Yellowjacket Softball Bound for NCAA Tourney
MSU Billings to face Chico State in opening round

BILLINGS, MT – The Montana State-Billings softball team received the official word Monday afternoon that it has qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the first time in its five year history.  The Yellowjackets earned the No. 3 seed in the NCAA West Regional which will be hosted by second seeded California State-Dominguez Hills in Carson, CA.  The tournament starts on Thursday, May 12.

The Yellowjackets will face sixth seeded Cal State-Chico in the opening round.  The Yellowjackets were 34-12 during the regular season and finished second in the Pacific West Conference.  They finished the season with a nine game winning streak, winning 15 of their last 17.  Chico was 30-14 in the regular season and finished fourth in the California Collegiate Athletic Association.  The Wildcats won eight of their last nine games with the loss coming to Humboldt State.

The Yellowjackets and Wildcats will meet in Thursday’s second game.  Fourth seeded San Francisco State and No. 5 Hawaii-Hilo will square off in the opening game of the tourney.  Starting times for all games have yet to be announced.  The winner of the MSU Billings/Chico State game will face No. 2 seed Cal State-Dominguez Hills Thursday afternoon.  The UH-Hilo/San Francisco State winner will take on Humboldt State.  The four losers will meet in Friday’s loser bracket.

The tournament is a double elimination format with the “if needed” game scheduled for Sunday.  If a team goes undefeated through the championship game it will play four games.  It is possible for a team to play as many as seven games to win the title going through the loser bracket.  The regional champion will advance to next week’s national tournament in Salem, VA.  The tournament field starts with 48 teams, with the champions of the eight NCAA Division II regions advancing to the national finals.

The Yellowjackets to leave Billings on Tuesday afternoon and will practice at the tournament site on Wednesday.  All of the Yellowjackets’ tournament games can be heard for free on the web at www.msubillings.edu/athletics.  Rob Kovatch of Clear Channel Radio will be traveling with the team and calling the play-by-play for each game.

NCAA West Region Tournament Schedule:
Thursday, May 12
Game #1 No. 4 SFSU vs. No. 5 UHH 9 a.m.
Game #2 No. 3 MSUB vs. No. 6 Chico State 11:30 a.m.
Game #3 No. 1 Humboldt State vs. Winner #1 2 p.m.
Game #4 No. 2 CSUDH vs. Winner #2 4:30 p.m.

Friday, May 13
Game #5 Loser Game #1 vs. Loser Game #4 9 a.m.
Game #6 Loser Game #2 vs. Loser Game #3 11:30 a.m.
Game #7 Winner Game #3 vs. Winner Game #4 2 p.m.
Game #8 Winner Game #5 vs. Winner Game #6 4:30 p.m.

Saturday, May 14
Game #9 Loser Game #7 vs. Winner Game #8 11:00 a.m.
Game #10 Winner Game #7 vs. Winner Game #9 1:30 p.m.

Sunday, May 15
Game #11 Game #10 opponents (if necessary) 12 noon

Ticket prices for the regional are: $5.00 - adults; $3.00 - students with current ID; $3.00 - seniors; $2.00 - children 12 & under.

NCAA West Regional Team Capsules
Humboldt State University
Seed: 1
National Rank: 2
Overall Record: 60-4
Conference: Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC)
Conference Place: 1
Top Hitters: Brandi Harrison - .376 BA, 51 runs, 19 dbls, 8 HR, 48 RBI, .640 slugging %; Nancy Harbeson - .372 BA, 63 runs, 35 RBI, .491 slugging %; Carolyn Cameron - .344 BA, 47 runs, 27 RBI, 9 SB; Jessica Padilla - .323 BA, 15 runs, 55 RBI, 4 HR, .485 slugging %; Amy Rothballer - .321 BA, 43 runs, 15 dbls, 30 RBI; Megan Sutherland - .301 BA, 34 runs, 46 RBI, 10 SB.
Top Pitchers: Tracy Motzny – 30-2, 0.95 ERA, 207.1 IP, 156 K, .192 opp BA; Lizzy Prescott – 24-2, 1.16 ERA, 156.1 IP, 188 K, .183 opp BA; Kara Roberts – 6-0, 1.27 ERA, 66 IP, 47 K.
All-Time Record vs. MSU Billings: 9-0
Last Meetings vs. MSU Billings: HSU 1, MSUB 0 (3/3/05 at Cent. WA tourney); HSU 3, MSUB 2 (4/2/05 in 8 innings at Easton tourney); HSU 4, MSUB 0 (4/3/05 at Easton tourney)

California State University-Dominguez Hills
Seed: 2
National Rank: 10
Overall Record: 45-10
Conference: California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA)
Conference Place: 1
Top Hitters: Cindy Perry - .408 BA, 39 runs, 13 RBI, 42 SB; Linda Reyes - .375 BA, 19 runs, 19 RBI, 6 HR, .688 slugging %; Lori Moreno - .350 BA, 19 runs, 13 SB; Kate Groden - .341 BA, 44 runs, 16 dbls, 3 HR, 43 RBI, .509 slugging %; Pebbel Prestwood - .336 BA, 25 runs, 23 RBI, 6 HR, .555 slugging %; Jennifer Wilson - .316 BA, 27 runs, 20 RBI, 4 HR, .520 slugging %; Crystal Dingman - .283 BA, 28 runs, 33 RBI, 7 HR.
Top Pitchers: Jackie Miller – 18-3, 1.12 ERA, 138 IP, 89 K, .232 opp BA; Valerie Long – 20-4, 1.22 ERA, 154.1 IP, 184 K, .157 opp BA; Amy Thomas – 5-1, 1.63 ERA, 38.2 IP.
All-Time Record vs. MSU Billings: 1-0
Last Meetings vs. MSU Billings: CSUDH 7, MSUB 3 (4/2/04 at Easton tourney)

Montana State University-Billings
Seed: 3
National Rank: N/A
Overall Record: 34-12
Conference: Pacific West Conference (PacWest)
Conference Place: 2
Top Hitters: Rachel Quarnburg - .476 BA, 24 runs, 43 RBI, 7 HR, .694 slugging %, 23 BB; Cami Rainey - .419 BA, 46 runs, 20 dbls, 6 HR, 30 RBI, .669 slugging %, 5 SB; Theresa Campbell - .398 BA, 29 runs, 14 HR, 41 RBI, .805 slugging %, 19 BB; Joey Ehnes - .391 BA, 39 runs, 12 dlbs, 7HR, 31 RBI, .659 slugging %; Christy Wankel – .338 BA, 28 runs, 7 HR, 34 RBI, .563 slugging %; Jenna Haacke - .319 BA, 13 runs, 4 HR, 21 RBI; Sara Hanley - .303 BA, 25 runs, 9 RBI; Stephanie Cochrun - .238 BA, 13 runs, 8 RBI.
Top Pitchers: Joey Ehnes – 27-9, 1.44 ERA, 218.1 IP, 284 K, .180 opp BA; Jordan Waverek – 4-0, .342 ERA, 30.2 IP, .269 opp BA; Megan McCrae – 3-3, .373 ERA, 45 IP, .277 opp BA.

San Francisco State University
Seed: 4
National Rank: N/A
Overall Record: 36-18
Conference: California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA)
Conference Place: 2
Top Hitters: Jordanna Freemer - .321 BA, 28 runs, 10 dbls, 8 HR, 33 RBI, .560 slugging %, 19 SB; Vanessa Rodriguez - .321 BA, 36 runs, 11 dbls, 23 RBI, 14 SB; Nicole Hartfield - .297 BA, 30 runs, 20 RBI, 27 SB;  Chrissy Hildebran - .271 BA, 21 runs, 29 RBI.
Top Pitchers: Sonja Garnett – 25-7, 0.58 ERA, 216 IP, 128 K, .194 opp BA; Holly Pearce – 10-7, 2.14 ERA, 114.2 IP, .248 opp BA.
All-Time Record vs. MSU Billings: 3-0
Last Meeting vs. MSU Billings: SFSU 3, MSUB 2 (4/3/04 at Easton tourney)

University of Hawaii-Hilo
Seed: 5
National Rank: N/A
Overall Record: 31-9
Conference: Pacific West Conference (PacWest)
Conference Place: 1
Top Hitters: Leo Sing Chow - .409 BA, 33 runs, 6 HR, 30 RBI, .643 slugging %; Lisa Jackson - .393 BA, 41 runs, 16 dbls, 31 RBI, .571 slugging %; Laura Kimborowicz - .367 BA, 20 runs, 18 RBI, .600 slugging %; Meghan Jost - .348 BA, 32 runs, 6 HR, 33 RBI; Zoie Sevilla - .337 BA, 22 runs, 12 RBI; Charity Senas - .320 BA, 28 runs, 4 HR, 26 RBI; Natalie Fujimoto - .311 BA, 10 runs, 4 HR, 34 RBI; Chelsea Osborne - .310 BA, 26 runs, 8 RBI.
Top Pitchers: Sarah Steele – 9-4, .133 ERA, 84.1 IP, 38 K, .206 opp BA; Leo Sing Chow – 9-3, 1.98 ERA, 85 IP, 49 K, .225 opp BA; Britni Rodriguez – 10-1, 2.12 ERA, 66 IP, .203 opp BA.
All-Time Record vs. MSU Billings: 10-7
Last Meetings vs. MSU Billings: MSUB 7, UHH 5 (4/10/05 at MSUB); MSUB 11, UHH 6 (4/10/05 at MSUB); UHH 2, MSUB 0 (4/11/05 at MSUB); MSUB 9, UHH 8 (4/11/05 at MSUB)

California State University-Chico
Seed: 6
National Rank: 22
Overall Record: 30-14
Conference: California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA)
Conference Place: 4
Top Hitters: Chelsea Lundberg - .369 BA, 18 runs, 12 dbls, 6 HR, 28 RBI, .596 slugging %; Katie Stokx - .366 BA, 11 runs, 12 dbls, 22 RBI, .537 slugging %; Amber Neves - .358 BA, 14 runs, 11 RBI, 15 SB; Jennifer Chacon - .350 BA, 23 runs, 4 HR, 18 RBI, 10 SB; Nickie Jarrett - .325 BA, 12 runs, 10 RBI; Megan Farnham - .322 BA, 26 runs, 27 RBI.
Top Pitchers: Katie Stokx – 11-7, 2.12 ERA, 135.2 IP, 111 K, 1.90 opp BA; Kristin Paese – 16-6, 2.15 ERA, 137 IP, 130 K, .233 opp BA.
All-Time Record vs. MSU Billings: 0-1
Last Meetings vs. MSU Billings: MSUB 4, CSUC 3 (4/2/04 in 8 innings at Easton Tourney)