young guns carried the offense against CSUDH.  Junior Christy Wankel and freshman Jenna Haacke drove in two RBI apiece in the win, setting up the meeting with SF State on Saturday morning.

In a classic pitching duel between Ehnes and the Gators’ Sonja Garnett, the game entered the fifth inning without a run on the board.  Two Yellowjacket errors aided the Gators in scoring four runs in the bottom of the fifth, and Garnett kept the Jackets’ bats at bay for the final two innings.  Garnett won Most Outstanding player honors for the tourney and went on to win two more games at the national Elite Eight.

Ehnes and Wankel were named to the West Regional All-Tournament Team at the conclusion of the tourney.  Ehnes, a senior from Great Falls, Mont., pitched every inning of the tournament for the Yellowjackets, going 2-2 with a 1.81 earned run average.  She struck out 19 in 27 innings and only gave up seven earned runs.  Ehnes finished her MSU Billings career with every pitching record in the school record book. 

Wankel, a junior outfielder from Great Falls, Mont., batted .364 for the tournament to lead all Yellowjacket hitters and all outfielders at the tourney.  She was 4-for-11 at the plate, driving in a team high three RBI and scoring twice.  Wankel played in left field the entire tournament and finished with a .900 fielding percentage.  Her only error was scored on a missed diving catch that could have just as easily been ruled a hit.

Leading up to the NCAA Tournament, the Yellowjackets used an explosive offense and dominating pitching from Ehnes to run their regular season record to 34-12.  Of their 12 regular season losses, five of them were to teams that qualified for the NCAA Tournament.  That regular season success led to several individual awards.

Ehnes was named the Pacific West Conference Pitcher of the Year.  Seven Yellowjackets earned all-conference honors with a school-record four first team selections.  Ehnes was 27-9 during the regular season with a 1.44 ERA and 284 strikeouts, earning first team honors for the second year in a row.  Ehnes had her best season at the plate as well, batting .391 with seven home runs and 39 runs.

Joining Ehnes on the All-PacWest First Team were Rachel Quarnburg (So., Billings, MT), Cami Rainey (Sr., Terreton, ID) and Theresa Campbell (Sr., Great Falls, MT).  Ehnes received the most points in the balloting with 127 while Campbell was third with 100. 

Quarnburg led the conference with a .476 batting average and .567 on base percentage.  The most difficult hitter to get out in the PacWest, she shattered the old school single season record for batting average by over 130 points.  Quarnburg also led the PacWest with 43 runs batted in and hit seven home runs.

Rainey was one of the most productive infielders at the plate and at her shortstop position.  She was second in the league with a .419 batting average and led the conference with 46 runs scored and 67 total hits.  An electric defensive player with the ability to make the tough throws on the run, Rainey had a .936 fielding percentage with 60 assists.

Campbell was the PacWest home run champion with 14 homers during the regular season.  Her home run at the NCAA Tourney tied the PacWest Conference single season record.  She hit a career-best .398 and set a school and PacWest single season records with an .805 slugging percentage during the regular season.  Campbell also drove in 41 RBI and drew 19 walks.

Wankel earned second team all-conference honors for the second straight year.  The fleet outfielder batted .338 with 28 runs and 34 RBI during the regular season.  She led the team with six stolen bases and also hit for power with seven home runs.

Layne Pavey (Sr., Spokane, WA) and Sara Hanley (Sr., Kalispell, MT) were each named to the honorable mention team.  Pavey had an off year at the plate, batting .182 with four home runs, but she continued to be one of the best defensive catchers in the region.  Hanley hit .303 and scored 25 runs.

Four Montana State-Billings players were named to the NFCA/Louisville Slugger All-West Region Team in voting by the region’s coaches.  Quanburg and Campbell were named to the all-region first team.  Ehnes and Rainey earned second team honors.

Campbell was named to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-America Third Team.  Campbell was the only player from the Pacific West Conference selected to any of the three All-America teams.  Campbell was also the first softball player from MSU Billings to receive All-America recognition.

Pavey was named to the “ESPN The Magazine” Academic All-District VII Softball Second Team.  Pavey, a senior catcher from Spokane, Wash., had a 3.91 grade point average in Sociology and plans to attend law school next year.  For her career, Pavey played in 157 games as a Yellowjacket and batted .261.  She hit 18 home runs, second in school history, and drove in 70 RBI.  Pavey also spent two years as the chairperson of the MSU Billings Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

When the NCAA released its final Division II statistical rankings after the season, four Montana State-Billings players were ranked in the national top 70 in a total of eight statistical categories. 

As a team the Yellowjackets ranked in the top 30 in three offensive categories as well as won/loss percentage.  Their .720 winning percentage was the 27^th-best in Division II.  MSUB was ninth in the nation for home runs per game (1.04), twelfth for team slugging percentage (.501) and seventeenth for team batting average (.324).

In the national individual statistical rankings, the Pacific West Conference had 13 entries with nine coming from MSU Billings players.  Ehnes was ranked in three pitching categories, including seventh in the nation for victories with 29.  She was also seventeenth in the nation for strikeouts per seven innings (8.6) and 62^nd for earned run average (1.48).

Rainey had the best offensive season of her career and finished ranked in the top 50 in three offensive categories.  Her .409 batting average was 44^th nationally.  She was also twelfth for doubles per game (0.41) and 48^th for runs per game (0.96).  Both were school records.

Campbell also had a big year at the plate.  She hit a conference record 15 home runs and ranked eleventh in the country for home runs per game at 0.31.  She was also 22^nd nationally for slugging percentage with her school-record .772.

Quarnburg made an immediate impact after transferring from Colorado State-Pueblo.  She shattered the school record with a .463 batting average, ranking fifteenth in all of Division II.

With their huge successes—and the short five year history of the program—the 2005 Yellowjackets rewrote the school record books.  In all, 81 team and individual records were set in 2005 along with countless top 10 entries in the record books.  Below are the new school records established this season:

Team Single Game Records
Runs – 16 vs. BYU-Hawaii (3/29/05)
Hits – 17 vs. BYU-Hawaii (3/29/05)
RBI – 15 vs. Albertson College (4/13/05)
Doubles – 6 vs. BYU-Hawaii (3/28/05)
Home Runs – 5 vs. Western New Mexico (4/30/05)
Walks – 8 vs. St. Martin’s (3/6/05)
Greatest Margin of Victory – 11 (15-4) vs. Albertson College (4/13/05)

Team Single Season Records
Victories – 36
Consecutive Victories – 9
Win/Loss Percentage – .720 (36-14)
Conference W/L Percentage – .720 (13-5)
Batting Average – .324
Runs – 280
Runs Per Game – 5.60
Hits – 441
Total Bases – 683
Doubles – 70
Triples – 8
Home Runs – 52
Slugging Percentage – .501
RBI – 260
Stolen Bases – 22
Walks – 128
Earned Run Average – 2.03
Shutouts – 10
Pitching Strikeouts – 355
Strikeout Ratio – 7.494

Individual Single Game Records
At Bats – 6 (Cami Rainey vs. BYU-Hawaii, 3/29/05)
Hits – 4 (Joey Ehnes vs. Hawaii-Hilo, 4/11/05; Cami Rainey vs. Chaminade, 4/5/05)
Runs – 3 (5 different players on 10 different occasions)
RBI – 5 (Rachel Quarnburg vs. Chaminade, 4/6/05 and vs. Dickinson St., 3/13/05)
Home Runs – 2 (Theresa Campbell vs. Western N.M., 4/30/05; Cami Rainey vs. Albertson, 4/13/05; Joey Ehnes vs. Hawaii-Hilo, 4/11/05; Rachel Quarnburg vs. Chaminade (4/6/05)
Total Bases – 11 (Joey Ehnes vs. Hawaii-Hilo, 4/11/05)
Pitching Strikeouts – 15 (Joey Ehnes vs. Chaminade, 4/6/05 and vs. Western WA, 3/4/05)

Individual Single Season Records
Batting Average – .463 (Rachel Quarnburg)
Runs – 47 (Cami Rainey)
Runs Per Game – .959 (Cami Rainey)
Total Bases – 110 (Cami Rainey)
Hits – 70 (Cami Rainey)
Doubles – 20 (Cami Rainey)
Triples – 3 (Christy Wankel)
Home Runs – 15 (Theresa Campbell)
Slugging Percentage – .772 (Theresa Campbell)
RBI – 44 (Rachel Quarnburg)
Stolen Bases – 6 (Christy Wankel)
Walks – 23 (Rachel Quarnburg)
Consecutive Games Hitting Streak – 14 (Rachel Quarnburg)
Pitching Appearances – 45 (Joey Ehnes)
Pitching Starts – 33 (Joey Ehnes)
Complete Games – 27 (Joey Ehnes)
Innings Pitched – 245.1 (Joey Ehnes)
Victories – 29 (Joey Ehnes)
Consecutive Victories – 7 (Joey Ehnes)
Shutouts – 6 (Joey Ehnes)
Strikeouts – 303 (Joey Ehnes)
Strikeout Ratio – 8.65 (Joey Ehnes)

Individual Career Records
Batting Average – .341 (Cami Rainey)
Games Played – 162 (Joey Ehnes)
Games Started – 162 (Joey Ehnes)
At Bats – 502 (Joey Ehnes)
Runs – 104 (Joey Ehnes)
Hits – 156 (Cami Rainey)
Doubles – 38 (Cami Rainey)
Triples – 5 (Sara Hanley)
Home Runs – 23 (Theresa Campbell)
RBI – 87 (Theresa Campbell)
Total Bases – 233 (Joey Ehnes)
Slugging Percentage – .500 (Cami Rainey)
Walks – 56 (Theresa Campbell)
On Base Percentage – .367 (Joey Ehnes)
Stolen Bases – 11 (Cami Rainey and Christy Wankel)
Defensive Assists – 206 (Cami Rainey)
Earned Run Average – 1.80 (Joey Ehnes)
Victories – 62 (Joey Ehnes)
Appearances – 112 (Joey Ehnes)
Starts – 85 (Joey Ehnes)
Complete Games – 65 (Joey Ehnes)
Innings Pitched – 607.2 (Joey Ehnes)
Strike Outs – 671 (Joey Ehnes)
Opponent Batting Average – .207 (Joey Ehnes)
Shutouts – 16 (Joey Ehnes)