Jackets Walk Away with Split (5/5/06)
Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score

BILLINGS, MT – Sometimes good things come to those who wait.  The Montana State-Billings baseball team used a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the seventh to earn a doubleheader Heartland Conference split with first-place Incarnate Word on Friday at Cobb Field.  The Cardinals used a big sixth inning to cruise to a 9-2 win in the opening game.  The Yellowjackets bounced back with a 3-2 upset in the late game.

The Cardinals’ let their hold on first place in the league standings slip a little with the loss.  They fell to 34-19 overall and 28-10 in the conference.  Both St. Mary’s and St. Edward’s notched doubleheader sweeps to move within a game of the Cardinals with one day remaining in the season.  Incarnate Word still controls its own destiny, needing two wins on Saturday to clinch the Heartland Conference title. 

MSU Billings is 15-33 overall and 13-25 in the conference.  Playing the role of spoiler, the fledgling Yellowjacket program has beaten St. Edward’s, St. Mary’s, and Incarnate Word at least once each down the stretch.

The early game was a pitchers’ duel for five innings between the Jackets’ Nate Herbig (Jr., Noxon, MT) and the Cardinals’ Jeff Jamnik.  Both hurlers cruised through the first five frames with the Cardinals taking a 2-1 lead after five.  The Jackets scored in the bottom of the first when Willie Crtalic (Jr., Billings, MT) singled up the middle to drive in Kyle Pryor (Jr., Billings, MT). 

The Cardinals answered with runs in the top of the fourth and fifth innings for a 2-1 advantage.  Blake Weston drove in Dustin Walls in the fourth, and Adrian Lozano led off the fifth with a solo home run.  The wheels fell off for Herbig in the sixth with the Cardinals batting through the order to plate six runs.  UIW had six hits in the inning, including a two-run blast by Weston.

The Cardinals scored their nine runs on a dozen hits.  Chris Pacheco was 3-for-4 and drove in a pair of runs.  Walls, Lozano, and Joe Villa each had two hits.  Lozano also scored three times.  Jamnik earned his eleventh win of the season, allowing eight hits and two earned runs in seven complete innings to improve to 11-2.

Herbig took the loss to fall to 2-8.  Kevin Roberts (Jr., Terry, MT) pitched the final inning and a third, allowing a hit and a run.  Jake Samuelson (Jr., Helena, MT) was 3-for-3 with a run for the Yellowjackets.  Mike Wardell (Jr., So., Billings, MT) and Nick Hoskyn (Jr., Oelwein, IA) each doubled.

The second game of the double-dip was a pitching gem by both starters.  The Jackets’ Kyle McBride (Jr., Billings, MT) went the distance, scattering six hits and two runs over seven innings.  He improved to 6-4 with the win.  The Cardinals’ Michael Ruiz (4-1) took the loss despite flirting with a no-hitter.

Incarnate Word jumped to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on a Matt Seale RBI double that scored Pacheco.  The next four and a half innings saw little to no offensive action as McBride and Ruiz rolled through the lineup.  Ruiz had a no-hitter going through five and a third before unraveling in the sixth and seventh innings.

The Cardinals took a 2-0 lead in the top of the sixth on catcher Chris Solis’s RBI single up the middle, plating Weston.  The Yellowjackets finally got to Ruiz in the bottom half of the sixth, capitalizing on two stolen bases.  Doug Longfellow reached on a fielder’s choice with one out, then proceeded to steal second and third.  Solis’s throw to third on Longfellow’s steal ended up in left field, allowing Longfellow to score to cut the lead to 2-1.  Two batters later, Josh Wiley (Jr., Belgrade, MT) broke up Ruiz’s no-no with a single up the middle.

After McBride shut the Cardinals down in the top of the seventh, the Yellowjacket hitters took advantage of a suddenly wild Ruiz.  Three of his six walks came in the inning before he was replaced by Jeff Langston.  Ruiz walked Matt Kakalecik (Fr., Great Falls, MT) and Longfellow to load the bases with two outs before giving way to Langston.  Herbig was on third after pinch running for Kyle Slater (Jr., Missoula, MT), who had reached on a fielder’s choice.

With the bases loaded, Langston had nowhere to put Pryor, the first batter he faced.  He was unable to find the strike zone, however, sending ball-four over Pryor’s head to the backstop.  The walk scored Herbig to tie the game at 2-2.  Facing Patrick Smith (So. Flagstaff, AZ) in the same situation, Langston bounced ball-four to the catcher, bringing in Kakalecik for the winning run.

Weston was 2-for-4 with a run scored to lead the Cardinals.  Wiley and Crtalic each singled for the Yellowjackets’ only two hits of the game. 

“We were very disciplined at the plate and kept plugging away,” said Yellowjacket coach Chris Brown.  “That’s kind of the trademark of our team.  We bounce back really well.  It would have been easy to fold the tent up and pack it in for the day.  We lost the first game, but hit the ball well.  They were just right at people.  We gave up one big inning again.  That’s been our Achilles heel all year.” 

Added Brown, “In the second game, for Kyle to go out there and keep doing his thing when the other guy has a no hitter is tough to do.  Kyle pitched a heck of a game.  He picked us up for six innings and we picked him up in the seventh.  Kyle Pryor’s at bat was one of the best at bats we’ve had all year.”

The same teams will meet again Saturday at 2:00 p.m. at Cobb Field.  For the Yellowjackets it will be the final two games of the season.  It will also be Senior Day for their only senior, David Ducharme, who is scheduled to start the second game.  The Cardinals will be playing for the outright Heartland Conference championship.