A Grand Finale for Jacket Men (5/8/07)
Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score
Game Photos

BILLINGS, MT – Josh Wiley’s fifth inning grand slam lifted the Montana State-Billings baseball team to a 10-8 win over St. Edward’s on Tuesday in the Jackets’ final game of the season.  In their second season since reinstating baseball, the Yellowjackets finished just a pair of games below .500 at 24-26.  MSUB was 16-20 in the Heartland Conference.

“All in all, I’m really proud of this group of guys, especially our seniors,” said Yellowjacket head coach Chris Brown.  “They are an integral part of the process of starting this program and establishing a tradition, a culture, and an expectation.  They were the right group of guys to get this started.”

St. Edward’s (43-13, 31-9) won Tuesday’s opening game 6-0 to claim the 2007 Heartland Conference title.  The Hilltoppers and Yellowjackets split the regular season-ending four game series at Cobb Field on Monday and Tuesday with both days playing out in similar fashion.  The Toppers dominated Monday’s first game and lost the second on Doug Longfellow’s walk off home run in the bottom of the seventh.  On Tuesday, St. Ed’s cruised in game one, and Wiley’s dramatic opposite field shot in the fifth provided the winning margin.

Wiley (Belgrade, MT) came to the plate with one out in the fifth inning of a 5-5 game.  Singles from Seth Moir (Cody, WY) and Will Crtalic (Billings, MT) started the rally.  Jake Samuelson (Helena, MT) was hit by a pitch to load the bases and set up Wiley’s heroics.  Wiley sent an 0-1 offering from the Hilltoppers’ Taylor Land over the right field wall for a 9-5 lead.  The Jackets eventually went through the batting order, adding an insurance run when Longfellow (Lewistown, MT) singled to score Kyle Slater (Missoula, MT) from third.

Four straight hits from by the Hilltoppers to start the top of the sixth threatened MSUB’s lead.  The first three batters St. Ed’s sent to the plate in the inning scored.  Steve Scott (Billings, MT) came on in relief for the Yellowjackets, allowing just one hit without a run in two innings of work to save the win.  Casey Miller (Miles City, MT) earned the win.

“It’s kind of been our M.O. this year to never give up,” said Brown.  “It would have been easy to give up after the first game and say it was the end of the season.  They kept fighting and found a way.  That’s indicative of the type of team we’ve become.  It was an appropriate ending.”

Longfellow capped off a big weekend by going 3-for-4 with a triple, three RBIs, and a run.  Moir was also 3-for-4 and scored a run.  All nine Yellowjacket starters scored in the game, and seven of the nine combined for 11 hits.  Wiley scored twice to go with his career-high four RBIs.  His home run was the second grand slam hit by a Yellowjacket this year.  Samuelson hit one at Lincoln University on March 24.

“Doug and Josh went out with a bang,” added Brown.  “As a senior knowing you’re playing your last baseball, that’s tough mentally.  That’s a great way to end their careers.  It was a huge lift for us, and it was the difference in the two wins this weekend.”

The Hilltoppers also had 11 hits in the game.  Brad Goldsmith, Brian Thomas, Yannick Bergeron, and Chris Dinges had two hits apiece.  Goldsmith homered, and Dinges had a triple.

The opening game belonged to the Hilltoppers as they sewed up the 2007 Heartland Conference title.  St. Ed’s finished the season with a one game lead over rival St. Mary’s University, earning the Heartland’s automatic spot in the NCAA Tournament.  Neil Smith threw a complete game one-hitter for the win, improving to 7-3.  He walked four and struck out three.  Smith had a no hitter going until Kyle Pryor (Billings, MT) broke it up with a leadoff double in the sixth inning.

St. Ed’s scored runs in the second and sixth innings for a 2-0 lead.  They poured it on in the top of the seventh with four runs.  Bergeron went 3-for-4 with a home run and a double, scoring two runs.  Goldsmith, Mike Hancock, and Jeremy Houser each had two hits.

Tuesday’s win was the final collegiate game for 14 Yellowjacket seniors.  The group of transfers who kick started the beginning of NCAA baseball at the university were Longfellow, Pryor, Samuelson, Nick Hoskyn (Oelwein, IA), Miller, Wiley, Pat Smith (Flagstaff, AZ), Slater, Kevin Roberts (Terry, MT), Jon Clark (Anaconda, MT), Crtalic, Chris Martin (Billings, MT), Kyle McBride (Billings, MT), and Ben Lewerke (Mason City, IA).