April 5, 2008          
                                                                  
Yellowjackets Drop Twinbill Versus Western Oregon, 15-1, 13-9

     Game One
     Game Two 

BILLINGS, Mont. – Western Oregon posted a doubleheader sweep of Montana State Billings Saturday afternoon at Pirtz Field. WOU won the opener 15-1 and came-from-behind to take the nightcap 13-9. With the losses, the Yellowjackets fall to 10-21 on the year and 2-12 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.

The Wolves opened the scoring in the first inning as leadoff hitter Dylan Bruck roped a double down the left field line and later scored on a Tyler Moore single. Two Yellowjacket errors led to a second run for a 2-0 lead. WOU added another run in the second on a sacrifice fly for a 3-0 lead.

Western Oregon added to its lead with five runs in the fourth, helped by three errors by MSUB for an 8-0 lead. The Wolves added three more runs in the sixth helped by a two RBI double from Ryan Lewis.

Cole Pryor roped a single to right field for the Jackets’ third hit of the game and the first since the second inning, but MSUB grounded into an inning-ending double play to end the threat.

The Jackets loaded the bases in the seventh with one out for Matt Kakalecik who hit a sacrifice fly to right field scoring Levi Johnson for the Yellowjackets’ first run of the game.

WOU added two more runs in the eighth and two in the ninth. In the eighth, WOU scored on a solo home run by Eric Renander and RBI double by Bruck, but he was cut down trying to stretch a triple on a great relay throw by Jeff Ridgeway.

The Jackets went down in order in the bottom of the ninth as WOU went on for a 15-1 victory.

Drew Humphrey blasted his first home run of the season – a three run shot in the top of the first to give the Wolves a 3-0 lead to begin the nightcap.
MSUB erased the deficit in the bottom of the first as Pryor led-off the inning with a single and Levi Johnson belted his third home run of the season for a 3-2 score. Moments later, Joe Via roped a RBI double to even the score at three.

Jeff Ridgeway put the Jackets in the lead with an opposite field two run home run in the bottom of the second with nobody out. It was his first round-tripper of the year.

Tyson Nelson led-off the fourth inning for the Wolves with an infield single, marking just the second hit of the game and the first since the first inning. Jacket hurler Brian Strom had retired nine-straight since the first inning. Pat Grennan roped a double to right center scoring Nelson to cut the deficit in half. Renander tied the game with an infield single at five a piece.

The Yellowjackets regained the lead in the bottom of the fourth as Nick Harris blasted a solo home run to right field for a 6-5 lead. Moments later, Ridgeway tripled off the wall and Nick Rupert singled to center giving the Jackets a 7-5 lead.

Nelson came through for the Wolves again with a RBI single to center cutting the deficit to 7-6 in the fifth. WOU had a chance for more with a man at third, but Strom got a key strikeout to end the inning.

A RBI double by Steve Larson gave the Jackets an 8-6 lead in the fifth and increased the lead to 9-6 with an error on a fielder’s choice, scoring Larson from third.

Western Oregon opened the sixth with two singles followed by a three run home run by Cesar Lopez to tie the game at nine off Yellowjacket reliever Brian Howe.

The Wolves had two singles and a walk to load the bases in the top of the seventh as Lopez hit a RBI single up the middle for a 10-9 lead. After a pitching change by the Jackets, a pass ball scored the second run and a ground out scored the third and fourth runs of the inning for a 13-9 lead.

The Jackets went down in order in the seventh, falling 13-9.

The teams will be back in action tomorrow at 1 p.m. for the final two games of the series.