MSUB softball in St. George for tournament

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Birgitta Gray O: (406) 896-5917 E: birgitta.gray@msubillings.edu February 11, 2016 Softball continues stay in St. George with Dixie State tournament MSUB Softball on Facebook MSUB Softball on ISSUU GNAC Standings

Senior Amanda Roark and the MSUB softball team is scheduled for five games at the Dixie State tournament.

Following three games against No. 2 Dixie State, this weekend, the MSUB softball team will play five games in St. George, Utah, at the Red Storm-hosted tournament Feb., 12-14.

BILLINGS, Mont. – After playing three games against No. 2 Dixie State, the MSUB softball team is staying in St. George, Utah, and will play five more games during the Red Storm-hosted tournament that runs Feb. 12-14, at the Canyons Softball Complex.

Coming off a 2-3 record at the Desert Stinger, and sitting at a 3-5 overall record, the Yellowjackets have the chance to improve their west region standings with five more games against quality NCAA Division II programs this weekend.

MSUB has two games scheduled against Hawaii Hilo as well as one game each against Cal Baptist, Western New Mexico, and host Dixie State.

Live stats will be available for the first game against Hawaii Hilo as well as the game against Dixie State. Final scores will be found at the end of the day at msubsports.com.

After an opening eight games, four players on the MSUB roster are batting above .300. Left fielder Cori Gammon is batting .346 with a team-leading nine hits. Bella Rovens and Kelsey Devlin are both batting .333. Rovens has eight hits, five RBI, and a team-leading seven runs. Devlin has seven hits, two of them home runs for a team-leading .667 slugging percentage.

Sophomore Megan Dettling (3-2) has made appearances in six games for the Yellowjackets. In 26 innings of work, the right-handed pitcher has 17 hits and 17 earned runs with 16 strikeouts. Senior Amanda Roark has made appearances in five games, and with 20 innings in the circle has eight strikeouts.

The Yellowjackets are batting .252. In the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, Gammon is tied for third in hits per game (1.13) and Rovens is tied for sixth (1.00). Rovens is also second in runs scored while Devlin is tied for fifth with .86 per game.

Infielder Ryland Estrada leads the conference in triples with two this season.

THIS WEEKEND at Canyons Softball Complex in St. George, Utah University of Hawaii Hilo Vulcans Friday, 12:30 PM Live stats Sunday, 10 AM 2016 Record: 4-3 Head Coach: Peejay Brun, 2nd season Hawaii Hilo finished the Desert Stinger with a 2-3 record, but in a turnaround game beat Cal State San Bernardino – who the Vulcans had lost to 8-5 in Las Vegas – twice after the tournament 6-2 and 12-11. UHH is batting .340 as a team for third-best in the PacWest behind Cal Baptist (.411) and Azusa Pacific (.344).

Victoria Garza is batting .435 with 10 hits, including two double and a home run with nine RBI. Mari Kawanno is second on the team at .409 with nine hits, including a triple.

In the circle, Danielle Wilson carries a 5.6 ERA with an overall record of 3-1. In 20.0 innings of work, she has 31 hits and 16 earned runs. Billi Derleth is 1-2 overall with a 3.92 ERA. In 25 innings of work, Derleth has nine strikeouts and 33 hits with 14 earned runs.

The Series: MSUB is 10-13 against Hawaii Hilo and has split the last six games at neutral sites 3-3. MSUB has won the last three games against the Vulcans, including two 7-6 contests in 2014.

Cal Baptist University Lancers Friday, 5:30 PM 2016 Record: 6-1 Head Coach: Bill Baber, 5th season

Cal Baptist (6-1) is off to a strong start this season. The Lancers were the runner-up at the Desert Stinger with a 4-1 overall record. CBU scored 43 runs at the tournament in Las Vegas and won four run-rule shortened games before falling to Regis University 4-0.

A pair of freshmen were part of the powerhouse offense. Soraya Shahbazian is batting .500 on the season with nine hits, including three doubles and three home runs. Hannah Thieroff is batting .526 with 10 hits, including a double and a home run. Each player has 10 RBI so far. The Lancers’ roster contains eight players batting .350 or better. CBU leads the PacWest with a .411 batting average on seven games played.

In the circle, Kayla Hatch is 3-0 with a 1.62 ERA. In 17 and 1/3 innings, Hatch has allowed just four earned runs while fanning nine. Kellye Springstead is 2-1 overall with a 1.79 ERA. She also has four earned runs in 15 and 2/3 innings while recording a team-high 15 strikeouts.

The Series: MSUB is 0-2 all-time against Cal Baptist. The last time the two teams played was at the Desert Stinger in 2013 where CBU won 16-4.

Dixie State University Red Storm Saturday, 10 AM Live stats 2016 Record: 4-3 overall Head Coach: Randy Simkins, 8th season Entering the weekend, Dixie State is 4-3 overall, including a 2-1 record over MSUB this season. In their first home-hosted tournament of the year, the Red Storm posted a 2-2 record with losses to Humboldt State (4-1) and West Texas A&M (76).

Dixie State is batting .307 as a team for sixth in the PacWest. Janessa Bassett is carrying a .500 batting average with nine hits, including a double and triple. Shelby Yung is batting .368 with seven hits and two doubles. Brooklyn Beardshear leads the team in RBI with 10 and a .938 slugging percentage.

In the circle, Beardshear is 1-0 on the season with a 3.50 ERA. Her win came in the first game against MSUB. In eight total innings of work, Beardshear scattered 11 with four strikeouts. Aryn Feickert has a .94 ERA and a 2-2 overall record.

In a team-leading 22 innings, Feickert has posted 21 total strikeouts.

The Series: Including the three games from this week, MSUB is now 3-13 all-time against Dixie State. The Yellowjackets had lost six straight before Wednesday night’s win in St. George.

Western New Mexico University Mustangs Saturday, 3 PM 2016 Record: 3-7 Head Coach: Angela Corliss, 5th season Western New Mexico (3-7) finished the Desert Stinger with a 2-3 record. The Mustangs had big wins to open the tournament over No. 20 Augustana (4-1) and No. 25 Cal State Monterey Bay (3-1) before dropping games against Northwest Nazarene (6-2), Azusa Pacific (9-0), and Concordia University Irvine (4-3).

A pair of freshman are heading up the team. Pitcher Tiana Salazar holds a 3.20 ERA with two wins, and catcher Clarissa Moreno holds the team’s best batting average at .421 with eight hits, two doubles, and an RBI.

Alicia Enriquez is batting .304 with seven hits, a double, a triple, four RBI, and five runs scored.

Domi Shone has spent the most time in the circle for the Mustangs with 31 innings of work. She has posted a 1-4 record with two complete games and a 4.06 ERA. The Series: The Yellowjackets are 2-17 overall against Western New Mexico, but are 2-5 during neutral site games and MSUB has won the last two games against the Mustangs (11-2, 2009, 6-5 in 2007).

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