April 29, 2008

Softball Battles Central Washington in Regular Season Finale Saturday

BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State Billings softball team finishes the 2008 regular season with a Great Northwest Athletic Conference doubleheader against Central Washington Saturday at 2 p.m. at Cenex Stadium with a possible postseason berth on the line for MSUB.    

The Yellowjackets (26-21, 14-8) have a shot the GNAC championship and postseason play for the first time since 2005.  MSUB needs to win both games against the Wildcats and receive some help from other GNAC teams for either of those things to happen.

In addition to it being Senior Day at Cenex Stadium, it also is Little League Day as all players in LL uniforms will be admitted to the game free of charge as accompanying adults must pay.  Players will be allowed to interact with the college players between games to ask questions and for autographs. 

Leading the way for the Yellowjackets this season is Stephanie Gosselin who is hitting a team-high .395 on the year.  She is second on the team in doubles with 10 and tied for fourth in RBIs with 26.  She is slugging .573 which is third-best on the team.  Leslie Davis is second on the team in average at a .373 clip.  She leads the team with 15 doubles and 56 hits.  She is third on the team in home runs with seven and leads the team with 33 RBIs.  Jessica Frank leads the team with 10 home runs and three triples on the year, while slugging a team-high .649.

As a team, the Jackets have really come on in the last 26 games, going 20-6 during that span.  The Jackets started the season 6-15 and were hitting .267 with seven home runs and 31 extra-base hits and an ERA of 4.11.  Since then, the team is hitting a blazing .358 with 35 home runs and 87 extra-base hits.  The staff’s ERA has come down almost an entire point to 3.14.

For the season, the Jackets are hitting .318 as a team with 68 doubles, eight triples, 42 home runs for 118 extra-base hits.  The team is slugging .483 and has an on-base percentage of .366.  Seven Yellowjackets are hitting over .300 and five are hitting over .350. 

The staff is led by Lisa Moore with a 2.55 ERA and an 11-5 record in 22 appearances.  She has made 15 starts with 11 complete games and two shutouts.  Rebekah Tsatsa has a 3.32 ERA with an 11-8 record in 26 appearances. Tsatsa has made 13 starts and two complete games and leads the team with 130.2 innings of work.  She also leads the team with 101 strikeouts.  Lindsey Trenary is 3-4 on the year with a 5.39 ERA as well.  As a team, the Jackets have a 3.58 ERA for the season, which is exactly one point below their opponents (4.58).

Central Washington enters the week with a 17-25 record overall and a 12-10 record in conference play.  The Wildcats have dropped four straight and seven of 10 coming into the final week.  They were shutout in two games against Seattle Sunday and have not scored in 17 consecutive innings dating back to the second inning of a 4-2 loss to Western Oregon April 26.

CWU is led by Mallory Holtman who has a team-best .419 average.  She leads the team with 54 hits, 13 doubles, six triples, 10 home runs, 31 RBIs and 109 total bases.  She is slugging an incredible .845 on the year in 42 games.  Holly Rossman is second on the team at a .380 clip.  She is second in hits with 49 and has nine round-trippers this season.  Other than Rossman and Holtman, no other Wildcat has more than three home runs. 

As a team, the Wildcats are hitting .295 on the year with 92 extra-base hits, including 55 doubles, 11 triples and 26 home runs.  The team is slugging .434 on the year and has an on-base percentage of .337. 

In the circle, CWU has a team ERA of 3.13.  Linse Vlahovich leads the way with a 10-13 record and a 3.16 ERA.  She has made 25 appearances with 23 starts and 16 complete games in 128.2 inning of work.  Vlahovich leads the team striking out 122 and opponents are hitting just .254 against her.  Katriina Reime leads the team with a 3.07 ERA and boasts a 5-7 record in 21 appearances.  Katy Jones carries a 2-5 record with a 3.41 ERA.

The Yellowjackets swept a doubleheader from CWU in Ellensburg April 10.  The Jackets posted 11-1 and 4-3 victories and moved over .500 for the first time this season.  During the twin-bill, the Jackets hit .436 as a team with four doubles and three home runs.  Gosselin led the team going 4 for 6 with a double.  Frank, Davis and Kelly Parsons each went deep against the Wildcats.  The teams also played two non-conference games as well early in the year as MSUB won both of them, 4-3 and 5-1.

Central Washington leads the all-time series 6-5 and has never visited Billings.  The Jackets own a 3-0 record in Ellensburg and CWU has a 6-2 record in neutral site games.