Jackets Complete Sweep of Falcons (3/6/07)
Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score

ODESSA, TX – For the second-straight day, the Montana State-Billings baseball team found a way to win in extra innings to start a doubleheader sweep of Texas-Permian Basin.  The Yellowjackets defeated the Falcons 4-3 in 12 innings before downing UTPB 7-2 in a darkness-shortened series finale. 

The Yellowjackets improved to 7-11 overall and matched their longest winning streak of the modern era at four games.  At this same point last season, their inaugural season since dropping baseball over 30 years ago, the Jackets were 0-18.  The Monday-Tuesday series at UTPB also marked the Jackets’ first series sweep of a team.

“We showed guts, a little fight, and a little determination,” said Yellowjacket head coach Chris Brown.  “We didn’t give in.  That first game came down to who wanted it more, and we definitely wanted it more.  We’re starting to believe in each other and believe in the team, and it’s showing on the field.  We’re minimizing the negatives and maximizing the positives.  The biggest difference is we’re producing runs with two outs and getting hits with two strikes.”

The first game was a good battle on the mound between the Jackets’ Jon Clark (Anaconda, MT) and the Falcons’ Danny Frisby.  Clark scattered five hits over seven innings and gave up two runs, only of them earned.  He struck out a career-high seven and walked four.  Frisby gave up nine hits in 6 1/3 innings, allowing a pair of unearned runs.  The Falcons committed four errors in the game.

In the eighth inning Clark gave way to Casey Miller (Miles City, MT), who went an inning and a third.  The Yellowjackets took a 3-2 lead in the top of the ninth when Kyle Pryor (Billings, MT) drove in Matt Schoonover (Great Falls, MT), but the Jackets gave up an unearned run in the bottom of the ninth after the leadoff hitter reached on an error.

Mike Cease (Deer Lodge, MT) relieved Miller in the ninth and pitched the final 3 2/3 innings without allowing a run for his first win of the season.  After being bit by a leadoff error in the bottom of the ninth, MSUB capitalized on the same situation in the twelfth when Doug Longfellow (Lewistown, MT) reached on a two-base error by the center fielder.  Two outs later, Longfellow was driven in from second by a Seth Moir (Cody, WY) single.  The Jackets turned a double play in the bottom of the twelfth to aid Cease in closing out the win.

Nick Hoskyn (Oelwein, IA) led the Jackets at the plate, going 3-for-5 with a double and an RBI.  Schoonover, Willie Crtalic (Billings, MT), and Patrick Smith (Flagstaff, AZ) each had two hits.  Both of Schoonover’s hits were doubles, and Crtalic had a double.

In the late game, the Jackets used a five-run fourth inning to turn a 2-1 lead into a 7-1 lead.  The game was eventually called because of darkness at the end of the fifth inning.  Chris Martin (Billings, MT) went all five on the hill for MSUB, fanning a career-high seven.  He allowed four hits, five walks, and two unearned runs.  The Jackets committed three errors in the game.  The Falcons’ Chase Ward took the loss after giving up seven hits and seven runs in 3 2/3 innings.

Pryor and Longfellow each had two hits for the Yellowjackets. Moir and Crtalic were each 1-for-2 with a double and two RBI.  Longfellow also drove in a pair of runs and scored twice.  Pryor upped his season batting average to a team-best .345.  Longfellow has scored a team-high 13 runs in 18 games.

The Yellowjackets return to Heartland Conference play when they play in Oklahoma on Friday and Saturday.  They’ll face the Aggies of OPSU for a pair of doubleheaders.  MSUB is 2-10 in the conference after opening the season on the road with three series against the Heartland’s top three teams.