Yellowjackets Sweep Season Finale, Finish 34-12 (May 1, 2005)
Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score
BILLINGS, MT – The Montana
State-Billings softball team put the wraps on the best
season in school history with a two-game sweep of Western
New Mexico on Sunday. The Jackets won 2-1 and 6-2 to
finish the regular season at 34-12 overall and 13-5 in the
PacWest Conference. Ranked fourth in the most recent NCAA
regional poll, the Yellowjackets will now await the NCAA
Tournament announcement on May 9.
The final regular season poll will be
released on Wednesday, May 4. Last week San Francisco
State held the No. 3 spot ahead of the Yellowjackets.
MSU Billings went 6-0 this week with two wins against
Minot State and four over Western New Mexico. San
Francisco State split their four games, dropping two to
Cal State-Chico before sweeping Sonoma State to finish at
36-18.
After hammering 26 hits, seven home
runs, and 23 runs in Saturday’s doubleheader sweep, the
Yellowjacket hitters faced a determined Mustang defense on
Sunday. Freshman pitcher Molly Yetman went the distance
in both games for WNMU, falling to 15-16 on the season.
Yet she was just a few pitches from shutting down the
Jackets in the first game.
Western New Mexico took a 1-0 lead in
the top of the third inning with a solo home run from
Meredith Drahota. Drahota’s towering shot to right was
one of just three hits allowed by Yellowjacket starter Joey
Ehnes (Sr., Great Falls, MT).
The Mustangs took the one run lead
into the fifth inning, where Ehnes roped a one out single
to the center field fence. Rachel Quarnburg (So., Billings, MT) followed Ehnes
with a first pitch home run to left field, giving the
Yellowjackets a 2-1 lead. That was enough for Ehnes, who
sat down the Mustangs in order in the sixth and seventh
innings to win her 26th game of the year. She
struck out nine in seven innings, including the first six
outs of the game.
Quarnburg was 2-for-3 with both of
the Jackets’ RBI. Jenna Haacke (Fr., Billings, MT) was 2-for-2 at the
plate with a pair of opposite field singles. Christy Wankel (Jr., Great Falls, MT) went 1-for-3
with a stolen base.
The Mustangs got the jump on the
Jackets in game two as well, scoring a run in the top of
the first. Drahota led off the game with a triple to
right and was quickly driven in by Jessica Garcia’s RBI
single. The Jackets answered with four runs in the bottom
of the first to give Ehnes a three run lead. She pitched
three innings, allowing three hits and a run to improve to
27-9.
Cami
Rainey (Sr., Terreton, ID) led off the Jackets’ half
of the first with a double off the fence in left center.
She scored two batters later when Quarnburg singled up the
middle. Quarnburg advanced on a groundout and scored when
Wankel legged out an infield single. Haacke followed
Wankel with a two run homer, her fourth of the year.
The Jackets added an insurance run in
the second when Theresa Campbell (Sr., Great Falls, MT) singled to
drive in Rainey. Megan McCrae (Sr., Brandon, Manitoba) relieved Ehnes,
pitching the final four innings. She gave up three hits
and one run.
Rainey and Ehnes were each 2-for-4.
Rainey scored two runs, and Ehnes had a run and an RBI.
She hit a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth for the
Jackets’ final run. It was her seventh homer of the year
and the 100th run scored in her career. She is
the first Yellowjacket to reach 100 career runs.
Campbell, Wankel and Anna Henderson (Jr., Frenchtown, MT) were each 2-for-3
in the game. Haacke topped off a perfect day at the
plate, going 2-for-2 with a pair of RBI. In the four game
series sweep of the Mustangs, the Yellowjackets didn’t
commit an error.
“Coach Flores (WNMU head coach Freddy
Flores) came up after the game said he thought we were the
best offensive team in the West Region,” said Yellowjacket
coach Jeff Aumend. “That’s quite a compliment from
someone who has won the last three conference titles and
was the regional champion last year. This was our best
weekend in terms of being a good offensive team and
flawless on defense. We were hitting on all cylinders
this weekend.” |
